Food Shortage: Farmers 'can't bear' extra costs

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Food Shortage: Farmers 'can't bear' extra costs



Depleted by drought, last summer's heat waves are still biting, this time into food supplies. Having much less water in the bank at this time of year means that we have had to reduce our irrigated cropping area by 25 per cent for this next growing season. Andrews scaled back his vegetable crops, with other farmers doing the same amid warnings of more shortages to come. The cost of production has increased almost exponentially, which is a massive challenge. Many businesses just can't bear that extra cost and they just can't take that risk. So we're really calling on the retailers to pay at least what it costs to produce, plus some form of margin to make it more sustainable and to encourage us to continue to produce food in the UK. Severe weather overseas is already disrupting supplies.

Supermarkets are rationing vegetables like cucumbers and tomatoes, prompting this from the Environment Secretary. It's important to make sure that we cherish the specialisms that we have in this country. A lot of people would be eating termites right now rather than thinking necessarily about aspects of lettuce and tomatoes. And so, a run on turnips, with some shops sold out and more people coming to smaller grocers. We've got three supermarkets, one of them which I use quite a lot, we're just out of everything and the stuff they had was just scraps. I would always rather shop locally. I think it's good that local places support local businesses so I would rather have good quality stuff from local places rather than supermarkets.

Spanish tomatoes and peppers are plentiful here, but wholesale prices have rocketed. They'll cost on things like salad crops, even onions, I would say they've gone up by at least a minimum of 80 per cent and that is across the board. The government says the UK has a highly resilient food supply chain, well equipped to deal with disruption but farmers say it goes deeper. Behind all this, multiple factors. Farmers face labour shortages, high energy costs, the impacts of climate change as well as global political turmoil. But what's becoming ever more clear is that amid a volatile environment, particularly down to the Ukraine war and COVID supply chains, food security has never been more important. Shortages could last weeks, while farmers are hoping at least for a drought-free summer.

Adele Robinson, Sky News Suffolk.



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