OUR PURPOSE 

Develop food security for generations to come

Addressing the Climate and Biodiversity Crises

By 2030, UK emissions of greenhouse gases must fall by 45% if we are going to reach our net zero target by 2050. Given 1 in 5 tons of greenhouse gases in the UK is generated by our food system, it is clear that tangible progress is required now to transform the food we eat. Agriculture accounts for around 56–75% of UK land use. It is our land use and production approach that has the biggest impact on the carbon footprint of food, typically much more so than the distance food has travelled.

Biodiversity loss, in part as a result of the intensification of farming, has reached alarming levels with more than half of species in the UK wiped out completely and many species that were once common place a few decades ago now critically endangered.

A critically important reason for adopting short supply chains is to enable transparency that highlights the differences in food production approaches. Only then can informed choices be made. Dynamic Food Procurement is an established approach to shortening supply chains and EM's AgileChain technology is proven to deliver Dynamic Food Procurement in the public sector.

19% ​of UK greenhouse gas emissions come from our food system

​Garnett, T. et al. (2016). Food systems and greenhouse gas emissions. Food Climate Research Network.

KEY THREATS TO FOOD SECURITY

Environmental

The world’s changing climate poses an increasing risk to food security. Increasing flood and drought frequency both in Europe and globally is bringing disruption to food production and distribution. Water contamination and scarcity threatens crop production. Devastating levels of biodiversity loss are disruptive to the food system causing lower agricultural yields due to reduced pollination, soil fertility and natural pest control that wild species can provide.

Social, economic and public health

​Poor health can strain institutions within the food system and lower productivity. Of course, ironically, our food system is a major contributor to soaring levels of diet related disease. Public health shocks, like the COVID-19 pandemic, have disrupted production and food availability due to restricted working conditions, absenteeism and demand volatility.

98% of seasonal workers required for UK harvest season come from the EU but numbers of immigrant workers are falling to the extent farmers are now struggling to recruit sufficient people. This results in food being wasted and impacts farm productivity and profitability.

Geopolitical

 ​The UK relies on imports for around half of its food and is particularly dependent on overseas supply chains for fruit and vegetables. Around 60% of UK vegetables and substantially more fruit are imported. Any global geopolitical volatility can therefore immediately disrupt such a Just In Time (JIT) importing approach leaving the UK just weeks from being short of key food groups at any moment. Over a quarter of UK food is imported from the EU and two-thirds of all the UK’s agricultural exports go to the EU. 

Recent geopolitical events sharpen the mind when it comes to food security. There is no doubt that UK food security is highly vulnerable to geopolitical instability.

"A resilient food system is robust, can recover quickly after disruption and reorientate to accept alternative outcomes"
GFS-FSR (2019). Global Food Security: Exploring the resilience of the UK food system in a global context. Global Food Security. 
AgileChain technology transforms procurers capabilities to source food along short, fast supply chains that enable transparency of provenance: Who produces the food? Where is the farm? How is it produced? What is the sustainability profile of the production process? What is the approach to enhancing soil fertility, carbon sequestration, water use, and biodiversity protection?

To address some of the most important and urgent challenges of our time, public sector caterers can now change their food supply for good.