Vegetable crisis forces UK supermarkets to set sights on US to stock up supplies

Morning Glory

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Squeezed by the lingering vegetable crisis caused by poor harvests in Southern Europe, many UK retailers are now looking across the pond to stock up their supplies of lettuces and other greens. UK consumer demand for the leafy greens.

“Typically lettuces are originating from Northern Mexico and Arizona and are travelling through Los Angeles or Seattle airports to London Heathrow,” says Joe LeBeau, vice-president for the North American region at IAG’s cargo division.

The UK’s vegetable crisis, which started in early January when retailers reported a courgette shortage, has drawn on for several weeks now, affecting aubergines, lettuces, broccoli, salad peppers and cabbage. Some supermarkets have introduced quotas and Tesco temporarily implemented a three-lettuce limit for customers.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/b...rgettes-lettuce-broccoli-greens-a7571251.html

Have you noticed a vegetable shortage? I can't say I have. But I rarely buy courgettes as I really don't like them very much.
 
Not vegetables but melons and cotton. For about 3 years, during the drought and then the flood you could not get watermelons or cantaloupes. The first two years were due to no water and the third year the fields all flooded during the first part of the growing season. Note, those two crops are only grown in certain regions.
Now I know you can't eat cotton but those same years, we had no cotton and the price of clothes and cotton yarn went up.

Now your last line has me wondering, either how often do Brits shop or how much lettuce does the average consumer buy at a time. Here it is typically one head a week if that.
 
I think a lot of Brits eat quite a bit of lettuce. I usually serve a salad which includes lettuce with meals about five times a week (lunch and/or dinner). Plus, it goes into sandwiches.
 
In the market the veg stall holders have been complaining about the cost of salad including rocket. I haven't noticed much difference in the supermarket, though.
 
Not vegetables but melons and cotton. For about 3 years, during the drought and then the flood you could not get watermelons or cantaloupes. The first two years were due to no water and the third year the fields all flooded during the first part of the growing season. Note, those two crops are only grown in certain regions.
Now I know you can't eat cotton but those same years, we had no cotton and the price of clothes and cotton yarn went up.

Now your last line has me wondering, either how often do Brits shop or how much lettuce does the average consumer buy at a time. Here it is typically one head a week if that.

We eat lettuce most days either at lunch or dinner. I don't think we ever used lettuce that much when I was a kid but perhaps the availability of different varieties of lettuce has encouraged us to eat more of it.

As for courgettes. I don't think we ever had them in the UK when I was a kid. Marrows but not courgettes.
 
Mostly tabloid hype causing a panic. Words like 'crisis' seem to be used quite a lot when the reporters have little other news to rant about. Poor harvest in one place get supplies from somewhere else but it may be a little more expensive for a while - been happening ever since mankind started trading. Quotas - rationing - how will we survive !!??!! I suspect we'll manage quite well actually.
 
More a case of having come accustomed to having what we want when we want it, not when nature says. Eat with the seasons.
 
It's a headline looking for a story.. There's no 'crisis'.
Plus, lettuce is one of the easiest things to grow yourself :)
A bit difficult this time of year though... and if you have no garden then growing enough lettuce on a windowsill to feed a family might be a bit of a challenge.
 
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