Title page
Contents
Summary 4
01. Introduction: a conceptual approach 6
Food and nutrition security 7
The varied components of food systems 8
Improving sustainability and resilience in food systems 9
Impact transmission pathways 10
02. The UK's interactions with global food systems 12
03. International food system dynamics directly affecting the UK 17
Food availability: trade dependencies and dynamics 18
Food access: price trends 25
04. Broader dynamics in international food systems 28
Food production systems 30
Distribution and logistics 33
Retail, markets and provisioning 38
Economic access 39
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on global food systems 41
05. Pressures on UK food and nutrition security 42
06. Conclusions: towards a proactive recovery 46
About the authors 50
Acknowledgments 51
Table 1. Cross-border impact mechanisms 18
Figure 1. Food systems: an overall framework 8
Figure 2. UK production-to-supply ('self-sufficiency') ratios, 1956-2019 13
Figure 3. Origins of food consumed in the UK, 2019 13
Figure 4. Origins of UK imports of food and agricultural inputs, 2019 19
Figure 5. Comparative UK monthly imports of all food, feed, and drink, by value and by volume, January 2018-April 2021 20
Figure 6. UK monthly imports of all food, feed, and drink, by region of origin, January 2018-April 2021 21
Figure 7. Food and agricultural imports into the UK from non-EU countries, by country of arrival, 2019 22
Figure 8. Comparative monthly data for airfreighted vegetable and fruit imports into the UK from non-EU countries, January 2018-April 2021 23
Figure 9. UK trade balance in food and agricultural inputs, by category, 2019 24
Figure 10. Comparative UK monthly exports of all food, feed, and drink, by value and by volume, January 2018-April 2021 25
Figure 11. UK monthly agricultural price indices by category, January 2018-March 2021 26
Figure 12. UK consumer price indices: overall and food indices, January 2020-April 2021 27
Figure 13. Impacts and responses in international food systems to the COVID-19 pandemic across five areas: food supply chains, food environments, consumer behaviour, diets, and nutrition and health outcomes 29
Figure 14. Staple crops: world stocks, supply and demand, 2017/18-2020/21 31
Figure 15. Index of global food prices, January 2000-May 2021 34
Figure 16. Index of global food commodity prices, January 2018-May 2021 35