Professor Tim Lang, a leading food policy expert from City St George’s, University of London, has warned that the UK government should urgently stockpile food to prepare for climate shocks or war. 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 first Food Security Report in December 2021 found the country was only 54% food self-sufficient, one of the lowest rates in Europe. In contrast, the Netherlands is 80% self-sufficient, Spain 75%, and countries like the US, France, and Australia are fully self-sufficient. Lang criticised the British state's assumption that others can feed the UK, calling it a vulnerability disguised as efficiency.
Other nations maintain emergency stockpiles: Switzerland has enough food for three months and is increasing it to a year, while UK government advice only recommends households keep three days’ worth. Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds declined to set a target for food self-sufficiency, saying she would not give a figure but wanted to boost domestic production in horticulture and poultry.
Lang’s report for the National Preparedness Commission highlighted the fragility of the UK’s food system, which relies on just 131 distribution centres to supply 12,284 supermarkets. Tesco alone operates only 20 centres. He warned these are a “sitting duck” for drone or cyber-attacks, and that disruption to one or two major retailers could have severe public impact. The report also noted that UK civil defence spending on food preparedness was just 0.0026% of defence expenditure in 2021-22.
Brexit has exacerbated vulnerabilities, with agrifood imports from the EU falling by an average of 8.71% per year since January 2021. Climate change is also threatening fresh produce imports from southern Europe and north Africa. Experts warn that even a small supply gap could spark social unrest or food riots, as the food system is described as a “tinderbox”.
