The UK is not self sufficient in pork or poultry

The 2024 UK food security index analyses DEFRA data to claim that the UK is 96% self sufficient in poultry and 69% self sufficient in pork. Firstly, 69% for pork is not good. In reality the numbers are dramatically lower. The key reason for this is that whilst the chicken and pork is produced in the UK, the key "input", animal feed, is in large part sourced from abroad.

In fact, a report by Sustain and the Landworkers Alliance found that to produce all pig and poultry feed domestically would require increasing our feed cropland by 60% and 78% respectively. In order to

The reason policymakers and food security experts care about the production to supply ratio is because it gives a rough indication of how vulnerable that food supply is to issues that occur outside the UK.