A vegetable shortage has taken hold in the United Kingdom amid drought and abnormal heat, according to the Guardian.
Many farmers are struggling to grow crops in the heat, with water for irrigation running short even on farms equipped with irrigation systems and reservoirs. Wholesale tomato prices have risen more than 60 percent, lettuce prices are up 90 percent, and potato prices have climbed more than 40 percent.
Harvests of wheat, potatoes, tomatoes, olives and English peas have fallen, while broccoli and cauliflower are now being imported from Spain and the Netherlands. Some farmers are considering switching to varieties better suited to high temperatures.
Heads of the UK’s largest supermarkets have warned Prime Minister Andy Burnham that wildfires and extreme weather threaten the country’s food security. Food producers and wholesalers have called on the government to make the food system a national priority and reduce dependence on food imports.
Tim O’Malley, chairman of wholesale food supplier Nationwide Produce, said field crops such as leafy greens, broccoli and iceberg lettuce had been hit hardest by the heat. Tomato production, much of which is imported into the UK from the Netherlands and Belgium at this time of year, is also suffering due to persistently high temperatures, resulting in smaller and damaged fruit.
