A food expert has warned that the UK could soon face rationing with meals to be cooked and delivered en masse.
Bryce Evans, associate professor of history and politics at Liverpool Hope University, believes that the food situation in the UK could get significantly worse as the coronavirus pandemic rolls on.
He argued that asking people not to stockpile is futile and relying on supermarket workers to limit sales was unfair.
The professor suggested a Ministry of Food could be set up to ensure no one goes hungry.
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Items would be paid for with ration coupons, unused school kitchens would be taken over and used to cook meals on a big scale, and food would be delivered directly to people's doors, he said.
Prof Evans has suggested that the British public are not taking the disease seriously enough and that a big shift in consumption habits needs to take place soon.
If things do not change quickly, stockpiling will become a "real problem" and rationing will become necessary.
"Both wars show us that what the government is doing right now - telling people not to panic buy, to voluntarily curtail consumption - just doesn't work, sadly," he told FEMAIL.
Prof Evans argued that the Government could work with retailers in organising the system, with price controls introduced as well as penalties for racketeers.
He continued: "The online ration system would also seem likely since we do not want scenes like at the weekend, where hundreds of people descend on a supermarket at the same time, because this increases the risk of transmission greatly."
The academic, who has written extensively on wartime eating habits, warned that UK food supplies could begin to falter as the crisis on the continent continues.
A Ministry of Food, as seen in the WWII, may need to come in oversee the food network.
School kitchens could be taken over by the government, Prof Evans suggested, and food delivery networks nationalised to lessen the need for people to go outside.
He added: "It's a huge culture shift, and government intervention could represent the end of consumerism as we know it."
For several weeks now bare shelves have become a staple of the British supermarket experience.
The issue of stockpiling - which is currently causing the shelves to go empty rather than a national shortage of food - was powerfully brought to the public's attention by Dawn Bilbrough.
The NHS nurse admitted she had a "little cry" in the supermarket after seeing the fruit and vegetable shelves totally bare following a shift.
The 51-year-old revealed today that she was in self-isolation having started to suffer from some of the symptoms of Covid-19 .
A Government spokesperson said:“We will do whatever it takes to ensure people have the food and supplies they need.
"Retailers are continuing to monitor their supply chains and taking all the necessary steps to ensure consumers have the food and supplies they need.
"Supermarkets are already taking action to limit the supply of certain items to make sure shelves are stocked and it is crucial we all respect and adhere to these decisions.”
