Making food security action happen in Powys

By Duncan Fisher, Our Food Trust

Thanks to the superb work of Tim Lang, the fragility of our food system has been laid bare. (We have summarised his calls to action at FoodSecurityAction.org.) The risks are enormous and the speed at which foreseeable food shocks can bring our communities to their knees is truly staggering. It is very easy to imagine scenarios based on things we have already seen – cyber-attacks on our supermarkets, crop failures, floods, blocked shipping routes and ports – in which our entire ability to operate as a society is undermined in less than a week.

However, the task of getting something done about this is far more complicated than just knowing and declaring what might happen. For the vast majority of people, these threats are counterintuitive. Supermarkets are overflowing with food, and the key health problem of our age is driven by over-eating of calories. The big food issue of today is the ever-increasing price, particularly of fresh food. Food poverty is getting worse and will continue to do so.

Furthermore, local politicians are weighed down with a plethora of issues that their constituents are pressing upon them, such as the state of our roads after so much rain, the cost-of-living crisis, the pressures on our farmers, and so on. There is just no headspace to throw in the risk of mass hunger and panic!

In human development science there is a concept of the ‘zone of proximal development’ that applies well here. All individuals and institutions only have a limited capacity to assimilate a new perspective. If you go too far, too fast, attention shuts down. Talking about food catastrophe scenarios will most likely result in zero traction.

Instead, we propose connection with current concerns of the public and of the politicians who respond to those concerns. If we start there, then actually food is already a salient issue of public concern in Powys in two ways – the unaffordability of food for so many people, and our struggling agricultural/rural economy. These are core food security issues and, if we begin with these, the capacity of our institutions to apply yet more attention to food security will extend through working together.

Having a salient story

The food security story is about both food poverty and our rural economy.

Tim Lang’s analysis tells us that food prices are going to rise inexorably, particularly fresh food. We need – right now – to find new ways of providing fresh food to families on low incomes. There are already many inspiring examples of such projects. For example, ClwydAlyn Housing Association’s fabulous project in Deeside shows how a housing association can grow and provide affordable food to its residents. We need a massive increase in growing food non-commercially within communities. Another way to make fresh food more affordable is through communal meals which are, according to the World Happiness Report 2025, a key source of happiness the world over. Yes, there can be joy in the food security story, and there needs to be.

We can also address the issues of our agricultural community and economy in up-beat ways. If we enable new farming enterprises to be built – by securing land, housing, access to markets and work experience programmes – we open our countryside to a new generation of farmers and we rejuvenate our rural communities. The idea of a new generation of farmers establishing themselves is a story of particular appeal in Powys. This was illustrated by the BBC in November last year in its coverage of the young farmers starting on the three new farms built on Powys County farmland at Sarn: Escape to the Country (feature starts at 35m38s).The BBC homed in on this project as emblematic for the entire county.

These stories connect with current political discussions in Powys – the local development plan, the regional Strategic Development Plan and the review of the management of the 10,500-acre Council farmland estate. We have plenty of very good hooks for progress on food security if we have the right story.

The story’s narrator

Who tells the story is very important. For example, the voice of young people wanting to farm but unable to has strong emotional appeal. We have a whole college of such young people right here in Powys, trained to secure our food future, but deeply frustrated at being blocked from the land. Voices from outside also carry more weight than prophets in their own land, particularly heavyweight advocates for the future of farming. Tim Lang has already agreed to endorse action in Powys to elevate food security up the political agenda. We are approaching others!

Flagship policy proposals

With the right story and the right messenger, we need to present flagship policy proposals that are salient and relatable. We can make robust proposals for the use of County farmland, and make the case for addressing the need to grow more fresh food in regional development plans. We need to back these up with data evidence showing how the changes we propose will lead to positive outcomes, because policy makers need more than us being convinced we are right.

The good news: food security is an easy issue to communicate

Consider the difficulty of moving the dial on biodiversity conservation and mitigation of climate over-heating. Food security is a gift for policy advocates compared to these two monsters. But food security is totally linked to both, so, perhaps, food could even be the way to harness attention to these matters also.