https://www.theguardian.com/food/2019/aug/12/cauliflower-shortage-uk-extreme-weather
[links in online article]
Cauliflowers dwindle in UK as extreme weather takes its toll
Wholesale prices rise by 400% as restaurants advised to take
cauliflower-related meals off menus
Patrick Collinson
Mon 12 Aug 2019
Britain is in the grip of a cauliflower crisis, with supermarket shelves
emptying after heavy rain destroyed this year’s crop in Lincolnshire,
while alternative European supplies are drying up after the continental
heatwave.
Tesco only has organic cauliflowers left for sale on its online site,
telling buyers that standard single cauliflowers and large cauliflowers
are not available.
Wholesalers said there was a huge shortage of cauliflowers, with one
leading supplier telling restaurants to take cauliflower-related meals
off their menus.
The wholesale price for cauliflowers has soared by 400%, with the few
remaining suppliers in Holland, Italy and France demanding £3 a
cauliflower, compared with the normal price of about 60p.
The British Growers Association (BGA) confirmed that supplies had been
seriously affected by extreme weather conditions particularly in the
Lincolnshire fields where most of the UK’s cauliflower is grown. It also
said cabbages and other brassicas were at risk.
Jack Ward of the BGA said: “Back in June many farms had more than six
inches [152mm] of rain in the space of a week. In some places, fields
were under water for an extensive time and it’s not just that it damages
the crops, it does enormous amounts of damage to the soil.
“It damaged not just the standing crop but also those due for harvest
about now, as well as brussels sprouts for Christmas. Lincolnshire is
the main supplier, so it’s left the whole of the UK short.”
Supermarkets and wholesalers typically source supplies from overseas
markets when British farms are unable to supply. But this year’s
record-breaking heatwaves in Europe have left continental suppliers
unable to fill orders.
The BGA said the failure of the brassica crop had left some farmers
devastated. Ward said: “For some, a year’s work was destroyed in one
week of rains.”
Vernon Mascarenhas, director of Covent Garden wholesaler Nature’s
Choice, which supplies 400 restaurants in London, including those owned
by the Roux brothers, said: “There is a huge UK shortage of cauliflowers
at the moment. We are having to search everywhere for supply. But they
are extremely costly, with prices at the wholesale level reaching £3 a
cauliflower when the normal price is capped at around 60p. We are
already telling people just to take them off the menu.”
In recent years demand for cauliflowers in Britain has risen as what was
once regarded as a dull boiled vegetable has become a favourite
ingredient in vegan and vegetarian dishes, and become more popular in
restaurants as people reduce their meat intake. Sales of cauli rice and
couscous have multiplied, with cultivation acreage devoted to
cauliflower increasing by about 50% in recent years.
But the climate emergency has left farmers struggling to cope with
extreme weather events. Ward said: “Just look what we’ve had over the
past year or so. We’ve had the beast from the east, extremely dry months
and extremely wet months.
“We had crops last year planted and harvested without any rain falling
on them. This year we also had very low light levels during June, cloudy
and damp conditions, which hampered growth.”
The vegetable supply issues come as supermarkets brace themselves for
the impact of a potential no-deal Brexit on food supply chains at the
end of October.
=====================================
To subscribe, unsubscribe, turn vacation mode on or off,
or carry out other user-actions for this list, visit
https://www.freelists.org/list/keiths-list
Note: new climate change website is now in pre-launch
Visit https://www.10n10.ca/e/index.shtml