The UK’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) released a report this week revealing Britain’s food supply vulnerabilities and strategies for combating a domestic shortage should the ongoing global crisis intensify.
Although the UK is largely self-sufficient with regards to food production, the Defra plan focuses largely on increasing that productivity, perhaps through the use of genetically modified (GM) crops – currently a deeply unpopular approach among Britons.
While introducing the report publicly, Hilary Benn, the Cabinet Minister who heads Defra and oversees national food policy, voiced support for GM crop trials aimed at finding out the facts about the technology and to use the science to boost production.
The Defra report also cites a number of extreme measures for combating the food supply problem domestically if the crisis becomes catastrophic. Those methods include rationing food in the manner enlisted during the Second World War. Britons would be required to eat lower-calorie diets, deemed “a highly restricted, if sufficiently nutritious diet” in the Defra report, and would be encouraged to take on a vegetarian lifestyle if food security issues interfere with the UK’s meat trade with countries like Argentina and Brazil.
However, outlining plans for a doomsday scenario was not the only goal of the report. Other portions focused on long-term sustainability as global warming and water shortages could press the need for alternative food growth technology. In his statement Benn argued,
“..we live in an interconnected world — where the price of soya in Brazil affects the price of steak at the local supermarket — we need to look at global issues that affect food security here. That’s why we need to consider what food systems should look like in 20 years and what must happen to get there.”
20 years is a relevant milestone, but so is 41. The report states that the UK will “play a full part” in hitting the UN’s target for increasing global food production by 70% by the year 2050.
This article, by Martin Hickman of The Independent, asks some important questions about the state of the UK food supply and the plausibility of some of the Defra report’s goals.
Another food strategy plan is set to be published by the end of the year.
Posted by Sara Chupein
