§ 16. Mr. Thorneasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what immediate steps he intends to take towards overcoming the world food shortage; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. BishopAs we stated in the White Paper "Food from our Own Resources", the expansion of United Kingdom agricultural production on an economic basis, which is the Government's policy, will reduce our demand in the longer term on world food supplies. However, there are limits to the contribution we can make in this way to expanding world food production, but we are also taking steps to help developing countries to expand their own food production and we are supporting international efforts to stabilise supplies and prices of basic foodstuffs by means of commodity arrangements.