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by Martin Jefferies

A series of giant greenhouses in Kent have been given a glowing
endorsement by the man in charge of Britain's environment.

Environment secretary Hilary Benn visited the enormous Thanet
Earth site near St Nicholas-at-Wade on Monday to call for a
"radical rethink" of food production.

He warned that unless the country changes its attitude
towards waste and communities begin to grow their own produce, food
shortages could become a serious issue in years to come.

But he hailed Thanet Earth - a hi-tech complex which
uses revolutionary farming technologies and sophisticated
growing techniques to grow cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers - as a
model for the future.

Mr Benn said: "We need to consider what the food system will
look like 20 years down the line and what must happen to get
there. We need everyone in the food system to get involved, from
farmers and retailers to the health service, schools and
consumers.

"Thanet Earth shows that you can grow the products that we want
to pick up in our supermarkets in a way that is sustainable.
Production here takes place all year round, requires much less
water than traditional farming techniques and does away with
pesticides and insecticides - it's very impressive."

Thanet Earth, which cost more than £80 million to build, employs
more than 500 people and produces enough surplus electricity to
power 50,000 homes.

Cucumbers from the futuristic site went on sale at a local Tesco
supermarket earlier this year. Tomatoes and peppers will be
available to consumers in Kent and across the UK at a later date,
with the development expected to meet up to four per cent of the
country's salad consumption.

Steve McVickers, managing director of Thanet Earth, said: "The
environment secretary's visit is a great endorsement for us and it
seems we tick all the right boxes.

"This could be a blueprint for similar schemes elsewhere in the
UK, so congratulations to everyone in Thanet for backing
this exciting project in the first place."