According to academics a no-deal Brexit could have a severe impact on food supplies, and they have warned that there be a high price hike.
Experts from Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) warn that with food costing more it could make it difficult for people to have their five a day.
Cesar Revoredo-Giha and Montserrat Costa-Font, from SRUC’s food marketing research team said, “Whilst Covid-19 has already had an impact on prices and imports, a no-deal Brexit may have far more severe effects on the food chain.”
The SRUC warned “the effect of a no-deal Brexit may disrupt the fruit and vegetable supply in multiple ways.”
Fruit and vegetables imports plummeted during the coronavirus pandemic and between March and April onions went up in price by 26.7%, whilst mushrooms and tomatoes went up by 10%.
The two researchers said that UK are “highly dependent” on imports, saying, “On vegetables, the UK imports more than half of the tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, mushrooms, peppers and lettuce it consumes.
“Between 75% and 100% of these products were imported from the EU in 2019.
“This share did not vary much during Covid-19, except in the case of tomatoes and onions, where we do observe a reduction of EU imports during the first quarter of 2020.”
Revoredo-Giha and Costa-Font added, “This can have important effects on the nutrition of the UK population, particularly for those with limited income, hampering any improvement towards the five-a-day goal.”
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