Britain’s breaking point: why our food system is failing the security test

It’s becoming painfully clear that Britain’s food system is no longer resilient; no longer fit for purpose. Instead, it is fragile, fragmented and frighteningly short-sighted. The latest DEFRA report on food security (2024) highlighted that the UK remains heavily dependent on imports and increasingly vulnerable to climate and geopolitical shocks. The same part of government that has done little to ensure we are a food-secure nation.

I thought it worthwhile to look at the views of the three main sectors in our food supply system: those from whom we buy our food, those who manufacture it and those that grow it.

In a very clear message from all the major players in the UK retail sector, they sound the alarm to the government not only about the mounting tax burdens, including higher business rates and employer national-insurance contributions, but also about a series of structural issues that are making the food system more fragile and driving up prices. They warn that labour shortages, rising living-wage commitments, increasing regulatory and compliance costs, tighter planning and investment constraints in the supply chain, and greater import-dependency are all stacking up and creating massive cost pressures. When this happens the only option is to pass these costs onto consumers and the prospect of more rampant food inflation is all but inevitable.

In a similar vein, head of the Provision Trade Federation Rod Addy has sounded the alarm that the UK is operating without a coordinated food-resilience strategy, leaving the supply chain vulnerable to threats such as cyber attacks, labour shortages, infrastructure failure and climate impacts. The sector is calling on the government to develop and publish a comprehensive national food-resilience plan, complete with clear timelines, industry engagement and firm government commitments, not just nice words. The Food and Drink Federation continues the theme in its message for the government, highlighting the sector’s need for a long-term plan to “turbocharge productivity and build resilience”.

And as for our farmers – they have consistently forewarned the food crisis we as a nation are walking into. The National Farmers’ Union (NFU) has repeatedly alerted the UK Government that the food system is increasingly exposed to strategic risks such as climate-driven production shocks, workforce shortages and global supply-chain instability. Furthermore, it warns the recently published UK National Security Strategy fails to adequately embed food resilience and production self-reliance as core priorities. The NFU has urged the Government to put “food security at the heart of our national security strategy” and to develop practical policies to support domestic farming investment, supply-chain robustness and reduced reliance on imports.

The word ‘alarm’ features strongly in this article. And just as the air-raid sirens of World War II signalled the need to take shelter from imminent danger, today’s alarms over food security echo a similar need to act decisively across the entire UK food sector. Without urgent, coordinated action, the country risks a different kind of siege: empty food shelves, unaffordable prices and dependence on others for survival. 

I believe the UK, like some other countries, has floundered in attempts to reconcile environmental sustainability with food security. Balancing these two goals is absolutely vital, but we cannot afford to pursue a purely green agenda at the expense of our domestic production. If policy leans too heavily into sustainability, ie, the DEFRA way, the result can only be less locally-grown food, greater import dependency, higher prices and the prospect of many empty supermarket shelves. I see this as a disastrous outcome, not least for the global environmental impact since many imports already come from countries with weaker environmental standards than exist in the UK.

It really is time for our government to stop dithering and start delivering. The warnings from the entire UK food system – farmers, manufacturers and retailers – could not be louder, nor the stakes higher. Food security can no longer be viewed as a low-key policy theme; the priority must be keeping the nation fed and using this imperative to help grow our economy. Ministers must move beyond soundbites and set out a credible, cross-government plan that hardwires food resilience into our national security framework. What does this mean? A lot more investment, coordination and courage and a lot less complacency. If the sirens of history have taught us anything, it’s that ignoring them only leads to crisis. The time to act decisively on food security is now.