Why Are We Worried About Food Security, And Not About Food Purity?

What’s worrying French supermarket bosses should be prompting British ministers to action. On Sunday, hackers forced up the temperatures of refrigerators in hundreds of food stores across France to as high as 50C, resulting in waste and fires. Beyond the immediate destruction and inconvenience, it raised the prospect of other malicious actors finding new ways to play havoc with the food chain.

 Well, how stupid is it to sync all your fridges together and not password protect them?

Only weeks before, 150 experts together warned the British government that it does not have a plan to feed people in a crisis ­– and that the west is entering an era in which not only disruption but the weaponisation of food is a real possibility.

If so, the government has opened the door when they sanctioned actions like these.

The Covid pandemic was a salutary reminder of how vulnerable modern systems are – a shock for consumers used to strawberries in October.

i remember no lack of strawberries in the first lockdown, or the second. In fact, no shortages of anything, even the infamous toilet rolls. 

One issue is overall supply in the UK, which imports about 40% of its food. But affordability, logistics, distribution and nutrition are also essential components of food security.

But not knowledge of whether your meat is religiously slaughtered, of course. Or whether it contains an additive you don’t need and would rather not consume. 

The government has encouraged households to stockpile several days’ worth of tinned goods and bottled water in case of an emergency.

As long as you have the room to store it all in, of course.  

Real improvement requires a structural shift away from the “leave it to Tesco” approach decried by Prof Tim Lang, a leading food-policy expert.

Why wouldn't we want to leave it to them? They know what they are doing, after all -who else should we leave it to?

Geographical distribution – including relocalisation of food production – is also central. Almost 95% of retail food comes via 131 food-distribution centres. Disruption to just one supermarket chain’s infrastructure could have a mammoth impact.

Experts have rightly called for food supply shortages and disruption to be included as risks in their own right in the national security risk assessment. There is also a strong case for a dedicated national food council to focus on food security.

Oh, the State? Well, I think you can imagine how much I think of that idea! 

How About 'No'!

BBC News should be on streaming sites and social media to justify a new universal levy, the head of the corporation has said.The BBC is predominantly funded by the £180 annual licence fee, which is currently under review. Director-general Matt Brittin, the former head in Europe of Google, believes the corporation is 'held back' by the fee, which is 'no longer fit for purpose', and has suggested a household levy could be an alternative funding option.

So, to combat the fact that fewer and fewer people are paying for your service (legitimately or not) you want to force everyone to pay for it instead by putting it on general taxation? Congratulations on beating big Hollywood stars, young socialists and trans men to the top of the entitlement charts.

He told the BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme: 'What we need to look at is the current model. 'You pay the licence fee if you watch live TV or you're on iPlayer. I'd like to see reform that allows us to be where audiences are. 'I think BBC content should be on Netflix, on YouTube, on TikTok, on Spotify, and Instagram, and everywhere where audiences are. 'Particularly news, actually, which I think is part of disinfecting misinformation. It's our job to be everywhere.'

The BBC claiming to be against misinformation is a sick joke. 

Mr Brittin clarified that the universal household bill is just one of a number of ideas that are being discussed during the renewal process. He said that the model has been used in many other countries to fund public media and would ensure a level of fairness.

Are you considering a subscription model, so those who want your service can buy it? That’s the fairest option, surely? 

And when asked why everybody should pay the proposed charge, Mr Brittin said: 'Ninety-four per cent of households every month are consuming BBC content. That's incredible, yet only 80 per cent are paying. 'So there's a fairness issue there in terms of how we fund the BBC and I think that the principle is if we want a BBC that's for everyone, then it needs to be funded by everyone, and how you get that modernisation is critical.'

I'm not as hopeful as Longrider that the green paper conclusions will be heeded in the face of such rapacious entittlement. What say you, Reader?