Food: Production

Question

The UK has a highly resilient food supply chain, as demonstrated throughout the Covid-19 response. It is well equipped to deal with situations with the potential to cause disruption. Our high degree of food security is built by supply from diverse sources; strong domestic production as well as imports through stable trade routes. This provides us with the resilience we need in the face of risks such as adverse weather, animal or crop disease, or transport and border disruption.

Our production to supply ratio remains high in comparison with historical levels. We produce 60% of all the food we need, and 74% of food which we can grow or rear in the UK for all or part of the year, and these figures have changed little over the last 20 years. The UK’s year-round production includes cereals, meats, milk and some fresh produce, and we have close to 100% production to supply ratios in poultry, turnips, carrots and swedes.

The UK Food Security Report recognises the contribution made by British farmers to our resilience, and the importance of strong domestic production to our food security. It considers the UK's food supply sources overall, noting that domestic production and diversity of supply are both important to our food security. The UKFSR summarises existing information and understanding. It serves as an evidence base for future policy work, and does not contain policy recommendations.