{"id":90591,"date":"2026-07-26T10:52:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-26T10:52:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/90591\/"},"modified":"2026-07-26T10:52:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-26T10:52:13","slug":"the-european-countries-preparing-for-war-by-stockpiling-food","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/90591\/","title":{"rendered":"The European countries preparing for war by stockpiling food"},"content":{"rendered":"

In his speech in Manchester last month setting out his vision for government, Andy Burnham<\/a> placed food alongside energy and defence as one of the UK\u2019s critical sectors at the core of national security.<\/p>\n

But British harvests devastated by wetter autumn and winters and hotter, drier springs and summers<\/a>, as well as the ongoing blockade of the Strait of Hormuz still affecting global supply chains, are making the issue of food security even more urgent.<\/p>\n

And there are some in Westminster and industry who want the UK to follow countries around the world to start stockpiling food on a national level in case the current pressures turn into a catastrophe.<\/p>\n

In March, Sir Keir Starmer\u2019s government said it had \u201cno plans\u201d to stockpile food because the UK\u2019s supply chains are robust. But with a new, more proactive regime in No 10, could the new Prime Minister order a rethink?<\/p>\n

England is on the brink of drought<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, the Environment Agency declared that eight regions out of 14 in England are experiencing prolonged dry weather, one stage before official drought status.<\/p>\n

Large parts of central and southern England have had no rainfall throughout July, and there have already been three heatwaves this summer.<\/p>\n

The Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit says three of the worst five harvests in the UK have occurred in the past decade, due to very dry spring and summer months followed by wetter-than-average winters.<\/p>\n

Empty supermarket shelves<\/p>\n

This week Sainsbury\u2019s warned customers that stocks of cucumbers were running low due to the intense heat hitting growers in Europe and North Africa, while there are fears of shortages for other salad crops predominantly imported by the UK.<\/p>\n

But it is not just fresh produce at risk: Coceral, which represents European cereals and oilseed companies, warned this week that the recent heatwave has destroyed 9 million tonnes of crops including wheat, barley, maize and oats.<\/p>\n

This is likely to push up the price of staple foods and fuel calls for Britain to be more self-sufficient.<\/p>\n

Could the UK start stockpiling food?<\/p>\n

The government says it has \u201cno plans\u201d yet for nationwide, industry-level stockpiles of food.<\/p>\n

In a written answer to the Green peer Baroness Bennett in March, environment minister Baroness Hayman said in response to the war in Iran the government was conducting \u201cextensive, regular and ongoing engagement in preparedness for, and in response to, issues with the potential to cause disruption to food supply chains\u201d.<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cDefra works closely with the Cabinet Office and other departments to ensure food supply is fully incorporated as part of emergency preparedness, including consideration of dependencies on other sectors.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe UK does not have national food stockpiles or plans to create these. The UK has a food supply chain that is well equipped to deal with any potential disruption. The UK\u2019s food security is built on supply from diverse sources including strong domestic production and imports through stable trade routes.\u201d<\/p>\n

But in a Lords debate on resilience<\/a> earlier this month, Bennett warned that ministers were keeping the public \u201cin ignorance\u201d about the seriousness of food security, adding: \u201cBeing honest and open with the public about the fact that we have a huge food security issue and need to think about changing our entire food system to tackle this, and in the meantime providing points of security along the way, is crucial.\u201d<\/p>\n

Government admits food is a \u2018national security\u2019 issue<\/p>\n

A report by Defra, published in January, warned that \u201cglobal ecosystem degradation and collapse threaten UK national security and prosperity\u201d.<\/p>\n

It added: \u201cThe world is already experiencing impacts including crop failures, intensified natural disasters and infectious disease outbreaks. <\/p>\n

\u201cThreats will increase with degradation and intensify with collapse. Without major intervention to reverse the current trend, this is highly likely to continue to 2050 and beyond.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Government spokesperson said: \u201cWe will always protect the food security of this country and are backing British farmers to create a sustainable future for farming.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re also investing billions in the development of new technology to increase yields and developing climate resilient crops to help farmers produce more food.\u201d<\/p>\n

