Summit vs. Summit: Food Resilience in Shropshire and the UK

Our online Shropshire Food Summit on 8th September coincided with the first Conference on Food and National Security in London, so Shropshire Good Food Partnership (SGFP) Director Daphne Du Cros multi-tasked, attending both. Here are her reflections.

The goal of our Shropshire Food Summit was to get real about what food resilience means for Shropshire, starting with the food affordability challenges expected in this winter. That meant reflecting on what’s happening right now locally, nationally and globally, the pandemic, and we need to do to be prepared. The central government is starting to speak publicly about the need for food stockpiling and ‘food resilience’ - But what does that look like in reality for communities, councils and families?   

Shropshire Food Poverty Alliance shared the challenges that families are currently facing, with insights from their research and network of food banks.  Marches Energy Agency made the link between energy costs and the choice between heating and eating that so many families must make.  SGFP explained the vulnerability of our food system and the need to move from crisis support to proactive planning and capacity building.

“I’ve been working in Citizens Advice Shropshire for over 30 years and the one constant with the clients that we support is that it’s the food budget that gets squeezed.” Jackie Jeffrey, Shropshire Food Poverty Alliance/Citizens Advice Shropshire

Oswestry Food Bank and Pete Banford of Shropshire Council reflected on the emergency food package response during the Pandemic and how networks joined together, learning on the fly. Shrewsbury Food Hub explained food surplus rescue, redistribution and community cooking training.    A key learning from COVID was that that there wasn’t enough collaboration and co-ordination and that collaboration needs to be at as local a level possible. 

“Let’s use existing resources:  start growing, taking food deliveries on library vehicles, good neighbour schemes.” Pete Banford, Shropshire Council

SGFP highlighted some of the amazing initiatives the county already has from community gardens to farmer clusters sharing regenerative farming skills and emphasised the need to support and build on these assets and rebuild food skills.  Oswestry Food and Community explained the food assemblies that have led to a new community initiative Cooperation Town, where neighbours come together to bulk buy food and save money, and get to know each other better.

"We are creating change that’s by us, for us, where we live" Mike Bastow, Oswestry Food and Community

The Conference on Food and National Security in London brought together ministers and MPs, Defence and DEFRA, Academics, farmers, grassroots organisations and the food, finance and industries to talk about why Food security is National security.

“Food Security is National Security” was the soundbite of the day, with the emphasis that soils, water and farming must be viewed and funded as national infrastructure. A focus on regenerative farming highlighted the fact that food production works as part of many linked systems - including natural systems - alongside policy, finance, industry and crucially, people. Hosted by an insurance company, speakers emphasised that in a volatile world, it’s simply good business to prioritise food system resilience now... not when systems are under more strain down the line.

Food Sovereignty, the idea of being in control of our food through domestic production, access to seed, skills and markets, was a clarion call, as Dame Emily Thornberry spoke of the breakdown of supply chains in our changing climate.

“Localism is the current zeitgeist” Mike Anderson, former Director General for Climate Change at DEFRA, Former Chief of Staff MI6

Lieutenant General Richard Nugee described the need to cultivate the image of “hedgehog Britain” - something so resilient looking you’d think twice about wanting to attack it.

Food Partnerships were on the agenda: Prof. Emeritus Tim Lang and Oxford Partnership Lead Jenny Ekelund shone a spotlight on the 138 ‘Sustainable Food Places’ building capacity across the food system. They advocated for Partnerships to be recognised and resourced from the Treasury as essential civic infrastructure.

Both events echoed some common points: The scale of change needed requires an “all of society” response - from all levels, though some can move more quickly than others. There is no perfect solution: cooperation and communication must be central The cost of inaction is high compared to investing now. We can’t wait for someone else to lead it or give us permission or directives.

The message is getting through - we must keep the pressure on, and continue our local action.