If disaster strikes, will there be enough to eat? Britain should be prepared – but it isn’t | Tim Lang

“yourEEP calmness and continuity. ”

Weedvil delusions are ready to deal with the crises we may face. Review the UK Civil Food Condition for a Report of the National Preparation CommitteeI found that there is, in fact, the little preparation that takes place, and a little interest that gives the audience’s involvement.

The framework of the official government flexibility has three sound principles: First, follow the “society entirely” approach; Second, prevention is better than treatment; Third, building a common understanding of risks. But what does this mean in practice? Not enough. I found out of Whitehall looked, whenever you decrease participating in people.

On the morning of May 22 of last year, hours before summoning the general elections, Governor MP Oliver Doden, Deputy Prime Minister, said at the Defense Industries conference that he wanted to store everyone in the United Kingdom Three days of food and water.

But this is rarely realistic. For individuals competing for competing financial demands, food is the flexible element in their budget. Fixed costs come first. There are other problems too. 2025 Food Foundation Broken panel The reports stipulate the following: “Healthy foods are more than twice the cost of calories from less healthy and less healthy food An idea about the solution of “the whole society” evaporates.

The National Risk Registry, the official list of the UK consisting of 89 risks facing the United States, barely recognizes food. It indicates only one danger: Food supply pollutionAnd this is on page 122 in the 2025 Document. However, almost all the opinion of the experts that I dealt with in the challenges of short and long -term food security. Think of power outages, ransom attacks, artificial/robot intelligence attacks, internet failure, selection points, and trade disruption. Think of geopolitical shrinkage, the spread of war and public conflicts, and the general panic that is led by information. In addition, there are all effects of climate heating: the loss of biological diversity, a little water or a little water, and soil erosion.

It may raise the conscience of the central government planners to put it Emergency preparation advice To a website, but it is clear that it is not enough. I have developed two countries that you examined, Latvia and Sweden, practical advice. Last year, Sweden produced a significant redirect to its nutritional policy and intends to build more diversity in its diet, including the creation of dispersed national food stores. Sweden also has new legislation, which makes it a responsibility of municipal mayors to ensure that they are all feed in a crisis. The storage was essential to preparing for crises throughout the history of mankind, but in the modern world only Switzerland retains National Food Store.

So what should we do? for me a report He argues that public protection depends on working on national, regional, societal and family levels. Just tell the audience to store food is ridiculous. I also told me the interviews, of the imagination that everyone can take care of themselves. Flexibility is not a bolt feature. It arises from how the diet works, and how we communicate with each other.

For more than half a century, food companies have followed lean efficiency. The only storage, as the logistics industry told me, is what is on the highway in the trucks. “Time” management He hates storage. For this reason I suggest that we turn into “Only in the case”.

This requires societal work, not just advice from top to bottom. There are already UK societies, towns and some cities that see the need for this. In Yorkshire, and Fixourfood coalition Of the societies, suppliers and academics have created a network of advice and knowledge about who can do what now. in Fleinchire and Edinburgh The gardeners have society experimental alternatives to our dependence on adult retailers. Building community solidarity is practical.

“We tell our people that if Russia is invaded, the government will collapse,” said Latvon. This advice is not provided to intimidate people but rather focus the audience’s attention until people know how to help themselves and each other if shocks occur. Each family has a set of cards that contain this information.

The first rule of planning for flexibility is to try to prevent crises in the first place through a sustainable diet. But the two rule number is to help build capacity to apostasy after hitting shocks. Things will not be the same. A country is expected to be on the shelves 364 days per year (except for Christmas Day) only is not ready for shocks. the Project for future food factors The societies in Bradford and the Hamlet Tower in London were asking for the evaluation of emergency diets that they had by drawing “societal food assets” maps. I think this is necessary. The local cafe or the bar may be the place where simple meals can be cooked after a shock.

In a bound official meeting that attended last year, we were all asked about the number of us. “Grab a bag– A pregnant woman you can start from your shoulder to escape when you hit the danger, with essentials such as a passport, bank details, phone, charger, switches, glasses, medicines, children’s necessities, criticism, contact and food details. We also asked about a number of us kept an emergency store. Most of them kept the bag. Less number of the emergency store of the food store.

But it is easier to prepare the seizure bag more than the position of heavy and expensive food stores, and less than water, which you need more in the short term. The Swiss Federal Office for Civil Protection Mention its citizens They can go without food for 30 days, but without water for only three. The truth is that we are the UK citizens in a fictional world – the legacy of the British Empire – that a far away will always feed us. At the same time, the work knows that there are very large shocks so that it cannot be dealt with. The Ministry of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs says 2025 is the year It treats food security and flexibility. It must. Only the government can provide the desired trend. The public must keep it, and we hope before disaster strikes.

• Tim Lang, Fakhri Professor of Food Policy at the Center food Politics, City Saint George, University of London