A “PERFECT storm” of Brexit, Covid and the war in Ukraine is threatening the country’s food security, according to Scottish producers.
And unless action is taken there will be food supply issues not seen since the Second World War, they claim.
Now voters have been asked to put pressure on politicians over the issue in the run-up to the local elections this week.
“Unless we act now and ensure our domestic production systems continue to deliver, we will see real food supply problems in the not-too-distant future,” said Martin Kennedy, a tenant farmer from Aberfeldy and president of the National Farmers’ Union Scotland (NFU Scotland).
Last week he led a delegation to Westminster to highlight the growing impact that surging costs linked to fertiliser, fuel, energy, animal feed and labour are having on the nation’s ability to produce food.
“Post-Brexit labour shortages and other ongoing Brexit issues such as the loss of the seed potato market to Europe were also high on the agenda,” Kennedy said.
He warned that the pig sector is “about to implode” while the egg and poultry industry is also in crisis and Brexit labour shortages are “crippling” the fruit and vegetable sector.
“We already know that, because of this, many fruit and veg growers have already made the decision to cut back on production or in fact stop growing completely,” said Kennedy. “This will again have a huge impact on future supply.”
Grain growers and cattle and sheep producers are also struggling with increased costs, meaning a contraction in those sectors is likely, according to Kennedy.
“This perfect storm – and I don’t use the term lightly – driven by Brexit, Covid and now Ukraine will have repercussions for years to come,” he said. “We will continue to play our part as food producers, but we simply cannot do that without proper support and prices for the quality we produce.
“We will continue to lobby governments on both sides of the Border to maximise domestic energy supplies to keep energy costs as low as possible, and we will also continue to push supermarkets to support domestic production, or we will not have a domestic production to support.”
Kennedy urged voters to raise the issue at the elections, adding that food producers were already working with local authorities to promote local sourcing on public procurement.
“This must be at the core of the Good Food Nation Bill as it continues its journey through the Scottish Parliament,” he said.
Shoppers could also help by buying Scottish food products.
“That way we might have a chance of not only retaining our own food supply, but by doing so will also maintain the environment we have in Scotland that’s the envy of many across the world,” Kennedy said.
He added that while climate change and biodiversity were important issues that had to be addressed, food production had to be at the centre of any future decision made around land use.
Kennedy said: “Unless governments and supermarkets wake up pretty soon, we will be looking at food security concerns that we have not seen since World War Two.”
