80% of UK food banks expect to run out of food in the near future. Let that sink in. We are a hair's breadth away from lots of hungry people -- not just rising food prices.

(Remember last year, US food banks stocking up “pandemic pallets” ? Now we see why.)

For years I have warned this was in their plan, and encouraged growing gardens and raising animals. It is still the time to share those seeds with neighbors. And be ready to defend what you have cultivated.

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UK: Food banks warn of smaller parcels due to supply shortages
Declining stocks and expected higher demand for charity could see struggling families given less in their food parcels

Food banks have said they will have to shrink the size of the parcels they give to struggling families owing to declining stock levels caused by the HGV crisis, supply shortages and a collapse in public donations.

A combination of declining food bank stocks and an expected explosion in demand for charity support after universal credit is cut this week has led some to prepare emergency measures to eke out food supplies further, including making parcels smaller and offering less variety.

Several reported they were already spending hundreds of pounds a month to replenish storerooms depleted by a fall-off in deliveries of surplus food from supermarkets and a big decrease in food donations from the public.

A survey of 68 UK food banks carried out by the Independent Food Aid Network (Ifan) in mid-September and seen by the Guardian found two-thirds reporting food shortages and more than 80% anticipating running low on food stocks in the near future.

#uk #FoodPrices #SupplyChain

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/oct/04/food-banks-warn-of-smaller-parcels-due-to-hgv-supply-shortages

UK: The National Farmers’ Union has warned of a huge drop in UK-grown crops, including a drop of up to 50% in the amount they can afford to grow due to explosion of prices of gas used to heat glasshouses.

producers are saying the number of cucumbers that will be grown annually could fall from 80m to 35m, while pepper production could halve from 100m. She also added that inflation was leading to dramatic rises in other areas, citing the example of the cost of raising a chicken increasing by 50% in a year for farmers.

#uk #EnergyCrisis

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/mar/11/uk-farmers-warn-soaring-gas-costs-could-cut-food-production

UK Sleepwalking Into Food Crisis As Fresh Produce Set To Vanish From Supermarkets

“We are now in an unprecedented situation where the cost increases have far outstripped a grower's ability to do anything about them," said Jack Ward, head of British Growers.

#UK

https://www.zerohedge.com/commodities/uk-sleepwalking-food-crisis-fresh-produce-set-vanish-supermarkets

“UK Woman stops eating to afford feeding her child” — while these headlines are sad, it seems they are more about tugging on heartstrings to justify the concepts of Nutritional Security, i.e. food as UBI (Universal Basic Income), and push the zeitgeist forward into mindset of food scarcity.

#UK #FoodPrices

https://www.thesun.co.uk/fabulous/18596099/cost-of-living-food-bills-skip-meals-tea-ellen-auckland/?rec_article=true

Mass crop failures expected in England

Half of the potato crop is expected to fail as it cannot be irrigated, and even crops that are usually drought-tolerant, such as maize, have been failing.

The group was told “irrigation options are diminishing with reservoirs being emptied fast”, and losses of 10-50% are expected for crops including carrots, onions, sugar beet, apples and hops. Milk production is also down nationally because of a lack of food for cows, and wildfires are putting large areas of farmland at risk.

#uk #FoodPrices

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/aug/12/mass-crop-failures-expected-in-england-as-farmers-demand-hosepipe-bans

"I suspect that 75-80 % of UK salad growers will not plant next year . . . because it doesn’t make any economic sense. It’s fair to say the salad sector has been abandoned"

#uk #WarOnFarms

https://www.ft.com/content/2853f30e-211d-40eb-80e1-618e27358a2c