‘It’s important that we try and make sure that we get alternative sourcing options’
Britain entered a third week of salad items shortages – including tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers – with the government saying it could last another month.
The problem has been worsened by lower winter greenhouse production in Britain and the Netherlands due to high energy costs, with social media flooded with images of empty supermarket produce shelves.
“I’m led to believe by my officials after discussion with industry retailers… the situation will last about another two to four weeks,” Therese Coffey, minister for the environment, food and rural affairs, told parliament, according to Reuters. “It’s important that we try and make sure that we get alternative sourcing options.”
Coffey has been widely mocked for saying Britons who cannot get hold of salad vegetables might want to consider turnips instead.
“A lot of people would be eating turnips right now rather than thinking necessarily about aspects of lettuce and tomatoes and similar, but I’m conscious that consumers want a year-round choice and that is what our supermarkets, food producers and growers around the world try to satisfy,” she said.
Additionally, British food and farming minister Mark Spencer said he met with executives of Britain’s significant grocers on Monday to hear what they were doing to alleviate the supply issues.
“I have also asked them to look again at how they work with our farmers and how they buy fruit and vegetables, so they can further build our preparedness for these unexpected incidents,” he said in a statement.
