Experts urge UK government to plan mass food storage sites for emergencies

Left · 2A group of more than 150 experts, including academics, business leaders, community groups and food partnerships, has sent an open letter to Prime Minister Andy Burnham warning that Britain has no plan for feeding people in a major crisis. 1 2 Left · 1The letter lists climate change, geopolitical shocks, cyber-attacks, ransomware, energy outages, software malfunction and disinformation as threats to the food chain, and says the government is "complacent about food as a national security matter". 1 Left · 2Its recommendations include national, regional, local and community food storage schemes rather than leaving households to stockpile, local food resilience committees under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, an audit of reliance on a few large food companies and imports, realigning national food production around nutritional needs, and decentralising food supply. 1 2

Left · 1The Mirror reports the letter was sent ahead of a call-for-evidence deadline on updating the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, and that it also suggests renaming the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to put "food security" in place of the rural affairs element. 2 Left · 2The signatories say the "just-in-time" delivery system is "not fit for today's or tomorrow's challenges", with little stock held along the supply chain and no national food storage; the Guardian and Mirror both note that a strategic stockpile in place since the Second World War was wound down and ended in the 1990s. 1 2 Left · 1Prof Tim Lang of City St George's, University of London, a lead signatory, said the UK risked "sleepwalking" into a crisis, with the worst case including riots and civil unrest, and that other countries prepare more, citing Switzerland's three months of essential foodstuffs. 2

Left · 2Lang called the government's Prepare website advice that households keep non-perishable food for "a few days" "hopeless", arguing households cannot be the sole last line of defence; the letter also says many lower-income households cannot afford to stockpile. 2 1 Left · 1Prof Paul Behrens of the University of Oxford, another signatory, cited the government's own national security assessment that the UK lacks enough land to feed its population and rear livestock, and urged growing more fruit, vegetables and pulses closer to home; Carina Millstone of the charity Foodrise called on the Prime Minister for leadership. 2 Left · 1The Guardian adds that the letter follows a National Audit Office rebuke to ministers for not doing enough to help households and businesses plan for emergencies, and that government research shows Britons are less prepared than citizens of several other European countries. 1

Left · 2Environment secretary Angela Eagle recently recommended households store enough food and water for a few days without power or water, amid warnings that El Niño could bring a wet, stormy winter, and the Cabinet Office is to run a campaign on household preparedness. 1 2 Left · 1A government spokesperson said "food security is national security" and that food supply is being fully incorporated into emergency preparedness planning, pointing to a £65million package for farmers hit by this summer's drought and a new climate security taskforce. 2