At present, the food supply for our city is heavily dependent on fossil fuels. Conventional farming uses oil-based pesticides, fertilizers made using natural gas, and oil-based fuels for machinery used to work the fields. Food is imported into Leicester from other parts of the country and other parts of the world, using fossil-fuel-based transportation.
As fossil fuel availability begins to decline over the coming years, we need to urgently develop the infrastructure and skills that will allow Leicester to feed itself in the future. This will mean developing local and organic food production, starting urban agriculture projects, planting fruit and nut trees in the city, teaching people the skills they need to grow food at home – there’s lots of work to be done!