Food security is finally moving up the government agenda

A series of warnings about the fragility of Britain’s food supply chain have landed in quick succession. But alongside them are signs that government and industry may finally be beginning to address a bigger question: what does genuine food resilience actually look like?

The latest intervention comes from Inside Track, a group of anonymous senior executives from major UK food producers, manufacturers and retailers. Its newly published memo, The Illusion of Resilience in a Degrading Supply Chain, argues that the industry has become increasingly adept at managing immediate disruption, but less successful at tackling the structural problems threatening supply over the longer term.

In particular, it warns that “resilience” has too often come to mean switching ingredients, suppliers or sourcing regions when disruption occurs, rather than investing in the productive capacity on which the food system ultimately depends. Farmers, it argues, are being left carrying too much of the cost and risk of change without the long-term commitments needed to justify investment.

That distinction is particularly relevant to livestock production.

BMPA Technical Policy Manager Nan Jones makes the point clearly:

“Resilience cannot simply mean switching where we source food from when there is a problem. If climate change and geopolitical instability are global risks, we cannot assume there will always be another reliable source to turn to. At what point does geographic diversification stop providing genuine resilience?”

International trade will remain an essential part of UK food security. But, as Nan argues, that cannot become a substitute for maintaining a viable domestic production base.

“A resilient food system needs a strong domestic foundation. That means supporting farmers to continue producing sustainably and investing in productivity, land management and climate adaptation, while also protecting the processing capacity and infrastructure needed to turn that livestock into food.”

That last point is crucial for the meat sector. Farming and processing capacity are interdependent. Livestock farmers need viable processors and routes to market, while processors depend on a stable domestic supply base. Once capacity disappears from either part of that chain, rebuilding it is considerably harder than maintaining it.

Government appears to be listening

What makes the timing particularly interesting is that this debate is emerging just as government appears to be preparing a significant new intervention on food security.

The Grocer reports that Defra is expected to announce a major new commitment on food resilience within the next few weeks, including a focus on growing more food in the UK.

The report describes a “very live conversation between industry and government” and a possible “step change” in Defra’s approach, with greater emphasis on protecting UK food production from geopolitical, climate and other supply-chain risks.

If that translates into policy, it would address one of the central concerns raised by both Inside Track and BMPA which is that resilience requires investment, and investment requires confidence.

As Nan puts it:

“If we expect farmers and processors to invest for the long term, they need confidence that the market and policy environment will give them enough certainty and return to make that investment viable.”

From strategy to delivery

There may be another piece of the picture emerging through IGD’s Food Nation 2040 initiative.

IGD is working with industry, Defra and the government’s Food Strategy Advisory Board on a framework intended to turn broad ambitions for the food system into clearer priorities and practical action.

Its underlying diagnosis is familiar. Uncertainty and fragmented policy make it harder for businesses to take long-term investment decisions. The aim is to create greater clarity about the direction of travel and the actions needed to deliver a resilient and sustainable food system.

Whether Food Nation 2040 is directly connected with the forthcoming Defra announcement remains to be seen. But the direction of travel is notable.

Across government, farming, manufacturing and retail there appears to be growing recognition that food resilience cannot simply mean becoming better at finding an alternative source when something goes wrong.

For Britain’s livestock and meat processing sectors, it means maintaining the domestic productive capacity, processing infrastructure, skills and investment needed to keep the supply chain functioning over the long term.

If food security is increasingly being treated as a matter of national resilience, the forthcoming Defra announcement will be an important test of whether that recognition is finally being translated into the policy certainty and practical action needed to underpin it.