Recently, there has been a shortage of fresh fruits and vegetables in the UK, and some large British supermarkets, including Tesco, have adopted purchase restrictions, but supermarkets still often see empty fruit and vegetable shelves.
At a Tesco supermarket in northwest London, supermarket shelves clearly marked that each customer could buy only 3 tomatoes. In addition to tomatoes, many supermarkets also restrict the purchase of daily vegetables such as cucumbers, lettuce and green peppers, and some supermarkets limit the purchase of fruits and vegetables to up to 8 varieties.
This is a purchase restriction notice on a vegetable shelf photographed at a supermarket in Manchester, England, on February 23. According to the notice, each customer can only purchase a maximum of 3 bell peppers at a time. Xinhua News Agency (Photo by Jon Huper)
At the same time, the latest data released by the British market research company Kantar showed that food inflation in the UK rose to 17.1% year-on-year in February, the highest level on record, driven by rising prices such as eggs and vegetables. Among them, the price of milk and eggs has risen by 35 percentage points in the past three months.
A bill posted by a British netizen on social media shows that at the end of February, he spent 25 pounds (equivalent to 206.53 yuan) to buy a bag of 6 tomatoes. There are also British netizens who ridicule that looking at the last tomato in the house, it is difficult to decide whether to eat it or sell it to pay off the mortgage.
Screenshot of British netizens' social media
Squeezed by high inflation and supply shortages, ordinary British people are worried about the salad on the table every day. Kantar's findings show that after the impact of energy prices, the impact of food prices on people's lives ranks second. Around 25% of UK households faced financial hardship in February. According to the agency's analysis, British consumers will still face sustained price increases in the coming period.
However, the British government officials in charge of the "vegetable basket" are indifferent to the issue. Asked by the House of Commons, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Country Affairs, Grace Coffey, said that if prices are too high to bear, people should "work as many hours as possible, improve their skills or find a well-paying job". She insisted that the UK's food supply chain was "stable and resilient", with shortages of fruits and vegetables due to temporary difficulties caused by natural disasters in production areas.
Due to soaring energy prices, especially electricity prices, many British farmers have had to abandon greenhouse-growing vegetables and fruits, resulting in a decline in the amount of agricultural products produced in the UK and more reliance on imports. 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.
On February 23, in Manchester, England, a supermarket was out of stock on its fruit and vegetable shelves. Xinhua News Agency (Photo by Jon Huper)
For the shortage of fruits and vegetables in the UK, Luis Planas, Spain's Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, said on March 1 that the shortage of salad dishes such as tomatoes and cucumbers in the UK is mainly due to the reduction in production in overseas supply places caused by low temperature weather, as well as supply chain problems caused by poor procurement planning and Brexit.
British agricultural experts believe that unless the British government massively subsidizes the production of domestic agricultural products, reduces inflation as soon as possible, and reduces the negative impact of Brexit on the supply chain, the problem of agricultural shortages will continue.
Minette Butters, president of the National Farmers' Union, warned that food security cannot be taken for granted, that uncertainty and instability are the biggest risks facing agricultural businesses in England and Wales today, and that the UK government must take concrete action to support its own food and agricultural production, "leaving little time for government".
Column editor-in-chief: Gu Wanquan Text editor: Lu Xiaochuan Title picture source: Xinhua News Agency Photo editor: Xu Jiamin
Source: Author: Xinhua News Agency