Key Points:
- Tomatoes, capsicums and cucumbers are among the items in short supply.
- Difficult weather conditions have interrupted harvests and reduced supply.
- Simply Red singer Mike Hucknall weighed in about the shortage.
A British MP has urged her country to eat more turnips as it battles a growing shortage of fresh produce.
The United Kingdom's environment minister, Therese Coffey, made the plea in parliament amid a vegetable shortage gripping the nation.
On Wednesday, Britain's biggest supermarket group Tesco followed rivals Asda, Morrisons and Aldi in imposing customer purchase limits on a number of fresh produce items.
Tomatoes, capsicums, and cucumbers are among the items in short supply.
Andrew Opie, director of food and sustainability at the British Retail Consortium, which represents the UK’s major supermarkets, said disrupted harvests were to blame for reduced supplies.
“Difficult weather conditions in the south of Europe and northern Africa have disrupted harvest for some fruit and vegetables, including tomatoes and peppers,” he said.
The shortage has also been exacerbated by high energy costs leading to less winter production in greenhouses in the UK and the Netherlands.
Ms Coffey told Parliament that Britons should try to eat “more seasonally”.
She said while consumers had become used to supermarkets ensuring year-round availability of almost all produce, it was “important to make sure that we cherish the specialisms that we have in this country”.
”A lot of people would be eating turnips right now, rather than thinking necessarily about ... lettuce and tomatoes," she said, referring to the root vegetable traditionally available in Britain at this time of year.
Ms Coffey said the shortages could last up to a month.
"I'm led to believe by my officials after discussion with industry retailers ... the situation will last about another two to four weeks. It's important that we try and make sure that we get alternative sourcing options," she said.
Some people believe the impact of Brexit has played a part in causing the shortages, given it had so far appeared to be impacted more than other European countries.
Simply Red singer Mick Hucknall is one of them.
He invited his followers on Twitter who were in other parts of Europe, to share photos of their supermarkets and he reposted images of well-stocked fruit and vegetable sections in France with the hashtag #BrexitReality.
