§ 56. Mr. Tinkerasked the Minister of Agriculture whether he will state the percentage increase in the growing of foodstuffs in this country since the war started and if possible, the figures for allotments?
Mr. HudsonThe answer to the first part of the Question is 70 per cent. This represents the increase in human food values produced from the soil of this country, measured in calories, since shortly before the war. The number of allotments has increased from an estimated total of 930,000 before the war to roughly 1,675,000 in 1942; and although figures for output of food from allotments are not available, it seems probable that output will have increased in much the same proportion as the numbers of allotments. I should add that there has also been a very large increase of food from private gardens, where numbers are estimated to have risen from 3,000,000 in 1939 to 5,000,000 to-day.