While we might be enjoying the sunshine, the extreme heat and lack of rain are creating some very real challenges for food production. British vegetables should be coming into their seasonal peak right now. Instead, growers are reporting significant losses across crops including broccoli, peas, carrots, potatoes, lettuce and tomatoes.
And it’s not just here. Some of the countries we rely heavily on for imported fruit and vegetables – including Spain, Portugal and Morocco – are also experiencing difficult growing conditions.
The result?
Less food, more imports and higher prices. All of this is happening alongside a cost-of-living crisis that is already putting enormous pressure on household budgets.
So what can we do? I’m not suggesting we all need to become completely self-sufficient or start stockpiling food. But I do think this is a good moment to think about resilience. Because the more of our food that travels through long, complicated supply chains, the more vulnerable we are to things happening somewhere else in the world.
Growing even a little food at home shortens that supply chain considerably.
A few pots of herbs
Some salad leaves
Tomatoes
Beans
Potatoes
Fruit bushes
A few extra things grown in the garden that can be shared with family, friends or neighbours. And when we can, buying from local growers means keeping more of our food pounds within our own communities and knowing a little more about where our food has come from.
It doesn’t have to be all or nothing. Every little bit we can grow, buy locally, preserve, share or learn to produce ourselves is a small act of resilience. And perhaps that’s one of the most useful things we can take from a difficult year like this.
Not fear
Not panic
But a reminder that we have more power than we sometimes realise.
Credit:
People’s Food & Farming Alliance
https://www.the-pffa.org/
