UK tomato and cucumber farmers shut down production over energy crisis and labour shortages

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. “We have a very real risk now of exporting parts of our farming industry overseas and reducing the capacity of UK agriculture to feed the country,” said the NFU’s vice president, Tom Bradshaw. The British Meat Processors’ Association said that supermarkets faced with rising farm prices could start sourcing more food from overseas but “the UK’s food security would suffer”. Prices have to go up.” Tim Lang, professor emeritus of food policy at City University, said the problems showed how British farming had become “disastrously” dependent on high energy consumption. We don’t know what the price is yet, we haven’t been told how it’s been calculated, we don’t know CF Industries margins, what model has been used, or how the price will fluctuate.” “We assume some sort of equation has been used and we’d like to know what it is.” The British Poultry Council welcomed the announcement, adding: “We are waiting for more information from Government on the deal and look forward to working with them upon hearing further detail.” A government spokesperson said: “The UK’s high degree of food security is built on access to a diverse range of sources including robust supply chains across a range of countries, in addition to strong domestic production.