Where did all the tomatoes go? Half a dozen for 200 yuan? Britain after "Brexit", "fruit" but "vegetables" can not afford it!

Source: CCTV Finance

In the past two days, British netizens who love to joke have said a joke on social media, "Not sure whether to eat our last tomato, or hang it on eBay (e-commerce platform) to sell it to pay off the mortgage?" "It sounds a bit heart-wrenching, and it's not an exaggeration. But it is not an exaggeration to say that the original supermarket had less than 2 pounds of half a dozen (6) tomatoes, but some people spent 25 pounds (about 207.66 yuan) to buy them in small grocery stores. This is something that really happens to the British.

Since this week, a number of supermarkets in the UK have begun to impose vegetable purchase restrictions. First, Morrison, which has 500 stores in the UK, limited purchases of tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce and green peppers to 3 per customer. Then there is Asda, which has more than 600 chain stores, and expanded the number of fruit and vegetable varieties to 8. Subsequently, the line of merchants who followed the trend and limited purchases was further expanded, and British supermarket leader Tesco and German chain brand Aldi also joined in. As of this weekend, the most common situation in supermarkets is that the shelves of dishes are empty, and it is even more difficult to find restricted vegetables.

Britain did not ration vegetables, including tomatoes, even during World War II, so why is the most basic vegetable supply now not guaranteed? What exactly went wrong with the British vegetable basket?

The British government and media threw the pot to God

On the 21st local time, a number of British media, including the BBC, took the lead in claiming that the shortage of vegetables was mainly caused by extreme weather in Spain and North Africa, and natural disasters affected the harvest. Data shows that around 95% of tomatoes and 90% of lettuce in the UK need to be imported during the winter, with most of it coming from Spain and North Africa.

Two days later, Trece Coffey, Britain's secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs, said publicly: "I can't control the weather in Spain either. "According to the British government and media, this is throwing the pot that can't be eaten to God, and this supply shortage may continue for another month."

But the British public didn't buy it. Many Britons believe that the shortage of fruits and vegetables is not just a problem that the weather can explain, after all, other European countries that should have been "guilty" together, the variety of vegetables in supermarkets still seems to be very rich.

British: I just returned from a trip to Spain and Portugal and I didn't notice a shortage of vegetables. I think the shortage in the UK is because of Brexit. I noticed that in the past year, there has been a shortage of fresh goods in the stores near my house, which I think is caused by supply chain problems caused by Brexit.

It is true that Morocco, the world's fourth-largest tomato exporter, is suffering from snowstorms and multiple rounds of drought and has imposed quotas on tomato exports. But the rest of Europe should still have it in the basket, why is the British basket empty?

In this regard, Liz Webster, chairman of the British Food Protection Organization, hit the nail on the head in an interview to point out the reasons behind it.

Liz Webster, President of Food Protection UK: I've always heard that Spain (weather) is the cause of the UK's vegetable shortage, which is absolute nonsense. There is a shortage of fruits and vegetables in the UK, but not in Spain or anywhere else in the EU, because of Brexit. Because the disastrous Conservative government has no interest in agricultural production or even food supply, that's why it's a mess right now.

The after-effects of Brexit are endless

After Brexit, the import of vegetables from the Netherlands, Spain and other EU countries has trade barriers, requiring lengthy customs clearance procedures, resulting in additional costs. In the recent period, bad weather in southern Spain has blocked transportation, further increasing the cost of vegetables to the UK.

A Dutch netizen named Daniel posted on social media, "We have plenty of tomatoes! In the past (before Brexit) we would always export to the UK, but now (after Brexit) it takes 77 hours for a truck driver to cross customs, who will go? ”

Imports are blocked, and the UK's domestic production and supply can keep up. However, unfortunately, since Brexit, many agriculture-related industries in the UK have experienced serious problems such as labor shortages, reduced funds and soaring operating costs for farmers, which directly led to the contraction and sharp decline in the scale of agricultural production in the UK.

Minette Butters, president of the British National Farmers' Union, pointed out that British farms could get relatively sufficient labor from Eastern Europe, but after Brexit, the number of Eastern European migrant workers fell by nearly two-thirds, and the sudden labor gap greatly affected business production. Data shows that in 2022, £22 million worth of fruit and vegetables in the UK will rot in the ground because no one picks them.

In addition, Butters stressed that inflation has caused a sharp increase in production costs, which has hit farmers hard and made it difficult for them to move. As an example, since 2019, fertilizer prices have risen by nearly 170%, energy by 80% and feed by 60%. Especially since the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, due to spillover and anti-phagogy effects, many farmers in the UK will not be able to make ends meet in 2022. The combination of many factors has led to the closure or conversion of nearly 7,000 agricultural enterprises after Brexit.

Brits begin to experience 'Brexit regret'

Not long ago, the UK celebrated the third anniversary of Brexit, and many Britons began to experience "Brexit regret". The latest poll in the UK shows that in all but 3 of the 632 parliamentary constituencies in the UK, the vast majority of people in the remaining regions now believe that "Brexit is the wrong decision".

A topic published by The Independent on the first day of 2023 has been attracting attention so far: "Two-thirds of Britons now support a referendum on future rejoining the EU".

Webster, chairman of the British Food Protection Organisation, also pointed out that rejoining the EU is the only option to solve the current problem.

Liz Webster, president of the UK Food Protection Organisation: But they didn't do that before, and they didn't do that after Brexit, and it's too late to do anything now. The only option to really solve the vegetable shortage now is to ensure that we return to the single market and customs union as soon as possible. Now this is the only quick solution to the problem.

The UK's food shortages may now be just vegetables, and if the UK government does not do anything, meat and other foods, and even daily necessities, may also face large-scale shortages.