How is climate change affecting food security in Bristol?

Fruit and vegetable crops have been ruined and the fears for both droughts and floods continue to grow.

The severe drought affecting several regions of Europe since the beginning of the year continues expanding and worsening, according to the Global Drought Observatory.

In the report, the UK is classified with ‘medium hazard’ of low flow (drought) and it’s a major concern for growers in Bristol and beyond.

“One of the biggest problems right now is keeping water into crops,” says Sara Venn, founder of Edible Bristol and chair for Bristol Produce.

“We need to reimagine what community food growing looks like in the UK. It has the power to bring people together who might usually think they don’t have much in common.”

Urban farms around the city have also been affected by the extreme heat and water scarcity.

Lisa Allen, coordinator of Stapleton-based Elm Tree Farm, says: “Here on the farm, we are struggling with low water pressure due to the infrastructure of a very old site; getting investment from our parent company for improvements is difficult. We are working with mulches and intercropping to try and mitigate higher temperatures.”

Crops are witnessing increasingly “unbearable” conditions as the cost of high temperatures is impacting workers as well.

Lisa adds: “There is also considerable stress on the market gardeners themselves, who are having to work harder in very high temperatures, who are stressed about their crops and who are having to be very adaptable and learn new ways to conserve water and protect plants.”

Food security: Yet another climate-related challenge

Food security is another issue that comes into play when discussing climate change’s wide array of consequences.

It’s defined as: “All people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food.” That’s to say, two factors must be secured: Affordability and accessibility.

Lisa believes that to build more resilient food systems, both in terms of climate and community, we need a more coordinated approach.

“I don’t feel there is a coordinated approach to this issue from government,” Lisa tells Bristol24/7.

“I feel water harvesting, and possibly grants or subsidies to enable more farmers and growers to develop their own systems should be more on the agenda.”

Urban farms and community gardens might help cities to ‘feed themselves’ – Photo: Visit Bristol

Joy Carey, a Bristol-based consultant for sustainable food systems planning, agrees.

“We need to build resilience, and reduce the harmful aspects as much as it is possible,” says Joy, adding that beyond possible food shortages, there’s also a key ingredient in this tragic mix: “We have problems with distribution and access.”

“We need to be less ‘just’ consumers and more action-led citizens,” says Sara Venn of Edible Bristol – photo: Ellie Pipe

Finding ways to work together in critical areas 

Experts agree on the need to tackle these issues through all possible fronts, including both the public and the private sectors.

Sara believes that better education is needed to teach “cities how to feed themselves”.

“It’s important that we begin to understand concepts like seasonality,” explains the founder of Edible Bristol.

“We need to be less ‘just’ consumers and more action-led citizens.”

Initiatives like Edible Bristol, which foster food justice by supporting and educating on food growing are a balm to eco-anxiety, allowing citizens to feel “that they can take control of something in all of this”, as Sara puts it.

Urban farms also play a highly important role in reimagining the future of food growing and security. As Lisa points out: “Urban farms tend to work outside of conventional supply chains so are often able to adapt their growth and change their crops more easily.”

Bristol has set in place a ‘Food Equality Strategy’, aiming to tackle issues of distribution, access, and inequality. It seeks to build ‘sustainable local food systems’, working with county neighbours, expanding the growing capacity within the city and continuing to reduce food waste.

However, there’s still a long way to go.

According to Sara, there’s a lack of communication between the higher levels of government and grassroot communities and initiatives.

Food security, as climate change, is an issue we’ll only tackle if we do it, together and -preferably – sooner rather than later.

This piece of independent journalism is supported by Natwest and the Bristol24/7 public and business membership

Main photo: Ellie Pipe

Read more: The Bristol gardeners working to create system change

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