Editorial: A rural society like Northern Ireland is well placed to help improve UK food security

​It is ‘self sufficiency day’ in the UK. It is the day in the year in which we would have run out of food if we only produced food within the nation.

The National Farmers’ Union​ (NFU) is marking the day by pointing out that such food production should not be allowed to fall further – on the contrary, they say, it should be increased.

Statistics from the Environment Department (Defra) show that the UK is 62% self-sufficient in food. That figure has not changed much in recent years but some sectors have seen recent declines such as fresh vegetables, which is at its lowest since records began in 1988, at 53%.

If this summer has shown anything in Northern Ireland, it has been a reminder of how changeable the weather can be here. We have had rain, and sun, hot and mild temperatures, often changing back and forth at speed. We might think it has always been thus, but there are definite changes to the climate that are having an impact on vegetation and food growth that is not yet fully understood. Climate challenges abroad are affecting countries that export to us.

War adds to the uncertainty. Both the Ukraine and Middle East wars erupted suddenly, and China might get involved in conflict too.

The Dig for Victory campaign of the 1940s, in which people were encouraged to grow their own food, sounds like something from a distant and more primitive age. But it had a simple principle: that in times of crisis we might need to depend upon our own food. It is unlikely we will return to a time as perilous as World War Two any time soon but even so we need to think about our how our home-grown food capacity could be expanded if suddenly needed. The speed that covid emerged was another warning of the unpredictability of the future.

NI has a relatively low population density, a big farming industry and plenty of countryside. We are well placed to have strong food security.