What the salad crisis says about Britain - podcast

Signs have been appearing in Britain’s supermarkets in recent weeks apologising to customers for their lack of vegetables or warning them that they are being rationed. It’s been blamed on bad winter weather in Spain and Morrocco, which has hit supplies and led one government minister to encourage people to embrace seasonal British veg like turnips instead.

Guardian business reporter Joanna Partridge tells Michael Safi that while bad weather may be partly to blame for the empty shelves, the issue is more complex – and serious – than meets the eye. The UK has become accustomed to a world of year-round produce available at the click of a button and all based on what now look like increasingly vulnerable supply chains put further at risk by Brexit and the energy crisis. With further shortages on the horizon there is no immediate sense that the government has a long-term vision for how Britons continue to feed themselves at scale in the UK.

Photograph: Matthew Horwood/Getty Images

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