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Recent reports on the challenges faced in meeting the “30 by 30” food security goal must certainly be of concern to Singaporeans ( , May 26). There have even been suggestions of giving up on the 30 by 30 goal. While egg production has achieved 31.9 per cent of consumption in 2023, local vegetable production has fallen from 4.3 per cent of consumption in 2021 to 3.2 per cent in 2023, and seafood production has shrunk from 8 per cent of consumption in 2021 to 7.3 per cent in 2023. Given that even achieving 30 per cent would still be far from any real measure of food security, such statistics must surely be cause for worry and immediate remedial action.  Launched in 2019 by SFA, the 30 by 30 goal highlighted that food security represented an existential threat to Singapore, right alongside water security. In 2019, Singapore was riding high, topping the Global Food Security Index among 113 countries. The latest index shows Singapore sliding to a dismal 28th position in 2022. What happened between 2019 and 2022? Covid-19. The supply chain disruptions brought about by the pandemic exposed Singapore’s food security underbelly and served as an excellent wake-up call to all. With the failure of I.F.F.I and others, including Oh Chin Huat Hydroponics Farms in 2021 and Lian Wah Hang Quail & Poultry Farm in 2023, my gut reaction as a chartered accountant is that 30 by 30, while replete with many praiseworthy initiatives (including financial grants), sorely lacks a comprehensive financial monitoring system. The entire industry vertical also needs to be re-examined from ground up, starting with land costs, a factor that will impinge upon our precious national reserves hence necessitating the oft-debated use of accumulated reserves, both financial and physical. On top of that, there’s a mountain of other ever-rising operational costs, such as raw materials, energy and manpower costs, to overcome before these food producers can be financially viable and sustainable to 2030 and beyond. Given the dismal statistics, is it perhaps time to re-evaluate and classify these food industry players as too important to fail, much like Covid-19-stricken Singapore Airlines (SIA) was deemed too critical to fail? SIA’s performance primarily affected the Singapore economy, whereas that of the food industry players will impact the entire population. Clearly, an all-of-government approach is called for, right now.