Fruit and vegetable shortage

[61653 HTAFC]

With no veg or fruit in the house, went on a big shop today at Sainsbury's and was able to buy everything that was on the shopping list.

What crisis?

I just had the same experience at a local Farm Shop... fewer "food miles" there too!

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 23 Feb 2023 ==

Apparently Therese Coffey has publicly suggested people buy turnips instead of tomatoes.

Needless to say, there have been multiple remarks on social media making reference to cunning plans - and pointing out there's a shortage of turnips as well.

Doesn't quite have the same ring as "let them eat cake" does it?

 

[Techniquest]

The attached photo certainly shows how much the fruit and vegetable shortage is not currently affecting me. Or perhaps it is, getting good quality bananas is not easy right now so I'm compensating by living it up with these vegan foods! Fair to say I'm not doing healthy food right now

Highly recommend the KitKat by the way

As for fruit and veg, I have been reminded of the presence of local places in the city centre that do all sorts, I will have to pop down tomorrow and see what I can get.

 

[Spamcan81]

Now we have the great fruit and vegetable shortage, no doubt stoked up by the media with reports that it could "..last for months.."

Always amuses me how people "..take to Twitter.." to complain about the lack of tomatoes on the supermarket shelves, as if that will do anything.

No doubt local Facebook groups will be filled with people asking which supermarket has which fruit and vegetables.

As far as I am concerned, the shortage of broccoli and cabbage can last for ever.

My vegetable bête noir is celery so that can be discontinued.

 

[Russel]

I have enough tinned veg to last me the two weeks it will take for the panic buying to subside.

If I do run out of tinned veg, my local greengrocer looked well stocked when I walked past this morning and the prices are broadly similar to the big supermarkets.

 

[Howardh]

Lidl was more or less out of any form of veg yesterday afternoon. Your choice was asparagus, courgette, swede or radish.

ASDA at 2am was pretty well stocked though, which does hint towards panic buying rather than an actual problem. That said, according to the labels on the pallets that stock was supposed to be destined for Falkirk…

Sainsbury's in Bolton near the station was reasonably well stocked in fruit and veg last night, however could only buy Iceland lettuce in a bag. One big shortage was eggs, all they had were a few packs of 12. So did without.

At home my tulips are coming on a treat, but might be tomatoes and potatoes next year!!

 

[philthetube]

Surely anyone buying that quantity of veg for a business would be better off placing an order with a wholesaler, rather than rushing around between dozens of supermarkets? They'd be in a better position to supply larger quantities on a regular basis and they might actually able to deliver!

I'm guessing that she's going to the places that sell cucumbers at the cheapest price, but how much fuel is she guzzling in the process? (I bet it's a Range-Rover Evoque... )

She might have been let down by a wholesaler.

Certainly it's free publicity for her personal trainer / detox juice business, but it does beg the question as to whether Lidl are set up as a supermarket or as fruit and vegetable wholesalers?

If she bought these quantities regularly then I would have some sympathy for her.

 

[AM9]

She might have been let down by a wholesaler.

If she bought these quantities regularly then I would have some sympathy for her.

How much sympathy would she have had the wholsaler let in the general public and they had cleared the shelves of cucumbers? Nope, she didn't care about anybody else in this failed attempt. Well done Lidl!

 

[brad465]

Apparently Therese Coffey has publicly suggested people buy turnips instead of tomatoes.

Needless to say, there have been multiple remarks on social media making reference to cunning plans - and pointing out there's a shortage of turnips as well.

Coffey of course while briefly Health Secretary revealed she had shared antibiotics with family when unwell, which is illegal and a risk factor for antibiotic resistance. (She was only briefly HS because Truss only lasted 49 days)

 

[Dent]

Apparently Therese Coffey has publicly suggested people buy turnips instead of tomatoes.

What is she cooking where turnips can be substituted for tomatoes? They are rather different ingredients.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

What is she cooking where turnips can be substituted for tomatoes? They are rather different ingredients.

Cheese and turnip sandwiches, anyone? Thought not!

 

[birchesgreen]

Turnip bolognaise?

 

[Gloster]

Turnip ketchup?

 

[birchesgreen]

Turnip ketchup?

You can get ketchups made from other fruits instead of tomatoes, in the Philippines they have banana ketchup which is quite nice. Turnip is probably going to be a step too far though.

 

[alex397]

Did Britons all starve before the EU?

Obviously not.
But we are certainly not doing as well since we have left it.

 

[43096]

Fruit / veg readily available in Central Scotland? Who'd have thought?!

P.S. Presume that's the M&S Foodhall on the Central Retail Park (near Falkirk Grahamston station) as didn't their main store in the town centre close several years ago?

I thought it was only chips and beans consumed as veg in Scotland?

 

[Techniquest]

You can get ketchups made from other fruits instead of tomatoes, in the Philippines they have banana ketchup which is quite nice. Turnip is probably going to be a step too far though.

Too far indeed. I've no knowledge of what turnip tastes like, but banana ketchup sounds interesting!

 

[TPO]

It does depend on the supermarket and its relationship with the supplier.

Tight fisted supermarkets that pay the suppliers the least they can get away with will be the first to go without if there is a shortage.

