Is Brexit a major cause of the current food shortgages in the UK?

TeaCider said:
Our own miniscule domestic production will be a leading factor.

Of the three countries mentioned:

Spain produces 4,768,595 tonnes of tomatoes a year.
The Netherlands produces 910,000 tonnes.
France produces 712,019 tonnes.

The UK produces 66,893 tonnes.

That data may be slightly out of date, but we've got a larger population than all 3 countries, yet our domestic growth is non-existent in comparison.

France and Spain you can at least explain with their Mediterranean climate, but the Netherlands are clearly making a concerted effort to produce their own within greenhouses.
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problem is, this was all known prior to brexit, yet nothing was done to ensure we increased our own production. What's the point in being "free from EU control" but not having anything of value to control?
 
ThePrisoner said:
£

What red tape? UK is checking next to no imports is it? A certain Mr Reece-Mogg said that would be an act of self-harm.
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We are not checking, but there are still forms that need completing for any imports. So there is plenty of red tape, there are also checks in france on departure from the EU
 
ThePrisoner said:
But, but... one of the big benefits of Brexit was to get rid of that pesky red tape, so why is the UK requiring form filling for imports?:unsure:
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Yup, because as anyone with a brain said at the time, the UK doesn't live in a vacuum it has to agree and abide by other rules to trade with them. Such is life, shame 52% of the country was tone deaf to reality.
 
ThePrisoner said:
What red tape? UK is checking next to no imports is it? A certain Mr Reece-Mogg said that would be an act of self-harm.
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this isn't fruit and veg but the UK has imposed import processing aka red tape

Isn't there a poster who works on other food supply chains for import to the UK?

...... for those, like me and Baldrick, who are slow to spot irony ..... 😉

I am going to Brasil next week. My friend has sent me a pic today of mounds of tomatoes in the local supermarket. She wasn't being ironic, she was reassuring me that I wouldn't be rationed there! Globo had just run a piece about UK tomato rationing.
 
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Honey_Glazed_Sausages said:
I'm in Gibraltar and the weather has been far worse than usual. Was 8c one day
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You're just down the road from me, but the weather has not been far worse than usual - it's been exactly as it always is in January and February down here - we always get rain, wind, and low temperatures in January and February, even down to 8. As I mentioned upthread, there's been a couple of cold snaps but absolutely nothing "extreme".

And just to repeat, there are no shortages of any fruit and veg, and nobody is walking round in big coats
 
Ref Spanish temperatures - just checked today and Google told me Madrid is now 8 degrees and was 0 degrees at 0800.

I know Madrid in is inland and it will be slightly warmer on the Coast this time of the year.

Where I live in England it is currently 10 degrees. Surprised me that it was colder in Spain , must be the Gulf Stream.

Tomatoes will need a lot of assistance to grow at 8 to 10 degrees.
 
Redwurzel said:
Ref Spanish temperatures - just checked today and Google told me Madrid is now 8 degrees and was 0 degrees at 0800.

I know Madrid in is inland and it will be slightly warmer on the Coast this time of the year.

Where I live in England it is currently 10 degrees. Surprised me that it was colder in Spain , must be the Gulf Stream.

Tomatoes will need a lot of assistance to grow at 8 to 10 degrees.
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Average in feb for Madrid is 4 at night so some nights dropping to freezing isn’t abnormal. They’ll have plenty of facilities already in Spain for year round growing, it’s a key industry.

Not sure Madrid is the best barometer though, La Coruna (north), barça (E) and Seville (s) all average around 7 at night at the moment and much higher in the day, plenty good for growing veg.
 
BoroMart said:
Average in feb for Madrid is 4 at night so some nights dropping to freezing isn’t abnormal. They’ll have plenty of facilities already in Spain for year round growing, it’s a key industry.

Not sure Madrid is the best barometer though, La Coruna (north), barça (E) and Seville (s) all average around 7 at night at the moment and much higher in the day, plenty good for growing veg.
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Therefore temperatures are currently 4 degrees below normal for Madrid.

