Empty Store Shelves Spur Brits to Grow Their Own Vegetables

(Bloomberg) -- Grocery store shelves stripped of essentials and rationing of food delivery slots have brought the sustainability of U.K. supplies into sharp focus. Countries worldwide announcing nationwide lockdowns and workers falling ill or being forced to self-isolate have raised questions about where Britain’s produce comes from and who gets it to the supermarkets.

Over half of the U.K.’s food is produced by suppliers within the country, helping to lessen the impact of any potential disruption to shipping from overseas. Even so, the country is still reliant on the European Union -- where some nations have been severely hit by the pandemic -- for over a quarter of what it does import.

Those U.K. crops aren’t going to pick themselves though. Almost all of Britain’s seasonal agriculture workers travel from abroad each year -- something they may find impossible as movement is restricted and airlines shutter flights. Compounding the issue is agriculture’s unusual reliance on older workers. One in 10 people in crop and animal production is over the age of 70, a demographic that is known to be particularly at risk from the virus and asked to stay home.

Some Britons are taking matters into their own hands. Sales of fruit and vegetable seeds have sky rocketed as people locked down in their own homes look for a productive way to fill their time and gardens, according to the Royal Horticultural Society.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.