South West says it can play major role in UK’s future food security

The UK’s increasing reliance on global food supply chains is threatening the farming sector, negatively impacting the climate and making healthy eating challenging for many

A new food security report published by the ‘Great South West’ region has called on the government to take “decisive action to stop empty supermarket shelves becoming a regular feature of daily life”.

Great South West, a body representing Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and Somerset says it is “primed” to tackle the country’s food security challenges, as it is already supporting 295,000 jobs across the agri-food supply chain and generating more than £5.6 billion in gross value added (GVA) from food production.

The report makes the case that nearly half of the UK’s food is imported and that “Covid-19, climate change, geopolitical shocks and an increasing dependence on global supply chains” have contributed to the highest levels of food price inflation in more than 40 years.

Melanie Squires, Regional Director for NFU South and Chair of the Great South West’s Food Security Programme Board said: “The Great South West has the capability and readiness to work with the government to generate high economic growth over the next decade while playing a key role in the UK’s future food security.” 

Professor Richard Preziosi, Director of the Centre of Research Excellence in Intelligent and Sustainable Productive Systems at the University of Plymouth said: “We face growing food security challenges, from increased seasonal food demand to overstressed supply chains and declining biodiversity. Our region has the capacity to meet those challenges head-on.”

“The impact of climate change is threatening our farming sector and a healthy diet remains out of reach for almost 20% of our population.”

The Great South West report echoes the findings of the recent City Harvest Food Redistribution Report. Sarah Calcutt, CEO at the London-based food redistribution charity said: “Our 2024 report explains the unsustainable challenge within the British food system and our lack of self-sufficiency, which is making the nation vulnerable in many ways.

“Environmentally, we are increasing the cost on the planet by importing almost half of our produce. The cost of production in the UK means people cannot afford to buy locally. The impact of climate change is threatening our farming sector and a healthy diet remains out of reach for almost 20% of our population.”

Professor Rachel Norman, Chair in Food Security and Sustainability at the University of Stirling agreed that the country is facing increasing uncertainty in supply chains due to climate events and political uncertainty. 

She said: “The solutions are multi-faceted. We need to look to new innovations (for example, controlled-environment growing) more resilient local supply chains and more environmentally friendly methods of growing food.” Controlled-environment growing refers to using technology to grow crops in optimised conditions, such as vertical farms.  

Norman added, “We also need to reduce demand, reduce food waste and reduce inequalities in access to healthy and sustainably produced food. We cannot solve the issues around food security just through innovation and technology (although we absolutely need those), we also have to look at cultural and behavioural changes.”