The National Farmers’ Union (NFU) has said that it fears the UK is “sleepwalking into further food supply crises”.
President of the NFU, Minette Batters, has said that the goverment needs to act now, as “tomorrow could well be too late”.
The union today (Tuesday, December 6) said that the UK government can either back British food production in order to boost home-grown supply of sustainable food, or risk seeing more empty shelves in the nation’s supermarkets.
“With pictures of empty egg shelves and UK fruit and veg growers under massive pressure due to soaring energy costs and workforce shortages, other farming sectors could soon be under threat from immediate supply issues caused by a lack of fairness for farmers and growers throughout the supply chain,” the union said.
Batters called on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to honour the commitments he made to support British farmers.
Batters said he should support farmers through the energy crisis and set a target for the nation’s food security, with a statutory duty to report on domestic food levels.
“Shoppers up and down the country have, for decades, had a guaranteed supply of high-quality affordable food produced to some of the highest animal welfare environmental and food safety standards in the world,” Batters said.
“That food, produced with care by British farmers, is crucial to our nation’s security and success. But British food is under threat.
“Only last week, the former director general of the MI5, the Baroness Manningham-Buller, said that food is part of our critical national infrastructure, and that government needs to be consistent in planning for our food supply.
“I couldn’t agree more, particularly at a time when global volatility is threatening the stability of the world’s food production, food security and energy security.
“We need government and the wider supply chain to act now – tomorrow could well be too late.”
