Empty shelves in local supermarkets are becoming increasingly common due to more regular storms and freight ferry services unable to deliver food.
Last year was the first year that naming storms have reached the letter L, with Storm Lilian in August, and records are being broken each year for the amount of rainfall, severity of storms and temperature.
Bad weather can prevent Guernsey from receiving food deliveries and there is not enough home-grown food around to supply the island.
The Channel Islands Coop said that there were some concerns surrounding food resilience in Guernsey, including keeping farming alive, as there are trends of youngsters in farming families chooses careers outside of farming.
A spokeswoman said that consumer habits around food have changed and there is now high demand for buying fresh produce all year round, not just seasonal produce, which requires more buying from outside the island.
Guernsey no longer has any food storage facilities, with shops keeping between six to eight days supply of food, and fresh food can run out in just a few days.
However, in 2024, the Coop still spent more than £9m. supporting local Channel Islands producers, helping to sustain the local economy, reducing food miles and supporting local business.
‘The CI Coop are passionate supporters of local suppliers and proud to work closely with local producers,’ she said.
‘We love local food, so by buying locally-produced products helps to save the costs associated with bringing goods into the islands.
‘Severe weather issues can sometimes affect the supply of products into our stores, but the effect for the consumer is minimal as we stock a large amount of our products locally.
‘Further afield, there are signs of global warming already showing effects across the globe – conditions such as droughts and flooding effects the produce able to be grown, and therefore limits what is available for the CI Coop to provide in our stores, and contributes to higher-than-normal food inflation.’
Interviewed by students from The Ladies’ College, Environment & Infrastructure Committee president Lindsay de Sausmarez said that because it was difficult to grow commercially in the island, local focus should be on a community and domestic scale, which would help to prioritise growing the right food for the season.
‘It’s more difficult here than in other places, and Guernsey can never be self-sufficient in food, but so much of the island is land and gardens,’ she said.
‘It would have all sorts of benefits too, especially health benefits. We just need awareness on what to grow in which season, which also has environmental benefits and cuts down carbon emissions.’
Deputy de Sausmarez said that dairy farmers and the dairy were the only sectors subsidised in local farming.
No fresh cows’ milk is allowed to be imported.
‘It is expensive to produce high quality dairy products from small herds of cows which are not that efficient at producing milk,’ she said.
‘The main reason for subsidising the dairy is to protect our iconic Guernsey breed and to do this we need to make sure that the dairy can keep going.’
Given ongoing predictions for more severe storms, the States Civil Contingencies Authority keeps food resilience on its agenda.
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