Are we on track for food security?

Blog by Vicki Hird (Senior Campaigner – Land Use, Food and Water Security Programme).  Whilst giving evidence on UK food security in early March to MPs on the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, I was struck how many issues came up in the half hour grilling.

Predictably we spent too much time discussing whether GM crops were a valid contribution to food security. But, prompted by our evidence I suspect, the MPs did probe on other issues of great relevance to food security: whether meat eating really is a problem, ditto climate change, water use, the impact of fracking and the role of biodiversity and nature.

Are they asking the right questions?

The issue the MPs were officially pondering over was how we ensure the UK can feed itself. But what they seemed to be getting at was how can we maximise food production and exports. That’s not really the same thing; there was little mention of the alarming rise in UK food banks users and other measures of food insecurity in this country. Maybe that will come later. Maybe Jack Monroe is giving evidence. I hope so.

The real question they should be asking is how we ensure genuinely sustainable food supply and demand for everyone, everywhere. The current system is far from sustainable and as 40 per cent of the UK’s food is imported, what happens globally matters here and vice versa..

The right formula has really been nailed by Olivier De Schutter – outgoing UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, in his excellent report. He explains why there should be a greater emphasis on food sovereignty, local food production and an overhaul of trade policies that have led to a huge imbalance of production and supply globally. He identifies key issues to address including the threat of highly chemical and energy intensive agriculture, climate change impacts, poorly regulated agribusiness and overconsumption of meat.

His report should be the bible for all looking at how to ensure food security – from Westminster to Nairobi.

Having unpopular meat conversations..

One of my proposals to the MPs – that we start to set a framework here for eating less and better meat to reduce our food insecurity – was met with rather old-fashioned opposition.

This, despite the fact that our unsustainable levels of meat consumption are a threat to our food supply – we rely heavily on vulnerable imports to feed most of our livestock – and UK overconsumption massively inflates our global food footprint. Given the threat of climate change and changing global population dynamics it’s clear that we can’t continue to use so much of the global water, land and energy resource.

The view that we can’t, or should not, tackle meat consumption is not only outdated but it is also not evidence based.  My inbox overflows with peer reviewed papers and UN reports which confirm the need to reduce meat consumption as a key tool to deliver a safer future. The UN commissioned a major study on the land resource confirming current trends of unsustainable land use continue and the major role of food consumption.  Scientists in Nature provided a comprehensive analysis of why we should feed animals less human food. And research reported in Nature Climate Change, reveals how much more food producing capacity we are going to lose with a 2 degree temperature rise unless we tackle climate change. If that does provide a strong enough reason to consume land more wisely, I cannot imagine what would…

… but consumers and businesses are doing it already

In contrast to politicians, more of the buying public and even businesses are willing to listen. Flexitarianism is on the rise. And while no major food company has yet publicly committed to promoting a lower meat eating lifestyle (though they support Vegetarian week), they are providing more and more meat free options. And behind the scenes many retailers will say they are looking at the issue. If they are measuring their carbon and water impact then meat is a major hotspot they just can’t avoid.

Mindful that the MPs are still deliberating on their task, I sincerely hope they use the evidence above in their final report and propose a major change in Government food and farming policy. They should demand a shift away from intensive, chemical fuelled farming and promoting food exports towards climate resilient, agro-ecological farming supported by fair players in supply chains and sustainable diets. Ideally they would recommend that the Government adopt the Green Food sustainable diet principles which have already had stakeholder approval. They could even influence their new food procurement standards for schools, currently under consultation. And if they won’t listen to me, many other expert witnesses such as Professor Tim Benton Professor of Population Ecology at the University of Leeds and champion of the UK’s Global Food Security Programme made the same point about eating less meat during his own MP evidence sessions.

And finally…. If you fancy taking a bit of action personally and in your community you could take up the Meat Free May challenge to see how easy it is to eat less and better meat and have a look at the Eat Smart action pack full of tips, ideas and tools to promote eating better amongst your family and friends.