Opinion: Food security should be more than just a soundbite
© Adobe Stock Food security is national security. How many times have we heard that phrase bandied about over the past few months.
Have any politicians actually done anything other than repeat the worn-out slogan?
See also: Opinion – what if expansion or diversification aren’t options?
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Listening to defence secretary John Healey give an interview recently, where he failed to know how many warships we had, let alone where they were or if they could sail, hasn’t filled me with confidence that this government has got any kind of grip on the realities of a war situation.
The UK is massively reliant on imported food – our diets are a kaleidoscope of colour and unlimited choice.
Shelves are stacked with produce from all over the world, but impending fuel shortages will have a direct impact on our ability to import those products.
As with the UK, other countries are struggling to source fuel and fertiliser, and imminent food shortages will make global governments prioritise their own people first.
As well as the impact on imports, we need to look at domestic production.
British farmers have been blindsided by yet another problem out of our control. As our costs soar higher than one of Trump’s missiles, the ability to budget has gone completely out of the window and cashflow is a concept we can only dream of.
The best the government has come up with so far is to give a bit of help to combat heating oil costs for rural people, but only those who claim benefits. Radical.
I’m constructing beds to grow veg and potatoes, and a lovely 12-month-old British Blue heifer has been named Beefcake and put on a special diet
Sitting here in our quiet little corner of Lancashire, it’s easy to forget about the conflict in the Middle East.
The birds are singing and, despite the constant rain, it feels almost spring-like.
I just have to be careful not to look too far out to the west.
Even with a fragile ceasefire in place, knowing Iranian warheads might be able to reach Britain, seeing the Heysham nuclear power station on the horizon makes me feel a bit uneasy.
On the plus side, what we lack in knowledge and recourses to build a nuclear bunker, we make up for in garden space.
So I have decided, in my wisdom, to try to protect my family from food shortages and go back to basics by attempting to produce some of our own food.
Repurposing the children’s old playhouse into a duck and hen shed has been the first task; it is now sat next to the pond awaiting its new residents.
In true “Dig for Victory” style, I’m constructing beds to grow veg and potatoes, and a lovely 12-month-old British Blue heifer has been named Beefcake and put on a special diet.
I realise it might seem like I’m having some sort of meltdown, but in a society where everyone has become more self-centred and selfish, food and fuel shortages could happen faster than our government can act.
One scare on social media and panic buying will be out of control. We only have to look back at the Covid toilet roll debacle for proof that humans often disengage their brains in a crisis.
We’re lucky as farmers that we can turn our hands to most things.
We’re a practical bunch and maybe over the next few months, government ministers and the general population might finally start to realise exactly how much they need us and just how important our industry is to the fabric of Britain.