During the second world war, Britain’s food supplies were threatened by German U-boats and the government responded with posters, urging the public to “dig for victory”, by growing vegetables. You might assume that such concerns were consigned to history. But apparently not. The issue of national food security is back on the agenda.
Earlier this month, Hilary Benn, Britain’s minister for food and rural affairs, gave a speech in which he argued that “the truth is now apparent . . . We cannot take food security for granted any more. Food security is as important to this country’s well-being as energy security”. With energy, even more than with food, the British are beginning to question their reliance on purchasing supplies on the open, world markets. This month, supplies of natural gas ran so low that almost 100 large industrial users were temporarily cut off.
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