BRITAIN’S supermarket veg shortage could last for weeks, the former Environment Secretary warned today.
George Eustice said there was little that ministers could do to get tomatoes and other veg back on shelves right now.
Supermarkets have run out of some veg thanks to shortages on the continent
George Eustice warned it could go on and there wasn’t much we could do about it
He claimed there was not “much different the government could have done” to prevent it thanks to weather issues out of our control.
Stores are battling to fix supply as shelves went empty this week.
And ministers are hauling in supermarket bosses this week to find out what more they can do to fix it.
The UK imports large chunks of its tomatoes from warmer nations during the winter months as they can’t grow here unless in heated greenhouses – which many farmers are struggling to afford.
Mr Eustice, who was Environment Secretary under Boris Johnson but was sacked under Liz Truss, told the BBC: “The reality is that there isn’t much different that the government could have done in recent months and there’s nothing they can do immediately.
“We’re going to have three or four weeks of this and the supermarkets have got to work to get it right.
“Longer term that there are things we should be doing.”
Fresh produce such as tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuce are in short supply at the moment thanks to a perfect storm of poor weather on the continent, high energy prices, and fertiliser issues caused by the Ukraine war.
UK supermarkets have been forced to impose rations on tomatoes, peppers, cauliflowers and lettuces.
The shortages have been caused by extreme weather in Spain and North Africa.
Over the winter months, the majority of the UK’s salad stock comes from these regions, which have been hit by particularly cold weather.
Environment Secretary, Therese Coffey suggested that root veg like turnips would be a suitable alternative while others remain scarce.
But then some shops like Tesco ran out of them too.
Tesco has run out of turnips just after the government told people to eat them instead
