Families must be urged to stock up on food to survive increasingly severe shocks including extreme weather, cyber attacks and disease, experts warned yesterday.
Short- and long-term risks to food supplies became “more likely and potentially more serious”, the National Audit Office (NAO) said.
In a report, it urged ministers to work with households and businesses to ensure food supplies supply chain can deal with unexpected events.
The government has identified food as one of thirteen ‘critical national infrastructure’ sectors essential to the functioning of Britain.
But the NAO claimed the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), which is responsible for the country’s resilience, had done ‘too little’ in recent years to encourage businesses and households to prepare for food shortages.
According to the report, households were less prepared for emergencies than those in other countries, and businesses had warned that Defra was interacting less with them and not consulting them on future plans.
The last exercise to test Defra’s preparedness for catastrophic events that would disrupt the food supply chain took place in 2023.
The NAO also warned that Defra does not have the legal powers it would need to order companies to take emergency action in such a case.
Families must be urged to stock up on food to survive increasingly severe shocks including extreme weather, cyber attacks and disease, experts warned yesterday (stock photo)
Referring to Covid and the war in Ukraine, Gareth Davies, head of the NAO, said: ‘Recent disruptions have demonstrated the resilience of the UK food supply chain, but the risks are increasing in likelihood and severity. Defra must learn from other countries and strengthen emergency preparedness.”
Agricultural crops have been devastated by forest fires and drought.
The National Farmers Union has warned that the situation is becoming ‘increasingly worrying’ and that dairy farmers are already using winter feed because grass is not growing.
Supermarket bosses, including Ken Murphy at Tesco and Simon Roberts at Sainsbury’s, have called for greater food self-sufficiency.
Defra said: “The Prime Minister has made it clear that food security is national security.
‘The NAO report shows that the risks to the food supply are becoming more complex. We are working with farmers and the food and drink industry to strengthen Britain’s food security and resilience.”
It added: ‘We will carefully consider the report’s findings and recommendations as part of our ongoing work to build a more resilient, productive and sustainable food system.’
