Experts Urge Burnham To Put Food Security At Heart Of National Resilience

Experts have urged Prime Minister Andy Burnham to treat food shortages as a national security issue, with increased UK fruit and vegetable production among their priorities.

An open letter delivered on 5 October warns that Britain is inadequately prepared for serious disruption to food supplies. Foodrise, which coordinated the initiative, reports more than 180 signatories, including academics, farmers and community food leaders.

The signatories identify climate change, geopolitical instability, cyber-attacks and energy outages as threats to a food system heavily dependent on imports and just-in-time distribution.

They want domestic production aligned more closely with nutritional needs, including greater output of vegetables, fruit, legumes and nuts. Other proposals include auditing dependence on major food businesses and imported agricultural inputs, and establishing food storage schemes at national, regional, local and community levels.

The letter also proposes a National Council of Food Security, Defence and Resilience, bringing together Defra and the Ministry of Defence under Cabinet Office oversight, with devolved government participation.

Professor Tim Lang, emeritus professor of food policy at City St George’s, University of London, said: “Communities and households cannot resolve faultlines in the UK’s food system.”

Sustain, which signed the letter alongside 34 food partnerships, is separately calling for physical and financial access to food to be incorporated into emergency planning.

The organisation argues that planning currently concentrates largely on contamination, leaving gaps in preparations for situations where people cannot obtain or afford food. It wants local food businesses and community organisations integrated into resilience structures, alongside dedicated local food resilience committees.

Responding to the concerns, a government spokesperson told The Independent that food supply was being incorporated into emergency preparedness planning. The spokesperson also pointed to a £65 million resilience package announced following drought and work with farmers and industry to strengthen supply chains against future shocks.