How has the wet winter impacted the UK growing season this year, and how can we respond to it?
Last winter was one of the wettest winters on record. Heavy rainfall, waterlogged fields and warmer weather harmed soil health, ruined crops, and destroyed plant growth in many UK farms, significantly reducing our fresh food supply. Climate Action have reported that wheat self-sufficiency is estimated to decline from 92% to 68% this year which is a worrying statistic for UK self-sufficiency.
Climate breakdown is the obvious overarching cause of these environmental conditions, as wetter, warmer winters are growing more common due to global heating. This has led to the UK being forced to outsource food production, which is worrying for many reasons. When the natural growing conditions are no longer favourable, food is grown in artificial environments requiring vast amounts of energy which dramatically increase carbon emissions. This is further exacerbated by the increasing transportation of food on a global scale. Global heating becomes a cruel cycle when we have to cope with climate heating by using methods which create more carbon emissions in the process.
UK farmers and growers have been hit hard by the wet winter. Crop failure being one of the most significant factors in undermining the viability of farming. The vulnerability of food producers has contributed to the instability in food retail; prices have shot up in supermarkets, in part due to environmental impacts, leaving many families struggling. The way that our weather has such a negative knock-on effect on our food system should act as a wake up call to take climate breakdown much more seriously.
As an organisation whose primary motivation is to transform the food system, we want to bring wider awareness of these issues. The wet growing season has impacted us too; our local farmers and suppliers have been struggling in the North-West. We always prioritise produce from within 45 miles to reduce food miles and support local growers, but this has been particularly challenging with the impact of the wet weather.
One way we have responded to these challenges is to be extra flexible in the produce we have sourced from our growers. For example, a slug infestation from the endless rain meant that a crop of lettuces from Kindling Market Garden were unusable, so we accepted a novel salad mix as an alternative.
While we spent most of this spring and summer in our wellies, much of Southern Europe experienced extreme drought. The Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit has reported that “the price of a bottle of olive oil has increased by 136% since June 2021 from £3.64 to £8.60 a bottle, after record breaking heat and back to back droughts hit the olive harvest in Spain, the world’s largest producer.” This shows that even in countries relatively close geographically, extreme and unusual weather can differ massively. It is global heating which has caused these unpredictable, extreme spells of weather which is responsible for destabilising our food production and supply.
There are so many hidden stages to food arriving on the shelves at our supermarkets. Lots of produce, especially when it is out of season, has travelled thousands of miles to get to us, the European Union has reported that “global food miles generate nearly 20% of all CO2 emissions from food.” Globalisation has come with many incredible benefits, like connectivity, the internet, and sharing of culture, but it has also come with some extremely damaging impacts, like the organisation of the global food management system. It makes much more sense for food systems to be localised for a multitude of reasons. If carrots can be grown on our doorsteps, then why do we import them? Lower cost is usually the reason, but we will ultimately pay a much, much higher price than we could have ever imagined when we continue to destroy our planet by making our decisions based on private profit, no matter the repercussions.
Another major reason that supporting locally sourced food projects is so important, is that it helps create food security. Due to climate breakdown, our world is becoming evermore insecure. Extreme weather events like flooding, drought and storms mean that many parts of the world are at risk. Relying on countries which are thousands of miles away to provide us with food is a risk, as ecosystems can collapse and crops can be destroyed in an instant, leaving the UK unprepared to feed the population, even though we have the capacity to do so. Even the recent Covid19 pandemic has shown us how quickly circumstances can change. It is easy to view food supply as stable and permanent but there is no guarantee that it will be reliable if climate change worsens. Food security should be of top priority to everyone, as access to food is a fundamental need of every human being. This year more than ever has shown the importance of lowering carbon emissions and creating local food security. We want to support local North-West growers and create a food supply network on a much more sustainable level than our supermarkets. The recent weather conditions are just the beginning of climate struggles for the UK, so now more than ever it's important to pour our investment and time into local food networks.
The only route to real food security is food sovereignty - meaning that localised communities of food producers, distributors and consumers take back social control of their own food systems, moving away from the current system of corporate controlled industrial agriculture.
Localisation, social ownership, organic growing methods - all crucial steps towards food sovereignty, and all aspects we are proud to be supporting in the development of our sister organisation Kindling Farm.
