Today (1 October) a group of senior food executives from the biggest retailers, producers and manufacturers are raising the alarm about the sustainability of our entire food supply chain as climate risks close in. The summer heatwaves, a continuing drought and the impending El Nino, are all impacting our food supply at a startling speed.

Industry Insiders Speak Out

The non-profit group Insider Track have issued a memo from a group of food industry ‘insiders’ entitled The Illusion of Resilience in a Degrading Supply Chain. The insider group is made up of 10-30 senior food professionals from across retail, production and manufacturing. Together their organisations represent over half of the UK market.

Their collective insight warns of decreasing crop yields due to extreme weather which are now putting the nation’s food supplies at risk. It also shares concerns over the increased number of animal deaths both in transit and on farms during extreme temperatures, growing quantities of food waste and threats to farmers’ livelihoods.

Quick Fixes Won’t Work

The insiders raised concerns that food companies are focused on short-term adaptions, rather than addressing the root causes driving food insecurity and creating strategic plans to build true resilience and manage long-term risks. The group are calling for institutional investors in major food companies to push for urgent action, and engage with the Government, to implement long terms solutions to mitigate climate change, biodiversity loss and worsening soil health.

In their own words:

Adaptation is crucial in the face of increasing extreme weather and temperatures, but tactical, short-term sidesteps will not serve us for ever. There will be growing disruption unless we seriously act to reduce environmental impacts, ensure farmers can access long-term and reliable income, and take much bigger adaptation steps ourselves…

We need our investors to challenge us and hold us accountable to the risks we are disclosing. This will enable us to work towards a more secure food system which is in the interests of our companies, our investors, our government, the communities we source from, and our customers.

Government action needed

The memo coincides with growing pressure on the Government to safeguard UK food security. In August, we wrote to Defra to to set out the urgent need to create a more resilient and sustainable future for food and farming.

Yet despite a suppressed Defra and Joint Intelligence Committee report warning that the climate crisis and threats to food security are a national security issue, the Government are currently planning to grow the poultry industry: a move that would further undermine food security. These plans fail to acknowledge that this industry depends on vast quantities of animal feed, often unsustainably sourced from abroad and vulnerable to global price shocks. This intensive industry is also leading to devasting water and air pollution, which puts all our health at risk.

Meanwhile a new report shows that three-quarters of England’s wheat, and barley are at moderate to very high drought risk. This becomes even more concerning when combined with Government figures that show that over half of these crops are grown for animal feed rather than human consumption.

As highlighted in our groundbreaking Food Not Feed report, this is an illogical approach to feeding the UK population, as animals are inefficient at turning grain into food. For every 100 calories of edible grain they consume, humans get back only 3–25 calories as meat.

A lack of joined up thinking

Anthony Field, our Head of Compassion in World Farming UK, said:

The climate crisis, biodiversity loss and soil degradation are resulting in lower and poorer quality crop yields putting our food supply at risk. But the Government’s alarm bells are still not sufficiently ringing.

This lack of joined thinking is ignoring the animal welfare, environmental and food security impacts of this cruel and damaging industry. The Poultry Sector Growth Plan could end up driving further disruption and this is bad news for food prices, for farmers, and for our national food supply.

Environmental and financial stability requires a long-term approach that includes a transition towards higher welfare nature-friendly farming. Only then can we create a more secure, healthy food system for all of us.

A better way forward

Across the UK nature-friendly farmers are demonstrating the solutions we need to adapt to create a truly resilient food system.

Food Industry Insiders call for Urgent Action on Food Security