Professor Tim Lang, a leading food policy expert at City St George’s, University of London, has warned that the UK is dangerously unprepared for potential climate shocks or conflicts that could disrupt food supplies. Speaking at the National Farmers’ Union conference in Birmingham, he said the country produces far less food than it needs and is particularly vulnerable due to its reliance on a few large companies.
The UK’s food self-sufficiency stands at 54%, according to the first UK Food Security Report from December 2021. This is among the lowest in Europe, compared with 80% in the Netherlands and 75% in Spain. Other wealthy nations such as the US, France and Australia are fully self-sufficient, meaning they can feed their populations without imports if necessary.
Lang criticised the government’s lack of action, saying: “The default position that others can feed us is hardwired into the British state system.” He noted that other countries, including Switzerland, maintain emergency stockpiles sufficient for months, while UK households are advised to keep only three days’ worth of food. The environment secretary, Emma Reynolds, declined to set a target for boosting domestic food production.
A report by Lang for the National Preparedness Commission highlighted the fragility of the UK’s food distribution network. Just 131 distribution centres supply the country’s 12,284 supermarkets, with Tesco alone operating only 20 centres for nearly a third of retail food. This concentration, Lang warned, makes the system a “sitting duck” for drone or cyber-attacks. He added that UK civil defence spending in 2021-22 was just 0.0026% of total defence expenditure.
Brexit has further weakened food security, with agrifood imports from the EU falling by an average of 8.71% per year in the three years after January 2021. Climate breakdown also threatens supplies of fresh produce from southern Europe and north Africa. Experts have warned that even a small disruption could spark social unrest or food riots, as the food system is described as a “tinderbox”.
