The information

This August saw the launch of Britain’s first food security assessment by Defra, and included the cheering news that, with domestic production and European imports together accounting for over three-quarters of consumption, British food supply is “very resilient to supply interruptions” (as caused by anything from price hikes to domestic terrorism). There are, however, a few goods whose supply remains rather more tenuous. They are identified by three key criteria: their domestic production is impossible, a “substantial” consumer demand exists for them (over £100m per year), and at least 75 per cent of our total consumption of them comes from outside the EU. Defra has ranked seven “vulnerable” commodities (left) in order of the percentage of each arriving in Britain through a single port. For three of these—soya, cane sugar and tea—the majority of imports arrive through a single port, making them especially at risk compared to other consumables. Time for a national soya bunker?