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Fruit and vegetable producers rise after warning Environment Secretary Therese Coffey, who is aware of the problems facing the agricultural sector, that daily produce shortages could continue into May. expressing dissatisfaction.
Lea Valley Growers Association (LVGA).
The group of growers represents members across the region known as Britain’s ‘Cucumber Capital’, comprising parts of Greater London, Hertfordshire and Essex. About 75% of the country’s cucumbers are grown there, as are the majority of peppers and eggplants.
The cold weather in Spain and Morocco is a major cause of the shortages seen in supermarkets, but this is due to British producers choosing to wait until warmer to plant crops here to keep utility costs down. Said it was getting worse.
Dr Coffey downplayed concerns about low availability in stores after chains such as Tesco and Morrisons introduced purchase limits on salad items. However, LVGA believes shoppers will see volatile availability for some time.
“Most of the tomatoes, peppers and eggplants don’t hit the market in bulk until May, so it will take a few weeks or longer,” said Lee Stiles, LVGA secretary.
“It’s too late for British producers to step in and try to fill the gap.” [from abroad],” he added.
The group also downplayed Dr. Coffey, who argued in the House of Representatives this week that industrial glass greenhouses are “an emerging industry, not an established industry.”
If this is true, it bitterly points out that it means the Lea Valley glasshouse industry has been “rising” for 150 years. “You couldn’t make up for this,” the group wrote on Twitter.
Coffey’s suggestion that if more Britons were more willing to eat seasonal produce such as turnips instead of tomatoes and lettuce at this time of year, the country would not be in this situation has also been rejected. Her recommendation that people struggling to buy food should work longer hours also failed to land.
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The National Farmers Union (NFU), which warned in December that the UK was facing an “emergency” over food security, is among the groups that are getting impatient with Dr Coffey and the Ministry for Food, Environment and Rural Affairs. General Affairs (Defra).
NFU Vice President David Exwood said:
“Our UK food resilience is now waning. Governments need to take this seriously,” he added.
Defra said in a statement: .
“Ministers will hold a roundtable with industry next week to discuss ways to bring supply back to normal.”