Thursday, December 08, 2022
What is causing the UK food crisis?
The Independent reports on the view of the National Farmers Union that Brexit has added to the UK’s mounting food supply crisis which has seen a “crippling” shortage of some goods in the supermarket.
The NFU believe that current egg shortages “could just be the start” and warned that consumers could soon see a scarcity of tomatoes, cucumbers, pears and other fresh produce:
NFU president Minette Batters said Britain’s fruit and vegetable supply could soon be “in trouble”, as she urged the government to help producers under severe strain from soaring costs.
Ms Batters also said Brexit was partly to blame for the food sectors’ woes because of acute labour shortages and the costly burden of red tape faced by British exporters trying to sell to the EU.
Decrying the ongoing “challenges of trade” with the bloc after Brexit, the NFU chief told The Independent: “It has added cost. We are exporting less into the EU than we were. Leaving the EU was always going to add cost.”
Saying Brexit problems had been “compounded” by Covid and soaring energy costs, Ms Batters added: “The global pandemic added a lot of cost inflation, and the war in Ukraine has blown all of that apart and added a whole new level of cost inflation that no-one could have predicted.”
The British Meat Processors Association (BMPA) also said trade and immigration barriers brought by Brexit were continuing to cause problems – with most plants experiencing around 10 per cent to 15 per cent shortages in workers.
“All the new requirements on exports to the EU has made everything more costly and time consuming, with some meat exporters losing customers in Europe,” said Nan Jones, the BMPA’s policy manager.
We're going to need a bigger bus.
The NFU believe that current egg shortages “could just be the start” and warned that consumers could soon see a scarcity of tomatoes, cucumbers, pears and other fresh produce:
NFU president Minette Batters said Britain’s fruit and vegetable supply could soon be “in trouble”, as she urged the government to help producers under severe strain from soaring costs.
Ms Batters also said Brexit was partly to blame for the food sectors’ woes because of acute labour shortages and the costly burden of red tape faced by British exporters trying to sell to the EU.
Decrying the ongoing “challenges of trade” with the bloc after Brexit, the NFU chief told The Independent: “It has added cost. We are exporting less into the EU than we were. Leaving the EU was always going to add cost.”
Saying Brexit problems had been “compounded” by Covid and soaring energy costs, Ms Batters added: “The global pandemic added a lot of cost inflation, and the war in Ukraine has blown all of that apart and added a whole new level of cost inflation that no-one could have predicted.”
The British Meat Processors Association (BMPA) also said trade and immigration barriers brought by Brexit were continuing to cause problems – with most plants experiencing around 10 per cent to 15 per cent shortages in workers.
“All the new requirements on exports to the EU has made everything more costly and time consuming, with some meat exporters losing customers in Europe,” said Nan Jones, the BMPA’s policy manager.
We're going to need a bigger bus.
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That bigger bus should be plastered with messages of let us return to the EU.Opinion Polls indicate people are realising what we have missed.Is it not time that ONE party (LibDems) should campaign to rejoin? ASAP!Get away from the reluctance that seems to be in our leadership. We used to achieve by having radical policies.It is time to be radical again.
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