14/05/2026
One of the simplest things you can do right now to improve your household food resilience is this:
Find your local veg box scheme.
During COVID, many veg box schemes across the UK became overwhelmed almost overnight. Some had waiting lists for months. Others stopped taking new customers entirely because demand suddenly exceeded supply.
It was a reminder of something important:
food systems are still governed by supply and demand.
When uncertainty rises, people change their buying habits quickly. Demand increases, but local food systems often cannot instantly scale up production, staffing, transport or deliveries.
The people already connected into those systems were usually the people who kept receiving food first.
This is one reason resilience matters before a crisis, not during one.
Veg box schemes help connect people directly to local growers and seasonal food. They reduce dependence on long supermarket supply chains and help strengthen smaller local farms and producers.
Even if you only start with an occasional box, it’s worth:
• finding out what schemes operate near you
• understanding where your local food comes from
• building relationships with local producers
• getting used to seasonal eating
• becoming part of your local food network before demand surges
Food security isn’t only about storing food.
It’s also about strengthening the local systems and communities that feed us.
If you already use a local veg box scheme, tag them below so others can discover and support them too 🌱
Small steps matter.
