What can we as a people do to improve Food Security, Food Sovereignty & Food Inflation?

Following on from my last blog post, quite a few people have asked questions about why the recent Supermarket salad “shortages” were exclusive to the big food industry. I’ve summarised some of the questions and answers below and tied in the news of higher than expected inflation which was in the news this morning (Wednesday 22nd February)

Salad Prices 2023

Weekly snapshot of HFM unit prices of salad category items from 2nd January 2023 to 22nd March 2023

The above graph shows the consolidated HFM unit prices of produce in each of the main salad categories over the course of this year so far. As the much publicised “shortages” on (exclusively) Supermarket shelves have begun to subside, I thought it’d be interesting to see just what sort of trajectory prices of salad followed over the last few weeks and months, and whether the higher than expected food inflation reported in the media this morning is abating.

Of course, as touched on in my last post, food inflation has a terrible affect on those in society with the lowest incomes. So how can we as a nation improve Food Security?

What is Food Security?

A definition was initially agreed on at the World Food Summit in 1996 as “food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social, and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life”.

I think the definition has moved on somewhat since 1996 though. I believe that with increasingly industrialised production during the last few decades, the definition should probably encompass the resilience of production at a local, regional and national level, as well as food supply chains to the UK from other nations.

I believe the best way to regain food security at a local and regional level is to think about Food Sovereignty.

What is Food Sovereignty?

La Via Campesina’s definition: "Food Sovereignty is the right of peoples to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods, and their right to define their own food and agriculture systems."

La Vía Campesina, which translated from Spanish means  'the peasants' way', is an international farmers organisation founded in 1993 in Mons, Belgium, formed by 182 organisations in 81 countries. It describes itself as "an international movement which coordinates peasant organisations of small and middle-scale producers, agricultural workers, rural women, and indigenous communities from Asia, Africa, America, and Europe". La Via Campesina advocates for family-farm-based sustainable agriculture, and was the group that coined the term Food Sovereignty. La Vía Campesina carries out campaigns to defend farmer's right to seeds, to stop violence against women, for agrarian reform, and generally for the recognition of the rights of peasants.

What does Food Sovereignty mean in the UK?

Food Sovereignty in the UK is a concept which matters at both a local, regional and a national level. To my mind, in the UK it’s the right of people to determine how their food system works.

Why does Food Sovereignty matter?

In a globalised world, Food Sovereignty in the UK has been less of a concern due to the market forces which ensure the most suitable places for food production have been used to produce the most economically viable food.

But what happens to Food Security in a world which is becoming increasingly less globalised and riddled with national protectionism?

The supply of all goods and services become more efficiently distributed in the nation where they’re produced, or to neighbouring nations with easily accessible trade routes. The main problem for the UK is that for the past few decades our food system has increasingly relied upon imports from countries which produce food far more efficiently than we do.

Why is this a problem?

We are living through a far less stable part of history than we’ve been accustomed to. With global crises such as Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine and the COVID-19 pandemic, the food supply system which has been adopted by the big food industry in the UK has been that of fixed price contracts for producers. This has created an unusual dynamic in economics.

Why is this unusual?

We live in a free market economy, which relies upon market forces via consumers and producers to regulate supply and demand with competitive forces regulating the cost of goods and services. Fixed price contracts in a market creates stability of prices.

Why are stable prices a bad thing?

Fixed prices in a market works by borrowing the  principles of a planned economic system, which works when a market is fairly stable. The labour market is an excellent example of a planned economic system outside of an organised national economy. However, the labour market relies on a stable economy, which is why the UK is struggling to keep a stable labour market at the moment with the problem of runaway inflation.

Another example is the energy industry. Prices have been kept in check by the regulator via the OFGEM price cap. This had a devastating affect on the companies who were supplying energy, leading to many of them failing and a consolidation of the market into fewer companies serving more customers.

So what happens if the principles of planned economic system are applied to a volatile market?

The problem arises when production costs increase. Much the same as the affect inflation is having on the labour market, and the cost of living is reducing the real value of wages, just as workers take strike action, producers take action of their own.

What action do food producers take?

In the UK, the food producers who are still in business after such a torrid period since the Ukraine war broke out have reduced their production. If producing a crop isn’t financially viable to a producer, it isn’t produced. Whereas further afield in European and North African countries, the producers will export to the market which gives them the very best return. In effect, the UK, which is alone in the use of fixed price contracts, becomes a market of last resort for exporters.

Why is this a problem?

If we continue supporting such unsustainable methods of food supply, we will inevitably arrive at a new crisis. Without wishing to be overly dramatic, I can foresee a problem on a similar scale to that of the 2008 financial crash. This time though, rather than the supply of cheap credit drying up, our food supply - the very stuff that sustains life - will be the commodity which becomes scarce.

How can we solve this problem?

I think the very best way to improve food security in the UK is to support our local, regional and national producers through the principles of Food Sovereignty. The next best way is to put pressure on the big food industry to change how they manage their supply chains. Regardless of where you choose to buy your food from, find out whether it has been responsibly sourced. While nobody wants to pay more than necessary for their groceries, if the supply chain is neither resilient nor sustainable, there will come a point where that same food is not available to buy.

Would Food Sovereignty make food more expensive?

Not necessarily. Seasonal food ought to be the best priced food available due to the abundant supply. However, when demand is taken into account, at certain times of year, produce with a short season like Asparagus, or food with a very high demand due to festive tradition, such as Lamb at Easter and Turkey at Christmas will remain expensive.

What if we ignore the problem?

This is the approach successive UK governments have taken over the last few decades. This is how we as a nation had Supermarket “shortages” last month, yet independent UK food shops and all food suppliers in countries in continental Europe were well stocked. In sharp contrast to the UK, shops in war torn Ukraine were able to supply plenty of fresh produce to their citizens, even with a severely damaged civilian infrastructure.

In short, with an increasingly chaotic geopolitical landscape, and with the existential threats posed to our ecosystem from climate change, we need to take action at an individual level now.

It’s beyond me why food supply chain resilience isn’t higher on the agenda for political parties of all colours.

The government’s own Food Tsar, Henry Dimbleby has resigned this week citing the Conservative Party’s “insane” lack of action to tackle obesity, as well as the lack of political will to change our food culture. This is potentially a terrible backward step for UK food security.

I have so much respect for the work Henry Dimbleby has done in forming The National Food Strategy for the UK government. I had really high hopes that his recommendations would be prioritised, planned for and achieved.

Unfortunately, The National Food Strategy appears to have been shelved by the government.

So it’s now up to us all to avert the next food supply crisis with a collective action in calling for improved food security and more sustainable and resilient supply lines from wherever you buy your groceries.

Thanks for reading.

Jason

Hoole Food Market Ltd.