Our food system is vulnerable to El Niño, warns UK climate minister
Extreme weather could damage harvests worldwide, but the answer is more local food production, not stockpiling, Katie White said in an interview with New Scientist
UK climate minister Katie White warned that El Niño's record climate phase will bring unprecedented heat and extreme weather, posing a significant vulnerability to the nation's food system. In a recent interview with New Scientist, White responded to environment minister Angela Eagle's advice to store food for potential El Niño storms, stating that the UK doesn't have substantial public food reserves and should instead focus on enhancing local farms and grocery resilience to climate shocks.
The UK Met Office has forecasted an unusually warm, wet, and stormy autumn and winter due to El Niño, which may persist into spring. This could disrupt farming, particularly for crops like winter wheat, spring barley, and rice that are sensitive to wet weather. Furthermore, El Niño could force farmers to spend more on livestock feed and housing, potentially leading to higher meat and dairy prices.
White emphasized the UK's current reliance on imported foods, such as rice, cocoa, and coffee, which could become more expensive due to the El Niño-induced disruption of global crop yields. She called for increased collaboration between farmers and local supply chains to bolster the food system's adaptability and resilience against climate shocks.
Written by urgent.news from New Scientist's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
