The UK Food Crisis: what is it + how can we solve it?

The UK is in the midst of a food crisis

The UK is currently ranked highest among 71 countries for the percentage of its population struggling with mental distress and wellbeing. According to the World Health Organisation, 11.3% of children and youth in the UK struggle with obesity, compared to 9.3% in the European Union and 11.9% in China.

City Harvest recently launched the second iteration of its annual People Report ‘Nourish to Flourish: How Food Boosts Mental Physical and Community Health’ at Draper’s Hall.  A keynote presentation given by Professor Tim Lang at the report’s launch illustrated the direness of the status of the UK Food System as well as the need to redefine the food policy framework and strengthen the role of government.

Structural Issues require a stronger government response

The “Tesco et al. system” mentioned by Tim Lang puts food businesses at the centre of the food system with the government relying on their technical support to solve the issues he mentions such as a “distorted market, overproduction of food, maldistribution of food, and culture out of touch with nature and seasonality.”

Yet, when concerns over Brexit and trade were expressed by the Tesco et. al group, as Tim Lang reflects in book Feeding Britain: Our Food Problems and How to Fix Them, there was a lack of considerable government action. The consequences were palpable, as illustrated in the City Harvest Food Report – between December 2019 and March 2023, Brexit added £250 to household food bills. As such, the government must strengthen their policies. Reform, through a multi-sectoral review of the UK Food System, which Tim Lang advocates for, is long overdue.

“We’ve got to rethink the policy frameworks”

Charities continue to be in demand despite “wanting to see themselves out of existence” due to the lack of government support

An excerpt from Feeding Britain: Our Food Problems and How to Fix Them:

“Voluntary action replaced declining levels of state responsibility and budgets, but, as has been found in previous times, charity can be good at highlighting need, can meet some of it, but is unable to provide lasting or adequate safety nets.”

As the City Harvest People Report has shown, there are multiple food access models that have temporarily filled the gap of government support and provide relief – from the lifesaving models like soup kitchens, refuges and hostels, through traditional food banks to community food projects, community meals and early years support.  As vocalised by Tim Lang, however, food banks are not the solution. Food banks are themselves aiming for an economy in which they do not have to exist.

In addition to poor food security, the UK suffers a health crisis facilitated by “lousy diets” as Tim Lang puts it, and the NHS is grappling with the most severe pressures in its 75-year history. Aggravating these pressures is poor diet, which contributes to 9 of the top 15 risk factors for illness, including hypertension, malnutrition, heart disease and diabetes. As the People Report highlighted, spending on malnutrition is estimated to cost the NHS £19.6bn per year, while obesity costs the NHS around £6.5bn a year. City Harvest reduces the burden on the NHS by over £3 million per year.

Self-sufficiency is at the crux of the issue with a food economy needed to support both people and the environment

According to Tim Lang, we are slowly tiptoeing into a crisis, and we must urgently rethink what we want from government. Structural solutions are urgently needed: according to Professor Lang, we must rethink our food defence and crisis management. In essence, according to Professor Lang, we need a framework created with the goal to feed all people healthily and sustainably.

A recent DEFRA report on UK food security echoes Tim Lang’s view by calling for greater self-sufficiency as the UK currently only produces 54% of its fresh vegetables, and 16% of its fruit. The City Harvest Planet report expands on Tim Lang’s thoughts by focusing on the lack of self-sufficiency within the UK Food System as there will be a 70% reduction of the most versatile farmland in the UK due to climate change. The NFU has reported that the rainfall over the UK from September 2023 to May 2024 was the greatest on record since 1836, leading to the lowest crop production in over 20 years. To expand, the NFU’s farmer confidence survey revealed that confidence levels are at their lowest across the majority of sectors since records began, with 82% of respondents citing extreme weather as a leading concern.

Food businesses are even more aware of environmental risks – 81% of City Harvest’s food donors stated that they partner with City Harvest to reduce the environmental impact of their business operations. Burgeoning prices of energy, fertiliser, fuel, and labour are primary factors identified by food donors as leading to surging costs of fresh produce. These prices have unfortunately been passed on to consumers, as both City Harvest’s Food and People reports in 2023 found that the retail sector saw an 11.1% increase in the average price of fresh produce. This affected the most deprived quintile of people who would have to spend 50% of their disposable income on food to meet the cost of the WHO-recommended healthy diet.

An excerpt from Feeding Britain: Our Food Problems and How to Fix Them on the need for a new food policy framework:  

“A multi-criteria food world is emerging where environmental, health, social and quality factors need to sit alongside price and not be subsumed by it. This new multi-criteria approach to food systems makes life more complicated but it is more real for all that. This is the approach that policymakers ought to be applying.”

Some of City Harvest’s recommendations to the government in order to support UK food security and the food system include:

• Governments can increase access to schemes to help people leave the benefit system. Earmark funding dedicated to food provision for service users and implement rigorous monitoring and evaluation methods to ensure that programmes appropriately allocate the funds. Increase funding for community and youth sector programmes.
• Governments can provide guidelines and incentives to encourage businesses to engage in food redistribution through tax subsidies, funds to support the logistics for businesses to redistribute and by simplifying liability protection laws. Governments should positively endorse and praise partnerships that reroute surplus food from premature disposal to people and charities in need.