Britain lacks a plan to feed its population during a crisis and remains dangerously unprepared for potential future food shortages, according to a warning delivered to Andy Burnham by more than 150 experts. The open letter claims the government is complacent about food as a national security matter while facing escalating threats from climate heating, geopolitical shocks, cyberattacks, and energy outages.
Experts Warn UK Food Supply Chain Unprepared for Shocks
Signatories including academics, business leaders, community groups, and food partnerships argue that the UK’s food system is exposed to vulnerabilities that extend far beyond simple supply and demand. The letter cautions that modern food supplies can be weaponized in an era defined by geopolitical instability. Because the UK has no national food storage and very little stock is kept across the food supply chain, the “just-in-time” delivery system developed over recent decades is inadequate for the challenges of today and tomorrow.
Ministers wound up the strategic food stockpile that had been in place since the Second World War during the 1990s. The letter states that the food system faces threats from ransomware, software malfunction, and disinformation. These shocks hit a system that is described as highly wasteful, import-dependent, environmentally unsustainable, and driven by the pursuit of private profit rather than resilience, leaving millions of people unable to afford a decent, healthy diet.
Ministers Urged to Rebuild Local Food Resilience and Storage
The open letter calls on the new government to establish a new system of local food resilience committees under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004. Those signing the letter also call for ministers to support the decentralisation of the UK’s food supply, establish community, local, regional, and national food storage schemes, shift national food production to align with nutritional needs, and audit the UK’s dependence on food imports and a small number of very large food companies.
Prof Tim Lang of the Centre for Food Policy at City St George’s, University of London, stated that the country needs a system shift involving more regionalism, diversity, and storage at multiple levels. Central government must provide strategic leadership while encouraging actions at different levels because communities and households cannot resolve the faultlines in the UK’s food system on their own. Prof Paul Behrens of the Oxford Martin School at the University of Oxford added that food resilience, healthy diets, and environmental benefits all point toward growing more of the vegetables, fruit, and pulses people actually need closer to home.
Ministers urge households to stockpile food and water
This warning follows a rebuke from the National Audit Office several weeks prior, in which ministers were accused of not doing enough to assist businesses and households in planning for potential emergencies. Government research indicates Britons are less prepared for potential future catastrophic events than citizens of several other European countries, and the UK remains more reliant on food imports than some of its neighbours.
Amid warnings that the El Niño weather phenomenon could result in a stormy, wet winter, Environment Secretary Angela Eagle recently suggested that UK households accumulate enough water and food stores to last a few days without water or power. However, the letter claims the government is failing to consider whether lower-income households can afford to build up such a stockpile. The Cabinet Office plans to launch a campaign telling households to stock up on tinned foods alongside preparations for future emergencies, while the government’s Prepare website outlines steps including assembling tinned meat, fruit, or vegetables that do not need cooking. Eagle has stated she will oversee farming improvements and a reservoir-building programme to help Britain face extreme weather.
Frequently Asked Questions About UK Food Security
Why did the UK abolish its national food stockpile?
Ministers wound up the strategic food stockpile that had been maintained since the Second World War during the 1990s.
What specific agencies or watchdogs recently criticized government preparedness?
The National Audit Office, the public spending watchdog, issued a rebuke to ministers weeks before the experts’ letter, accusing them of failing to do enough to help households and businesses plan for possible emergencies.
Which academic institutions are represented among the letter’s signatories?
Signatories include experts from City St George’s, University of London, and the Oxford Martin School at the University of Oxford.
What specific household items does the government currently recommend storing?
The government’s Prepare website suggests households assemble items at home that could include tinned meat, fruit, or vegetables that do not require cooking.
Related reading