Members of the Rural Focus Group had a pretty succinct answer to the question of whether enough is being done on food security – “no”.

Food security has toppled a long way down the global political agenda. When money is tight it is inevitable that the main focus switches to the economy. Add to that the ongoing political unrest in the Middle East and it is perhaps not too surprising that food security doesn’t top the list. Providing sufficient food for the nine billion-plus predicted global population is never going to be easy. Scientists and climatologists cannot predict with any certainty the effects of climate change, but they agree the increased incidence of extreme weather will be crucial. Research to develop crops more able to deal with this is underway, but economic stringencies are limiting this valuable work.

Pressures on land usage will grow in line with the housing and infrastructure needs of an increased population, but in the meantime – both in this country and many others – we continue to build on known flood plains.

On the bright side, interest in food and production is growing; more families are involved in grow-your-own; and city and urban dwellers are experimenting with innovative growing techniques. Marginal land around some towns is being given over to community crop production, and demand for local allotments is increasing. —

VIEWPOINTS:

Jamie Weir

CPRE Protect Kent

“There is far too little attention given to food security in the UK today. Much of government seems more concerned with enabling developers to build on the land that we will require to grow food in the future and CPRE Protect Kent feels that this is a wholly unsustainable path.”

Douglas Jackson

Laurence Gould Partnership

“Planning policy remains a key barrier to increasing fresh food production, in particular the approach by planners towards glasshouses, polytunnels and packing facilities. We will find food shorter in supply in the future, therefore the infrastructure needs to be in place now. Larger and more modern glasshouses will help increase food security for the south east and UK but planning policy and planning authorities continue to resist applications.”

Dr Chris Atkinson

East Malling Research

“Considerable discussion has taken place and much has been written about the complex ideas which are used to describe and measure the availability, access, affordability and so on of secure food supplies, both globally and within the UK. The challenge for all of us within the fresh produce supply chain, including R&D providers such as East Malling Research, is to be able to deliver a commonality of understanding, agreement and application of the metrics we use to achieve it.“

Dr Howard Lee

Hadlow Collage

“The short answer to this is, of course, ‘no’ but there are different levels of this negative response across the various scales. Nationally, DEFRA is committed to food security in principle but not to food self-sufficiency, which it sees as liable to inhibit international trade in agricultural and horticultural commodities. This is a pity, since it is perfectly possible to develop self-sufficiency as an insurance position and run this alongside a vigorous international trade in foodstuffs. Instead, the government’s commitment is to ‘sustainable intensification,’ maximising food production in Britain using innovative technologies such as genetic modification and nanotechnology and ultimately aiming for a surplus for export.”

John Guest

The English Apple Man

“While excellent work is being done by enlightened individuals, there is very little commitment being made by those with the authority to make things happen eg governments!”