Original aticle: https://www.thegwpf.org/content/uploads/2024/05/Alder-UK-Food-security.pdf?mc_cid=364301e62c
SUMMARY
Food security is one of the thirteen sectors listed in the government ‘Critical National Infrastructure’ document 22. The government’s food strategy (GFS), published in June 20229 states the government will aim to maintain food production in the UK at current levels, around 60% of the food we consume, and obtain the rest from importation from a diverse range of sources.
This paper examines the potential for maintaining the 60% level of production, particularly considering key factors such as loss of productive agricultural land, crop yields and livestock productivity, UK population growth and labour availability. An analysis of these factors suggests that the 60% will be difficult to achieve, and the UK could become more reliant on food importation.
Food importation is analysed in more detail and in particular the vulnerability ofsupply from the sources identified. The paper concludes that the importation of food will become increasingly difficult due to a number of factors, but primarily the effect of climate change on global food production.
As a result of the analysis in the paper, a number of conclusions and recommendations are made.
DEFINITION OF FOOD SECURITY
The National Food Strategy21 states that securing the nation’s food supply has been a central role of all states since history began. The strategy states that the precise meaning of ‘food security’ is disputed and refers to one study identifying 200 definitions of the term.
Food security and food self-sufficiency need to be distinguished. Self-sufficiency is the ability of a nation to produce all the food it needs from its own resources, whilst food security is being ability to feed a population from national production and food imports at a reasonable cost.
The Food Security report (House of Commons Committee Report)13 bases its definition on the five aspects set out in the Agricultural Act 2020;
- Global food availability, which describes supply and demand issues, trends and risk on a global scale, and how they may affect the UK food supply;
- UK food supply, which looks at the UK’s main sources of food at home and overseas;
- Supply chain resilience, which outlines the physical, economic and human infrastructure that underlies the food supply chain, and that chain’s vulnerabilities;
- Household-level food security deals with issues of affordability and access to food, and food safety and consumer confidence, which details food crime and safety issues.
- Food safety and consumer confidence, which details food crime and safety issues.
