Farmers need to grow more fruit and vegetables to ensure the UK is not overly reliant on foreign imports, the government has warned.
New funding for growers was announced at a Downing Street food supply summit.
A new national food security index, external found that just 17% of fruit and 55% of vegetables consumed in the UK are grown here.
Critics say the £80m scheme does not go far enough to support farmers hit by extreme weather and rising costs.
Tom Bradshaw, president of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU), told the BBC that he did not think the measures announced would see the UK’s food security improve in the short term as farmers deal with the impact of the wettest 18 months since 1836.
“We are not going to be in a better position in 12 months time because we know the very real challenges that are going on right across the country,” he said.
The NFU has warned that many of its members fear they will go bankrupt before they receive the benefits of any extra funding.
It pointed to its recent survey of farmers’ confidence that found 65% of those that replied said their profits were down or their business might go under.
Mr Bradshaw said the government needed to take “critical steps” to put farming back onto a much firmer footing.
“I think that what is missing is that today is more about the strategic long-term – it is not about putting the building blocks in place that rebuild that confidence immediately,” he added.
Industry research figures show that in 2022 the UK produced around 2.4m tonnes of vegetables and 652,000 tonnes of fruit, with a value of £1.8bn and £1bn respectively.
But it also imported £2.7bn worth of vegetables and £3.9bn worth of fruit.
