Food security policy and its impact

Food security associated with the availability and accessibility of food products in one country (Pinstrup-Andersen, 2009). Therefore, it is critical to consider the role of both supply and demand-side in relation to UK food security. A study by the Houses of Parliament (2017) demonstrated that the supply side will include the UK farmers and international suppliers, especially from European Union (EU) while the demand side will concern with consumers’ behaviour.

In term of the supply side, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural (Defra) established the “Sustainable Farming and Food Strategy” policy (SFFS) in 2002. The policy considered challenges for UK food security in the long-term due to social and environmental factors such as climate change, etc. (Defra, 2002). The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is also a scheme to support farmers to improve agricultural productivity hence, increase suppliers’ abilities in providing affordable food (European Commission, 2019). In 2015, the CAP provided UK farmers more than €959 million to manage the rural environment which will support UK food security (Houses of Parliament, 2017). However, most of the UK regulation and policy are embedded with the EU legislation and more than 1,600 pieces are related to food or farming (Strong & Wells, 2020). Due to Brexit, the CAP is likely to be replaced by a new agricultural policy to support suppliers (Houses of Parliament, 2017). This policy can help suppliers with the availability of agricultural labour, increasing automation to raise higher productivity.

The diagram above represented UK food imports and exports in 2016 by Defra (Houses of Parliament, 2017). It showed that the UK depends on the importation of fruit, vegetables and meats heavily which mostly come from Spain and the Netherlands. With the incoming Brexit, this is a foreseeable challenge for UK food accessibility. For example, consumers must pay a higher price for their food as tariff and barriers are applied due to Brexit (Islam, 2020). Consequently, the new agricultural policy and Defra’s SFFS are needed to assist the national farming hence, ensure consumers can access to food products at a reasonable price. In the hospitality industry, especially foodservice sector, this will increase their variable costs hence, negatively influence the profitability.

In term of demand-side, the Houses of Parliament (2017) has suggested reducing food waste by altering consumer behaviours. The Houses of Parliament (2017) has also considered the fact that there are areas in the UK which have a relatively high level of food insecurity.

The chart of the number of emergency food supplies by the Trussell Trust indicated that the level of food insecurity in the UK was rising (BBC, 2019). Moreover, the Houses of Parliament (2017) mentioned that up to 8 million UK people are in poverty. Therefore, it suggests that several people are unable to get access to food products. Hence, by increasing consumer awareness, there is a possibility that the government can improve the food security situation for low-income families.

The recent panic-buying during the global pandemic (coronavirus) has posted short-term food insecurity to people in the UK. Most food items in supermarkets are quickly purchased in a few hours after WHO confirmed the pandemic. Supermarkets in the UK has declared that food manufacturing has increased its production to meet the unexpected peak demand (BBC, 2020).

However, the panic-buying led to a 30 per cent increase in household food waste (Circular, 2020). It can be said that as consumers’ fear of the pandemic increase, stockpile behaviour will also increase. Hence, it suggested that consumers’ attitude is a crucial role in improving food security in the UK. So, to reduce the possibility of having panic-buying again, the government needs to assure people of suppliers’ abilities in providing food products. This will reduce the amount of household food waste thus, improve UK food security during the pandemic.

Nevertheless, during the pandemic, most hospitality businesses are temporarily closed. Even so, there are many UK foodservice entities have donated meals to critical care unit doctors and nurses in hospitals. For example, the restaurant Cosmo in Manchester delivered meals to Salford Royal staff to support the NHS staff (Salford Royal, 2020). It is a method to educate hospitality employees of food security and get involved in behaving ethically simultaneously. According to Carroll’s pyramid of corporate social responsibility (1991), this is considered as a philanthropy responsibilities action. It is likely to increase consumers’ trust in the restaurant thus, increased customers’ brand loyalty for the business.

Overall, due to Brexit, UK food security has become a critical issue for the UK government. Food accessibility and availability must be guaranteed even when the UK is no longer a part of the EU. Therefore, by having a strong policy to support national agriculture, the UK government can manage the supply chain to meet consumers’ demand. Moreover, UK consumers and employees’ awareness should be considered to minimise stockpiling behaviour to support food security. In conclusion, food security policy has an enormous impact on different industries, especially the hospitality sector.

References:

BBC (2019) Food bank supplies help record numbers. [Online] [Accessed on 15th October 2020] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-48037122

BBC(2020) Coronavirus: Shoppers told to buy responsibly. [Online] [Accessed on 15th October 2020] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-51989721

Carroll, A. B. (1991) The Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility: Toward the Moral Management of Organisational Stakeholders. Business Horizons 34(4), 39-48. [Online] DOI: 10.1016/0007-6813(91)90005-G

Circular (2020) Household food waste rises 30% in two weeks, according to online retailers. [Online] [Accessed on 15th October 2020] https://www.circularonline.co.uk/news/household-food-waste-rises-30-in-two-weeks-according-to-online-retailer/

Defra (2002) The Strategy for Sustainable Farming and Food: Facing the Future. Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

European Commission (2019) The common agricultural policy at a glance. [Online] [Accessed on 15th October 2020] https://ec.europa.eu/info/food-farming-fisheries/key-policies/common-agricultural-policy/cap-glance_en

Houses of Parliament (2017) Security of UK Food Supply. Parliamentary Office of Science & Technology. Post Note 556.

Islam, F. (2020) Shoppers could pay more after no-deal Brexit. BBC News.[Online] [Accessed on 8th October 2020] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-54287283

Pinstrup-Andersen, P. (2009) Food Security: Definition and Measurement. Food Sec, 1, 5-7. [Online] DOI: 10.1007/s12571-008-0002-y

Salford Royal (2020) Manchester restaurant delivers hot meals to Salford Royal staff. [Online] [Accessed on 15th October 2020] https://www.srft.nhs.uk/media-centre/latest-news/news-archive/news-2020/cosmo-food-donation/

Strong, H. and Wells, R. (2020) Brexit-related food issues in the UK print media: setting the agenda for post-Brexit food policy. British Food Journal, 122(7), 2187-2201. [Online] DOI: 10.1108/BFJ-08-2019-0582