There is a notable decrease in food secure households in the UK according to a report from the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
This has coincided with increased financial pressures to household budgets from both high general inflation and high food inflation.
The ‘United Kingdom Food Security Report 2024’ reveals that the proportion of food secure households declined from 92% in financial year ending (FYE) 2020 to 90% in FYE 2023.
According to the report, there has been a notable rise in inflation both overall and for the category of food and non-alcoholic beverages since the beginning of 2021.
Food price inflation was higher than general inflation and spiked to 45-year highs in 2022 and 2023. Inflation rates are now returning to pre-pandemic levels.
Over the last three years, inflation for food and non-alcoholic beverages peaked in March 2023 at 19.2% while overall inflation peaked in October 2022 at 9.6%.
Household food security, according to Defra, is defined as access by all people at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life.
The report also revealed that rates of food insecurity vary greatly by demographics, with a notable difference in levels and experiences between income groups.
Low-income and disabled groups continued to be at disproportionately high risk of household food insecurity and its potential negative impacts.
General inflation including energy price increases have heightened the risk of these households needing to make difficult trade-offs with their food budgets, according to Defra.
Defra report
Other findings in the Defra report show that the levels of trust in Food Standards Agency (FSA) and Food Standards Scotland (FSS) have remained relatively high.
Consumers’ trust in the FSA and FSS to ensure that food is safe to eat remains high at greater than 80%.
There has been an increase in consumers reporting concerns (prompted) about food prices since 2021. In 2023, food prices became the top food-related prompted concern among UK consumers.
93% of respondents surveyed in Scotland were concerned about the cost of food. 72% in England, Wales and Northern Ireland highlighted concerns about food prices.
Due to differences in data collection, survey results from England, Wales and Northern Ireland cannot be compared with those from Scotland, according to the report.
Meanwhile, the UK’s overall balance of trade and production is broadly stable. The UK continues to source food from domestic production and trade at around an overall 60:40 ratio.
The production-to-supply ratio was at 62% for all food and 75% for indigenous foods (meaning those that can be grown in the UK) in 2023, showing a small increase from 61% and 74% in 2021.
Extreme weather events continue to have a significant effect on domestic production, particularly arable crops, fruit and vegetables.
Production levels fluctuate each year due to changes in both planted area and yields, with weather conditions having a significant influence among other factors, according to Defra.
In 2019 UK cereal production (25.5mt) was the highest this century, whereas in 2020 production (19.0mt) was the second lowest largely due to bad weather.
The published first estimate of the 2024 English cereal and oilseed harvest shows a 22% decrease (around 2.8mt) in harvested wheat from 2023.
Imports
The UK continues to be highly dependent on imports to meet consumer demand for fruit, vegetables and seafood, which are significant sources of micronutrients for consumers.
The report outlined that many of the countries the UK imports these foods from are subject to their own climate-related challenges and sustainability risks
Domestic production of fresh fruit increased slightly from 15% of total UK supply in 2021 to 16% in 2023.
While this is a continuation of the long-term upward trend from 8% in 2003 it shows ongoing consumer demand for non-indigenous produce.
Long term decline in the UK’s natural capital is a pressing risk to UK food production. Both productivity and sustainability of food production rely on ecosystem services provided by biodiversity, healthy soil and clean water, the Defra report stated.
However, the decline in natural capital is slowing and levelling against some key indicators. The all-species indicator in England shows a decline in abundance to just under 70% of the 1970 value.
This trend levels around the year 2000 and over the past five years, fluctuations in the all-species indicator are not considered to represent meaningful change.
Political reaction
Following the release of this report, Orkney and Shetland MP Alistair Carmichael has called on the government to recognise rural communities as “essential” to UK food security.
He explained that the report also found that labour shortages following the UK’s departure from the European Union and a spike in fertiliser costs following Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine were having a significant impact on the food supply chain.
“This report is a stark reminder that farmers and rural communities are essential to our food security, our economy and indeed to the future of our environment. We should be celebrating and supporting their work, not undermining it,” Carmichael said,
“Farmers already had to suffer the consequences of botched trade deals under the previous government – and the impact of Covid-19 and the war in Ukraine – so the last thing we need is to introduce yet more harm through an ill-thought-out tax on family farms.
“The government needs to think carefully about its next steps.
“Time and again I have heard from ministers past and present that ‘food security is national security’. It is about time that they explained what this means in practice – and how they are going to ensure that family farmers can deliver food security for us all for generations to come,” the MP concluded.