Industry wants more support to be resilient<\/p>\n

The Food and Drink Federation says stockpiling is \u201cone route\u201d to making the UK\u2019s supply chains more resilient, but would come at a cost.<\/p>\n

Balwinder Dhoot, director of growth and sustainability at the FDF, said: \u201cDisruption is becoming the new norm for the food system, whether it is geopolitics or climate-related risks.<\/p>\n

\u201cManufacturers will have different strategies for dealing with this uncertainty to make sure they have future supply available. <\/p>\n

\u201cStoring additional stock is one route but does come at a cost, adding to the pressure that food and drink manufacturers face. As the cost of producing food in the UK continues to go up we risk offshoring production overseas.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"WomanThe Food and Drink Federation says stockpiling is \u2018one route\u2019 to making the UK\u2019s supply chains more resilient, but would come at a cost (Photo: Getty)<\/p>\n

The National Farmers\u2019 Union does not back stockpiling but has called for increased resilience for domestic production.<\/p>\n

NFU vice president Robyn Munt said: \u201cGlobal supply chain shocks \u2013 from extreme weather to intense geopolitical conflict \u2013 have exposed the stark vulnerability of our food system.<\/p>\n

\u201cBritish farmers and growers are the bedrock of our nation, but we cannot expect them to continuously shield consumers from these shocks without a long-term plan.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo drive success, our farmers and growers need to know they\u2019ll have the workforce they rely on, regulation which supports efficiency and growth, and a planning system that drives investment in much-needed farm infrastructure such as poultry sheds and on-farm water storage.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, what do other countries do?<\/p>\n

Finland<\/p>\n

Due to its 832-mile land border with Russia, Finland has robust plans not only for defence but food security and resilience. <\/p>\n

Finland has a strategic grain reserve of wheat, oats, barley and rye stored in high-security facilities across the country. <\/p>\n

The stockpile can sustain Finland\u2019s population of 5.6 million for nine months in the event of a major disruption to either global supply chains or domestic production.<\/p>\n

On a household-level, citizens are advised to keep enough food and water for 72 hours in case of emergency, as well as home emergency supplies including first aid kits, iodine tablets, a battery-powered radio, torch, power bank, portable stove, toilet paper and duct tape.<\/p>\n

Sweden<\/p>\n

In March this year, after the start of the Iran war, the Swedish government began stockpiling food supplies on a national level for the first time since the Cold War.<\/p>\n

Civil defence minister Carl-Oskar Bohlin announced that Stockholm would be spending 1.4bn kr (around \u00a3108m) on building emergency reserves of grain, seeds, fertilisers and processed food as well as fuel and power generators.<\/p>\n

Sweden\u2019s 10.7 million people are already told to stock up on water and are given advice on how to access the news if there is a power cut.<\/p>\n

Switzerland<\/p>\n

The landlocked Central European country has been stockpiling food and other emergency supplies for decades, both on a national and household level.<\/p>\n

Private food producers are required to store up to four months\u2019 worth of wheat, rice, cooking oil and sugar, as well as two to three months\u2019 worth of animal feed.<\/p>\n

The country is reportedly looking to extend its stockpiles to 12 months in light of the worsening global supply chain and climate situation.<\/p>\n

India<\/p>\n

After Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, India started stockpiling rice and wheat, imposing export curbs on two of its biggest commodities.<\/p>\n

Those restrictions were lifted earlier this year but after the US and Israel began air strikes on Iran, leading to a blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, the country has continued to stockpile the two grains.<\/p>\n

The stockpiles are also driven by fears of ongoing climate change-related heatwaves which have damaged harvests.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In his speech in Manchester last month setting out his vision for government, Andy Burnham placed food alongside…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":90592,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[1812,14,38817,5,6,462],"class_list":["post-90591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-uk","tag-food","tag-politics","tag-stockpiling","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-war"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/116985904781341380","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90591","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90591"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90591\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}