Britons should be eating parsnips and leeks at this time of year, a senior ToryMP said on Friday as supermarkets continue to struggle with shortages of some fruits and vegetables.
However the Leek Growers Association has warned the vegetable could also soon be in short supply because “farmers are facing their most difficult season ever due to the challenging weather conditions”.
Sir Robert Goodwill, chair of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, suggested households should return to eat seasonal produce, such as leeks and parsnips, and embrace the “traditional skill” of growing it at home.
It follows Environment Secretary Therese Coffey yesterday proposing turnips could be a suitable alternative while many shops limit sales of cucumbers and tomatoes, following shortages partly caused by extreme weather in Spain and north Africa.
Sir Robert told BBC Radio 4: “We don’t have that seasonality that we used to have. And certainly if people are on a limited budget, you know homegrown produce in season is very cost effective.
“Strawberries are not available grown in the UK at this time of year but they when they come in season, you know that they taste much better. There’s loads of good produce - there’s good UK grown parsnips, there’s leeks.
“Turnips are great, but you can’t eat them every single meal.”
He added that more households growing and eating seasonal products would be better for the environment as food would not have to be shipped from abroad.
“We grow vegetables in our garden,” the Scarborough and Whitby MP said. “So I’m sitting rather smugly with quite a few leeks and parsnips and artichokes in my garden...maybe we should think [about returning] to those traditional skills that working class families had that were you know we’re not just leeks, but show leeks were being grown in many gardens up here in the Northeast.”
But Tim Casey, chairman of the Leek Growers Association, warned supplies of the long green vegetable be “exhausted” by April.
“Our members are seeing yields down by between 15 per cent and 30 per cent,” he said.
“We are predicting that the supply of homegrown leeks will be exhausted by April, with no British leeks available in the shops during May and June, with consumers having to rely on imported crops.”
Farmers are warning that some people may not be able to buy British-grown leeks on St David’s Day and could have to use imported produce to make traditional dishes such as Welsh cawl, leek and potato soup or a Wrexham bake.
Tesco, Asda, Aldi and Morrisons have limited the amounts of some fruits and vegetable customers can buy after supply issues.
The Government said shortages were largely down to bad weather in Europe and Africa, including a frost in Morocco.
High electricity prices have also had an impact on produce grown in greenhouses in the UK and Netherlands.
While some Spanish salad growers blamed increased production costs and the knock-on effects of Brexit for contributing to the vegetable shortages.
Sir Robert said: “I don’t think we can blame Brexit for this. We certainly can’t blame Brexit for the weather in southern Spain and Morocco.”
Ms Coffey told the Commons that British consumers should “cherish” home-grown produce.
Asked if people had to think about changing what they eat, Norfolk farmer Rebecca Mayhew said today: “Absolutely, I mean, we have got a finite amount of energy…finite amounts of water. We don’t need five different types of lettuces on the shelves. We’re really spoiled.
“If we’re looking at nutrient density, there’s far more nutrients in a carrot than a tomato.”
