On the 6th & 7th of October Chatham House held a conference on Food Security in the 21st Century. In itself this suggests that there is a problem worth considering, and the list of presenters emphasises its importance: The Rt Hon Hilary Benn MP, Secretary of State for DEFRA; Prof. John Beddington, Government Chief Scientific Adviser; and Joseph Glauber, Chief Economist, US Department of Agriculture among others.

We didn’t have a ticket, but the reported outcomes are interesting reading. The Guardian has a copy of the draft report, to be released in November, and states:

The UK’s food system is unable to cope with rapid changes in supply driven by climate change, rising energy prices and population growth.

 That seems pretty clear, and it appears they are prepared to start to think the unthinkable - that the free market for food will not provide an answer for the whole population:

Consumers are likely to have to accept a shift from individual preferences to a system in which government and industry have to ensure the food that is sold reflects the wider needs of society.

They go on to discuss the rising pressures on UK food supply from developing world appetites, water supply and climate change issues, but even without these we face one overriding fact:

UK consumers use food at a rate that represents six times more land and sea than is available to them.

That seems to me to be the clearest indication yet that we have a problem. Lets get on with the solution.

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