Why this crisis highlights our need to support our food and farming sector - Mark Casci

The Blitz saw the German Luftwaffe attempt to damage the resolve of the UK population by a series of night-time bombing raids during 1940 and 1941. London was the initial focus of the campaign and was bombed for 56 nights out of 57 during the autumn of 1940.

The North was not spared of course, with Liverpool, Sheffield and most notably Hull targeted, with the latter being the most badly damaged city in the country with some 95 per cent of households sustaining damage from German bombs.

The city lost close to 1,200 people with thousands more lost during the air raid.

With basic foodstuffs scarce and rationing in place, a national effort to grow food was launched under the iconic Dig for Victory campaign which saw the number of UK allotments more than double in just a few months.

While most of the population pulled together to provide food, shelter and assistance to their fellow countrymen and women, there were others who sought to exploit the horror for their own gain.

History has rightly virtually forgotten these incidents, but not altogether.

While stories of people singing together to keep spirits up in Underground stations in London while the sound of explosions rang out above them, there were also multiple examples of criminality, with shops being looted and muggers takings advantage of the blackout to rob people.

When the coronavirus crisis lifts and we resume our lives free of restrictions and fears, I hope that memories are not so short when it comes to either the good or the bad shown by companies in this most difficult of times.

Too much focus is given to the bad actors of this world who are failing to do right by their staff and customers in this crisis. I won’t give them the oxygen of publicity but we know who these people are.

While we should not forget the business leaders who put their profits before humanity, we should also exalt those who have done the opposite. Our food industry has so far responded like wartime heroes. The supermarkets, two of the largest of which are headquartered in Yorkshire, have shown an outstanding response to the Covid-19 crisis.

We are lucky that two of the best chief executives in the business, Roger Burnley at Asda and David Potts at Morrisons, have been in charge of these two quintessentially Yorkshire businesses during this period.

They and the management teams they lead have ensured that our nation can access groceries and essential day-to-day items under the most challenging of circumstances.

From the CEOs’ offices to the shop floor workers, these people are at the heart of keeping the UK economy going.

This is also true for the farm shops and small-scale food retailers and producers. Whether it is setting up home delivery services from the boot of a car, switching the distillation of gin for producing hand sanitiser or giving food away food free to our most vulnerable, countless businesses are turning their business models upside down in order to help.

The next test will, of course, come when the crucial summer harvest period begins.

Farming leaders are already warning of a chronic lack of personnel to help pick and gather crops. Movement restrictions mean that the usual seasonal workers from abroad will in all likelihood be unable to travel to our fields this summer.

Last week, I spoke to Nigel Pulling, chief executive at the Yorkshire Agricultural Association which organises the Great Yorkshire Show. He said that a similar clarion call to that seen for NHS volunteers may be needed to ensure food gets from field to fork.I agree. A similar call to arms worked in the Second World War. This crisis will bring out the best and worst in us all. Now is a time for a national coming together.

Let us all be on the right side of history. It is a time for heroes and we all have a part to play. Meanwhile, be kind and grateful to those who are stepping up.