Tanya Jones (Climate Justice Lead for Quakers in Britain) reviews the facts about food insecurity and asks what love requires of us in the midst of a crisis not just of climate and nature but of justice.

“I was farming water. I wasn’t farming soil. My dad got flooded once in 1981, but since 2000, I’ve lost count of the amount of times that I’ve been flooded.”

These were the words of Colin Chappell, arable farmer in Lincolnshire, about the 2023 flooding. He’s not alone. Paul Behrens, a professor at the University of Oxford who works on food security, offered this quote as an example at the recent National Emergency Briefing on climate change and the UK.

The effects of climate change, including drought, floods, fires and disease, will damage food production in every region of the world. But, as a recent report shows, it is people already harmed by inequality, exploitation and conflict, people who are least responsible for greenhouse gas emissions, who will suffer the most. Today eight countries in the world are critically food insecure. In a world that is two degrees hotter, that number rises to 24. Food insecurity for high-income countries will worsen by 3%; for low-income countries by 22%.

A new film from the National Emergency Briefing (as quoted above) sets out the risks facing the nation – and the credible, positive responses available – in a clear and accessible account designed for screenings in communities across the UK. There are several screenings taking place in our area, and Meetings might like to consider supporting one of these, or showing the film themselves.

Photo of farm labourers harvesting vegetables by Mark Stebnicki on Pexels.com