2023-08-26 13:41:05
The effects of climate change are already being noticed in the supply of fruits and vegetables to the United Kingdom. A report published by the organization Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) has warned that the increasingly recurring droughts and fires in southern European countries are causing a decrease in production and the increase in the cost of many foods that are imported daily into the country. This decrease will foreseeably mean a worsening diet of the British, according to the report, and a greater tendency to consume processed and cheaper foods.
More than a quarter of UK food imports in 2022 came from Mediterranean countries, with a total value of £16 billion (€18.6 billion). Imports from Spain represented 7% of the total and amounted to 4,000 million pounds (4,600 million euros), mainly fresh products such as fruits and vegetables. A supply that, according to forecasts, will be shrinking if urgent measures are not taken to combat the effects of climate change.
most expensive food
The report highlights that some imported foods, such as cauliflower, broccoli or strawberries, can be grown indoors in the United Kingdom, although this measure will mean a increase in the cost of products due to increased consumption of energy. In other cases, however, this option is not even viable. “There are many foods that we simply cannot grow in the UK on a large scale,” the authors warn. “More than half of our lemons and sweet peppers come from the Mediterranean, along with two-thirds of all our oranges and 40% of our table grapes.” Other products such as tomatoes or cucumbers also depend to a large extent on imports from southern Europe.
Spanish fruit trees, cornered by climate change
Roberta Sonnino, an expert in sustainable food systems and professor at the University of Surrey, says that climatic changes are added to other factors that have already contributed to the unstoppable rise in the price of fruit and vegetables in the UK, such as the rising energy prices and the Brexit. “It is a very, very complicated situation, which does not have a miraculous solution. We are not going to avoid our problems by producing food at the national level, nor are we going to solve them by depending excessively on imports,” says the professor, who points out the need to create public policies that give more subsidies for the production of fruits and vegetables.
vulnerable families
This measure would help to contain the rise in prices and would facilitate access to these products, essential for a healthy diet, to the most vulnerable sectors of the population. “A sustainable diet does not exist without the consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables. If prices continue to rise, it will be the poorest who will bear the brunt because they will not be able to afford the price of food that is vital to their health and to the health of the planet,” says Sonnino. “We cannot depend exclusively on the third sector and civil society organizations in feeding the hungry and poor in times of crisis.
The impact on the poorest families is another point highlighted by the ECIU report, which warns that the price of the shopping basket has increased by an average of 400 pounds per year (466 euros) for British homes. “The growing threat of climate shocks this year shows all the signs of adding to this, thus exacerbating the cost of living crisis, worsening the impact on the poorest families and threatening nutrition levels.”
new crops
The expected changes in the production and supply of fruit and vegetables in the United Kingdom have forced to consider alternatives, such as the reuse of land for cultivation or the incorporation of new foods as the climate is also changing in the country, with increasingly higher temperatures. Experts warn, however, that climate change is causing a increased unpredictability of weather events and that, should a favorable climate develop for introducing new crops in the UK, it will take time to implement the tools, methods and supply chains to produce them on a large scale.
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