In the midst of the cost of living crisis and fear of recession in the UK, the country is facing shortages of fresh produce. Two of the biggest supermarkets in the UK- Morrisons and Asda have limited the sales of fresh produce.
The purchase of perishable items like tomatoes, potatoes, cucumber, peppers, lettuce, and broccoli has been restricted. Asda has set a limit of three per person on the items whereas, Morrisons has a maximum limit of two per item.
According to the British Retail Consortium (BRTC), the shortages could last a few weeks until the country’s growing season begins and retailers found alternative supplies. During winters the UK imports 95% of its tomatoes and 90% of its lettuces, from Spain and North America.
But Southern Spain and Morocco have been suffering from extreme cold weather and in Morocco, crop yields have been affected by heavy rains and floods, while ferries have been delayed or cancelled due to storm.
At the same time, the domestic farmers of the UK and Netherlands have cut back on their use of greenhouses to grow winter crops due to higher electricity prices.
A spokesperson for the country’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) said in a statement, “we understand public concerns around the supply of fresh vegetables. However, the UK has a highly resilient food supply chain and is well equipped to deal with disruption.”
National Farming Union (NFU) president Minette Batters said, at the annual conference in Birmingham, that the production of tomatoes and cucumbers is expected to drop to “the lowest level since records began in 1985”.
The union has warned the British government that food supplies are under threat of ‘disaster’, with lax border controls, avian disease risks, labour shortage, and increases in energy costs. There may also be a need for food rationing mainly vegetables, in the near future if current trends continue.
The Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs Secretary Theresa, blame the bad weather for the current supermarket rationing by saying, “we can’t control the weather in Spain.” during the NFU conference.
Replying to Coffey’s comments Ms. Batters said the government should be making sure Britain grows more of its own food, “we can be encouraging these guys to be producing here and I’m conscious that’s something that we really need to hone in on.”
Read More
Iran Forces UK Journalists To Close Shop; Applauds Rushdie Attacker