Following the publication of a report by the National Preparedness Commission, which warned that UK food systems needed to be “more resilient”, the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) has called on Government to act on the report recommendations.
The report called for urgent action to boost the resilience of UK food systems in order to safeguard the nation’s food supply “in the face of increasing global shocks and pressures”.
It was recommended that Government introduce a Food Security and Resilience Act to “ensure a sustainable and resilient food system”.
Other recommendations included requiring the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to treat food security as a core component of national infrastructure planning, as well as establishing an advisory body to provide evidence-based, consistent advice on food resilience.
Responding to the report’s findings, NFU president Tom Bradshaw said: “This report could not be clearer – food security is absolutely vital to our nation’s resilience, but our current food system is not where it needs to be to withstand future crises.
“We have seen our fair share of crises in recent years, from the Covid pandemic to the devastating war in Ukraine, and it was only a couple of years ago when a combination of high production costs here and bad harvests abroad meant the rationing of fresh produce in supermarkets. Governments can have short memories, but our ability to feed ourselves should always be a priority.
“Yet as we speak, food producing businesses are taking a battering. Global conflicts continue to keep the cost of inputs such as energy and fertiliser high, while climate change and relentless wet weather has wreaked havoc on harvests. Meanwhile, domestic policy has exacerbated cashflow issues through crippling cuts to direct payments, delays to environmental schemes and this Government’s brutal Budget, which puts the future of many family farms at risk – all of which has a direct impact on homegrown food production.
“This report lays down very clear policy directions for the Government to take to improve the UK’s food resilience, and it’s important to note that these are the recommendations of experts in security, defence and crisis management. If the Government means what it repeatedly says – that food security is critical to national security – then it will take the Commission’s warning extremely seriously and follow its expert advice.”
The full report can be accessed here.