Another fact is social media, where people ask on local Facebook and Whatsapp groups about which supermarket has which product in stock, and then descend on the supermarket like a plague of locusts.

The great egg crisis is still with us though.

Aldi had none this morning, and Iceland over the other side of the street only had a few boxes left.

Nail. Head. On.

This is the elephant in the room. Supermarkets driving down the price they will pay suppliers, production price rises, supplier goes out of business. The issue isn't so much as whether veg is available, as whether there is any available at the low prices 5he Supermarkets will pay. Not to mention some rather sharp practices in paying invoices.

Our local family greengrocers, which is a fairly large shop for that sort of establishment, were fully stocked this morning.
Plenty of tomatoes and various green vegetables.
Yesterday, Waitrose seemed to have no shortages in the fruit and veg department.

We know someone who works for a large commercial Tomato grower, on the south coast.
Their sky high energy bills have had a big impact on their productivity recently.
It's same in the Netherlands apparently, where a lot of growers have cut back on production.

So now at last it's a sellers market. Much basic food is too cheap- and far too much is wasted. About time the govt and supermarkets started valuing food producers especially market gardens and gave them a fair deal to survive. Ditto egg and dairy producers, particularly small high-welfare producers.

No doubt we'll see a run on veg seeds too.

TPO

 

[Lost property]

Turnip meals ! fun and healthy eating for all the family to enjoy together !

Environment secretary urges Britons to ‘cherish’ turnips amid food shortages

Thérèse Coffey’s championing of UK ‘specialisms’ causes one Labour MP to retort: ‘Let them eat turnips!’

www.theguardian.com

 

[dgl]

and naturally as Supermarkets and the like pay as little as possible to producers Brexit will make a difference due to the additional cost of paperwork and drivers extra hours to get through customs, so when there is a shortage of supply guess who's going to get stock of EU made produce first, yes the EU. Supposedly some European lorry drivers won't do trips to Britain anymore as the delays make it no longer worth it.

 

[Cross City]

No peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes or eggs in my local Lidl yesterday and only cucumbers in the Aldi over the road.

Slightly annoying as I like a bit of crunchy veg to munch on at lunchtime and I'm running low now. I expect the garden centre up the road will have some but I'm not that bothered.

 

[Bald Rick]

Turnip meals ! fun and healthy eating for all the family to enjoy together !

Environment secretary urges Britons to ‘cherish’ turnips amid food shortages

Thérèse Coffey’s championing of UK ‘specialisms’ causes one Labour MP to retort: ‘Let them eat turnips!’

www.theguardian.com

“Reminds me of our wedding night, Nathaniel”

 

[ChiefPlanner]

“Reminds me of our wedding night, Nathaniel”

Expect a Californian style gold rush in the Kings Lynn area as the true value of the swede crop is reallsed........

 

[Bald Rick]

Expect a Californian style gold rush in the Kings Lynn area as the true value of the swede crop is reallsed........

Quite. Either by good fortune, or because I am clairvoyant and spotted this issue before it made the news, I have a well stocked salad drawer, that I suspect is now worth thousands

 

[DarloRich]

Quite. Either by good fortune, or because I am clairvoyant and spotted this issue before it made the news, I have a well stocked salad drawer, that I suspect is now worth thousands

Kulak. You will pay for your crime of hording supplies destined for the people.

( sigh: i better explain - Kulaks were a class of slightly more affluent peasant farmers in the Soviet Union who Stalin scapegoated and then liquidated to further the collectivisation of farming in the USSR. Thier crime was to hoard food and keep it from the workers, apparently. )

 

[dangie]

It beats me how official figures suggest overall UK inflation may have peaked at 11.1% back in October, but the rate of food price rises is still running at 16.7% and is likely to rise even further.

Pasta price doubles to 95p as cost of basics rises

While overall price rises in the UK slow, food inflation may not have peaked yet, research suggests.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[ChiefPlanner]

Kulak. You will pay for your crime of hording supplies destined for the people.

Having recently read the 3 volumes of Viktor Klemperer living in Dresden in the 1930's and 1940's particularly the challenges of being a Jew and basically reduced to very limited rations , I can now understand his recollections of "the dish of the day" being turnip soup , and turnip fritters also a staple of the diet. Precious little else.

Not quite reduced to this. However , give it time.

 

[Bald Rick]

It beats me how official figures suggest overall UK inflation may have peaked at 11.1% back in October, but the rate of food price rises is still running at 16.7% and is likely to rise even further.

It’s because Food and (non alcoholic) drinks only forms 9.3% of the CPI basket.

 

[Magdalia]

Kulak. You will pay for your crime of hording supplies destined for the people.

( sigh: i better explain - Kulaks were a class of slightly more affluent peasant farmers in the Soviet Union who Stalin scapegoated and then liquidated to further the collectivisation of farming in the USSR. Thier crime was to hoard food and keep it from the workers, apparently. )

Including in Ukraine. It is an important part of the history that underlies the current conflict.

 

[dangie]

It’s because Food and (non alcoholic) drinks only forms 9.3% of the CPI basket.

Yes but probably the most important item on it.

 

[Bald Rick]

Yes but probably the most important item on it.

Maybe, but importance is irrelevant in the calculation. It is the amount of household spend on the items concerned that matters.

Housing costs (including energy) are 31%. Inflation here is much lower.