> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Why food resilience is an ‘us’ issue, not a ‘me’ issue - URL: https://news.transitionnetwork.org/why-food-resilience-is-an-us-issue-not-a-me-issue/ - Published: 2026-10-13T11:30:45.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-13T11:30:45.000Z - Description: A short piece Rob posted on LinkedIn that kind of blew up. - Author: Rob Hopkins Environment Minister Angela Eagle yesterday said “If you’ve got a store of a bit of food that can keep you going for a while before the emergency services can get to you, you’re going to be a lot better off than if you haven’t ... some of it is that kind of preparation for just being a bit more resilient". While it's not a bad idea to have some extra food in, if her interest is actually in "preparation for just being a bit more resilient", this strikes me as being a huge missed opportunity. Putting aside for a moment that many many people are struggling to buy enough food to get them to the end of the week never mind being able to stockpile, a statement like this is coming at it all wrong. I'd like to propose a different approach she might have taken. Putting this statement out just days before your government is reportedly about to announce its approval of the Jackdaw oil field is rather like telling your kids you're about to marry a serial killer and perhaps they might do well to take some self defence classes. Stockpiling food is a 'me' solution, not an 'us' solution. If survival means that the people with the means to are hunkered down with a year's supply of baked beans and toilet roll, then survival doesn't really appeal to me. What if instead she had announced a 'Dig for Resilience' programme? A properly funded, wartime mobilisation scale set of measures including free food growing training for anyone, forcing local authorities, developers and companies to release land for allotments and food gardens, free support for depaving driveways and other areas of land, a public information campaign, subsidised seeds. It would take inspiration from the [Ron Finley Project](https://www.ronfinley.com/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), from how permaculture training was rolled out across the population during the Special Period in Cuba, from 'Dig for Victory' during World War Two. It would be inspired by Tim Lang's '[Just In Case](https://nationalpreparednesscommission.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/NPC-Just-in-Case-Main-Report%5FPDF-Download.pdf?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)' report from last year. It would recognise that food resilience is a challenge we take on together. It would draw on the brilliant work of Hodmedod in promoting plant-based protein-rich diets grown in the UK, the Sheffield Wheat Experiment, the community food hub being created by Food in Community near Totnes where they will glean local surplus and store it for when it's needed. That work requires investment and infrastructure, and it builds, rather than erodes community. Ministers need to think carefully when making announcements like this in terms of the kind of mindset it cultivates. At a time when society is polarised, when fascism is on the rise, solutions need to create settings to bring people together, which recognise that, as Jon Alexander puts it, we are all Citizens, and that we flourish as citizens when we have the opportunities to create things together. Hunkering down with a year's supply of tinned ravioli really doesn't do that. My guessing is that Eagle has never done a permaculture course. It's never too late to remedy that. **Rob Hopkins** *This article appeared in Rob Hopkins' Time Traveller's Gazette: October 2026 edition. You can subscribe to his Gazette here: www.robhopkins.net.* ****Rob Hopkins** is the co-founder of [Transition Network](https://transitionnetwork.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org) and of [Transition Town Totnes](https://www.transitiontowntotnes.org/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), and author of several books including ‘**The Transition Handbook*‘ and most recently, ‘**How to Fall in Love with the Future: a time traveller’s guide to changing the world’*. He is an Ashoka Fellow, has spoken at TED Global and at several TEDx events, and appeared in the 2015 French film phenomenon ‘**Demain*’. He holds a PhD from the University of Plymouth as well as 2 Honoris Causas, and hosted 100 episodes of his podcast ‘**From What If to What Next*’. In November 2022 he was made an Honorary Citizen of Liège in Belgium. His collaborative music project with artist Mr Kit, ‘[Field Recordings from the Future](https://www.fieldrecordingsfromthefuture.co.uk/home?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org)‘ is [now available](https://frftf.bandcamp.com/album/field-recordings-from-the-future?from=search&search%5Fitem%5Fid=3671240813&search%5Fitem%5Ftype=a&search%5Fmatch%5Fpart=%3F&search%5Fpage%5Fid=4853746141&search%5Fpage%5Fno=1&search%5Frank=2&search%5Fsig=d10ee23e1ef9d0960d10de74080e3fca&ref=news.transitionnetwork.org), and is being developed as a live show which will tour in 2026\. Rob stopped flying in 2006\. In his spare time, he draws and makes drypoint etchings. His website is [robhopkins.net](http://robhopkins.net/?ref=news.transitionnetwork.org).