Many local government officials were surprised when COVID-19 exposed their powerlessness in ensuing the supply of food to all their citizens.

Such a situation is but a portent of things to come. We are already seeing empty supermarket shelves, no doubt in major part due to ‘Brexit’. Moreover, the fierce global competition for supplies of safe, nutritious food, already beyond the pocket of so many UK households, can only further intensify as climate change, agri-food resource depletion and population pressures wreak their damage. Prices rises and hikes are inevitable. What can a local authority do? Where do its powers lie?