The UK government is “complacent about food as a national security matter” and is unprepared for potential future food shortages, more than 150 experts have warned prime minister Andy Burnham in an open letter.
The climate crisis, geopolitical shocks, cyber-attacks and energy outages are listed in the open letter as some of the threats to food chain security.
Academics, business leaders, community groups and food partnerships are urging the new government to treat food as a national security issue and work to make the UK’s food system more resilient, in a era when food supplies “can be weaponised”, they caution.
The signatories warn that the “just-in-time” delivery system built up over recent decades “is not fit for today’s or tomorrow’s challenges”, as little stock is held along the food supply chain and the UK does not have any national food storage.
“The food system is exposed to shocks and threats from geopolitics, climate heating, ransomware, energy outages, software malfunction and disinformation,” according to the letter.
“These shocks will fall upon a system that is highly wasteful, import-dependent, environmentally unsustainable, and driven by the pursuit of private profit rather than resilience, with millions of people unable to afford a decent, healthy diet.
It goes on to add: “The public has been led to assume that food will simply be there. It may not be, unless the UK’s food system is transformed for the world of climate, ecosystem, and geopolitical volatility.”
Experts also call on the government to create a new system of local food resilience committees under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 (CCA), examine the UK’s reliance on a few very large food companies and food imports, and support the decentralisation of the UK’s food supplies.
The country should also boost its production of legumes, nuts, fruit, and vegetables, and “realign” national food production with nutritional needs, according to the letter signed by Dr Tim Lang, professor emeritus of food policy at City St George’s University of London; Professor Paul Behrens from Oxford University; and other academics and local charity leaders.
“The UK (along with the West) is entering a new era in which food supplies will be disrupted, public expectations may not be met and food can be weaponised,” it says. “The food system is exposed to shocks and threats from geopolitics, climate heating, ransomware, energy outages, software malfunction and disinformation.
“These shocks will fall upon a system that is highly wasteful, import-dependent, environmentally unsustainable, and driven by the pursuit of private profit rather than resilience, with millions of people unable to afford a decent, healthy diet.”