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Farming Today: 23/03/2011

23/03/2011

BBC Radio 4 - Farming Today, 23/03/2011

People living in rural communities call for cheaper fuel prices in today's Budget.

People living in rural communities say they will not be able to cope if fuel prices go up in today's Budget. The Countryside Alliance are campaigning for lower fuel duty in rural areas, and say a fuel rebate scheme will not go far enough. 

Also, around 400 village shops close in the UK each year. With the current financial pressure of running them more could be going out of business. At the moment just 5% of those that close are resurrected as community-owned and run stores. Anna Hill visits one of these in Great Ryburgh near Fakenham in Norfolk.

And new research shows that we throw away, on average, twice as much water a year in the form of uneaten food, as we use for washing and drinking. The Waste and Resources Action Programme claims that discarded food accounts for 6.2 billion cubic metres of water per year - or 6% of all the UK's water needs. 

Presented by Anna Hill and produced by Emma Weatherill.

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