The UK is “sleepwalking” into a food supply crisis, the union for farmers and growers has warned.
Union president Minette Batters said egg shortages “could just be the start” as multiple farming sectors are affected.
“Shoppers up and down the country have for decades had a guaranteed supply of high-quality affordable food produced to some of the highest animal welfare, environmental and food safety standards in the world,” Ms Batters told the BBC.
So what shortages have been announced and what is the impact on the public?
Egg shortages
Egg shortages continue to plague numerous supermarkets, with Tesco and Asda having to ration their egg supply, and the UK shortage expected to last beyond Christmas.
Driving energy and higher feeding costs, the war in Ukraine and a recent bout of bird flu has all been blamed for the shortages alongside farmers stating what they get paid is no longer enough.
British farmers add that, while the bird flu outbreak was a factor, another simple problem is that there just aren’t enough eggs due to money lost on every box, forcing many to cut production.
Chief executive of the British Free Range Egg Producers Association (BFREPA) Robert Gooch told Reuters: “The stupidity of the whole thing is that we warned retailers, we’ve given them plenty of notice this was going to happen.”
Official UK data shows retail prices for eggs have increased 27 per cent over the past year alone.
Britain’s National Farmers’ Union (NFU) further warn that, if food producers and retailers don’t agree to fairer terms in the future, shortages of eggs could be just the beginning.
Costly energy and grain, alongside labour shortages could mean more empty shelves.
Water shortages
Leaky pipes alongside droughts and the water industry’s ongoing scandal about severe lack of investment in infrastructure has meant Britain could be facing major water shortages.
Chief executive Sarah Bentley said: “If we are to ensure a secure and sustainable water supply for future generations, we need to act now, to protect our communities and our environment against the impact of drought and water shortages.
“Planning and constructing new resources takes time, which is why we must start now, otherwise we will have more restrictions and shortages in the future.”
The recent hosepipe ban was only lifted a month ago, but the situation remains dire.
Medicine shortages
In the UK, a large number of medicines including amoxicillin and penicillin, which are used to treat infections such as strep A, are currently running low.
A new report by the Nuffield Trust has found that, since Britain’s departure from the EU, worsening recruitment shortages have meant the price of medicines has significantly increased, with some almost impossible to obtain.
According to the report, Brexit has worsened health inequality, impacting medicine supply.
“The UK has also apparently taken the worst of a period of medicines shortages which has swept across Europe,” said Mark Dayan, Brexit programme lead at the Nuffield Trust.
He added: “The fall in the value of sterling around the EU referendum, and the trade barriers erected since, are probably major factors in our unusually consistent and long-standing problems supplying vital products.”