BM - What do think is the reason for 22% reduction in tomato production in Spain quoted earlier in the thread? I would have though with all the specialist growing facilities in Spain production would be rising?
 
Redwurzel said:
Therefore temperatures are currently 4 degrees below normal for Madrid.

BM - What do think is the reason for 22% reduction in tomato production in Spain quoted earlier in the thread? I would have though with all the specialist growing facilities in Spain production would be rising?
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Average is important. I’ve had nights at 6 and nights at -2 in the last 4 weeks. One data point of 4C is meaningless on its own.

22% reduction, I’d like to a) check the validity of that claim and b) see what the Spanish farmers are saying. We know that selling to the Uk is a ballache for them now might not be profitable or viable anymore
 
Redwurzel said:
Therefore temperatures are currently 4 degrees below normal for Madrid.

BM - What do think is the reason for 22% reduction in tomato production in Spain quoted earlier in the thread? I would have though with all the specialist growing facilities in Spain production would be rising?
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Do Spain grow anything in greenhouses at this time of year? If they do then they must also be suffering from energy price increases like the rest of us. If it isn't profitable to do it then they will surely have stopped. Also, hasn't it been mentioned somewhere that there has been a drought? Surely that is a bigger problem than a few cold days?


It was mentioned earlier how we should be reducing food miles for environmental reasons so we shouldn't be relying on importing food but growing tomatoes in Spain is the perfect example of where something sounding logical is actually not. We could grow tomatoes in the UK year round but we have to use a lot of energy to do it because it isn't warm enough. We have to use a lot of energy to grow them indoors. There is a lower environmental impact in growing them naturally in the correct climate and importing them. I.e. the environmental impacts of transport are lower than the environmental impacts of greenhouse growing.
 
Nano said:
Do Spain grow anything in greenhouses at this time of year? If they do then they must also be suffering from energy price increases like the rest of us. If it isn't profitable to do it then they will surely have stopped. Also, hasn't it been mentioned somewhere that there has been a drought? Surely that is a bigger problem than a few cold days?


It was mentioned earlier how we should be reducing food miles for environmental reasons so we shouldn't be relying on importing food but growing tomatoes in Spain is the perfect example of where something sounding logical is actually not. We could grow tomatoes in the UK year round but we have to use a lot of energy to do it because it isn't warm enough. We have to use a lot of energy to grow them indoors. There is a lower environmental impact in growing them naturally in the correct climate and importing them. I.e. the environmental impacts of transport are lower than the environmental impacts of greenhouse growing.
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Yes drought will certainly be bad for tomato growing.

Energy will impact, but they’ll just put prices up if the demand exists. The issue with Uk is energy to grow, energy to transport and cost of exporting due to brexit. It’s a number of elements that will all impact the cost. If any single one didn’t exist we’d probably not have empty shells. The most controllable one was brexit
 
Nano said:
Do Spain grow anything in greenhouses at this time of year? If they do then they must also be suffering from energy price increases like the rest of us. If it isn't profitable to do it then they will surely have stopped. Also, hasn't it been mentioned somewhere that there has been a drought? Surely that is a bigger problem than a few cold days?


It was mentioned earlier how we should be reducing food miles for environmental reasons so we shouldn't be relying on importing food but growing tomatoes in Spain is the perfect example of where something sounding logical is actually not. We could grow tomatoes in the UK year round but we have to use a lot of energy to do it because it isn't warm enough. We have to use a lot of energy to grow them indoors. There is a lower environmental impact in growing them naturally in the correct climate and importing them. I.e. the environmental impacts of transport are lower than the environmental impacts of greenhouse growing.
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It's why we have the tomato plant at Cowpen Bewley. Carbon Dioxide comes cheaply as a bi product of ammonia and there's plenty of steam lines to tap into, just one required in this case.
 
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