Britain’s food supply is precarious – and Trump’s chaos is spreading. I have a plan. Do you? | George Monbiot

I I hate to look like a BryberryBut I am bound to admit that during the past month I was storing food. I think, if you can, you should do the same. I have put a 25 kg of rice, 15 kg of dried chickpeas, 15 kg of bread flour, 7 kilograms of usperant flour, 5 kg of oats, six liters of vegetable oil, a plate of canned tomatoes, and some dried fruits and fruits. This, with the vegetables we grow, is about two months for our family.

I hope that the chances of having to use our stock are small. But if we no longer need this insurance, we can take it. Strange as it may seem, I see this storage in support of society. Reserve building while abundant food reduces demand in a crisis. Community storage and elastic planning will be better. But I am not waiting.

Research My book RegenesisI learned about the extraordinary dependence of food imported countries on the United States. Almost 60 % of The calories cultivated by farmers Take the shape of wheat, rice, corn and soybeans. like Nations attracted In the superior confrontation and superior participants, the production of export has become largely concentrated in a few countries. US Among the largest exporters to All four goods.

A deliberate effort to cut the UK seems unlikely. But this is not the case. The problem is that even the modest discontinuation of the supply, which makes Donald Trump’s instincts more likely, may lead to a sudden global failure in the diet. The risk of interruption includes software interruptions and military attacks on the strait and channels through which Huge quantities of passing passAnd the collapse of one of the food giants for the companies who became Blower to fail.

Trump will also exacerbate environmental shocks. Gathering “The effect of injury” – The moderate weather that was replaced with a cycle of dehydration and floods – is one of the factors that can cause Classy crop failure In the growing main areas.

Since 2015, series to papers in Scientific press They warned that the global diet is The suffering of structural problems Similar to those who afflict the global financial system before 2008. There was a Fasting diversityRepetition and others The main elements of systemic flexibility. Diet shows Signs of “palpitations”Expanding fluctuations in production values ​​(such as basic commodity prices) This Pressage collapsed. Governments managed to prevent financial collapse in 2008 by issuing future funds. They cannot prevent the collapse of the diet by issuing future food.

since then, Warnings Ownership Just intense. Some governments have responded. Chinafor Japanfor Switzerland and Norway Investing in grain stocks. Food reserves not only believe against the disaster, but can be used as temporary stores for prevention Prices of height.

When I asked the UK government about whether it was carrying strategic food reserves, I got my question. When I pressed, he claimed, “We do not comment on matters related to national security.” This is a miserable excuse. Other governments maintain their staff to inform this issue and enhance confidence and reassurance. Even Boris Johnson He answered my question Frankly, in 2020, the answer was “no” at the time, and I think it remains “no” today, which explains this funny defecation.

As the National Committee for Preparing, which It was reported about food security in the United Kingdom Last month, he notes: “If the absence of politics is for fear of anxiety from the public, this is a risky strategy. The public needs to participate as part of the preparation.” Its report reveals almost comic failures by successive governments either Take the case seriously Or to indicate us to address it. They have a round race about every opportunity to enhance diet. Instead of developing a security plan, the government wears blind belief in a trade sector that we expose logistics in time to extreme danger.

Reserves are an essential but not enough to build flexibility. While taking into account that food nationalism is not the same as food security (in some respects, this is the opposite, such as global trade It protects us from the failure of the local harvestHere are some other steps that the government can take.

The UK produces a lot of pills, but very little from feeding people directly. You may be familiar with Unusual cosmetics standards Supermarkets are imposed on fruit and vegetable farmers. It may be less aware that mills and other treatments impose strict standards. To give one example, we can make bread from a wide range of flour. But as a farmer explained to me, the mills require “complete consistency. Each loaf must be the same, so each load of pills must fit the specifications. They want a protein content of more than 12 %, Hagberg decline for more than 300 and a 15 % water content. If we miss any, it will be not qualified as wheat grinding and goes to feeding animals instead, and we get a lower price. They are. They do not make concessions. Relaxation such criteria can make more foods available for human consumption.

To a large extent, it can reduce the animal products that we eat. Globally, a vegetarian diet It requires the lowest 76 % land From the current medium diet. Here, 85 % of our agricultural lands Used to feed livestock. Even the sheep, which most people only imagine on the grass, consumes Hundreds of thousands of tons From supplementary grains and oil seeds.

A government strategy to reduce livestock consumption can secure elasticity of diet and environmental flexibility, like us Noticeably unproductive highlands Return can be repeated. One thing the government does is to accelerate Approval of alternatives. Deficiency fermentationTo give one example, it can significantly enhance our protein production, which radically reduces the imports of both food and fertilizers.

Replacing food imports does only a little flexibility if it means increasing fertilizer imports, which The UK is still highly dependent. We must strive to maintain high returns with fewer inputs. If we understand the soil better, we can rely more on biology (wonderful reactions Between plants and microbesAnd less on chemistry. There was Some recent breakthroughsBut soil science is still suffering from lack of funding.

Governments need to dismantle corporate monopolies: anti -monopoly laws must be strong and intellectual property rights must be weak. They should participate in decision -making, such as Taiwan has done When you face crises. They should bear the duty to ensure that everyone, including people in poverty, at all times. Currently, if you hit the crisis, you are stuffed. Sorry, I mean starvation.

Our rulings are now besieged and stacked. I followed some of my friends and neighbors. But we do this by knowing that individual work is never enough. No one is safe until everyone becomes safe, especially those who need greater. Come on, do not give me any satisfaction. It should not come to this.