FARMERS have revealed the key reason why there’s a supermarket shortage of fruit and vegetables – and how you can help them.
Fresh produce such as tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuce are in short supply at the moment, with many supermarkets rationing them.
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Steve Cornwell, who supplies salad vegetables to Aldi, Asda and Co-op, also shared the moment he realised shoppers would face empty shelves.
He told the Mirror that he first knew shortages would hit British stores when he visited a greenhouse in Morocco.
Steve said: “I was gobsmacked. Normally, you can trust the temperatures in Spain, Greece, Crete and Morocco. Between 12C and 15C at night and 20C in the day.
“But when I was there they were as low as 4C overnight. Most crops were not colouring up.”
“In Spain it had even snowed and they had lost crop. The temperature is so low in Morocco the bees supposed to pollinate the tomato plants aren’t coming out of their boxes.
“In 50 years in the business it was the worst I’d ever known it.”
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But other farmers slammed supermarkets for refusing to budge on prices, saying full shelves of fruit and vegetables can still be found at one special location.
Cheshire farmer Francesca Russell, 42, said: “Spain has been cold, and Africa has been cold, it’s all different factors.
“I saw a supermarket selling bags of carrots for 35p when we’re on our knees. We couldn’t grow them for that.
“Farm shops aren’t more expensive necessarily, the other day our broccoli was cheaper than Aldi per kilo.”
Her husband Mike, 40, said: “There’s a lot of veg out there, but the British supermarkets refuse to pay more than the contracted price which is why we can still get hold of stuff and they can’t.
“If we want it we have to pay more for it, but the supermarkets refuse to do that. That’s the supermarket’s problem.
“If we can get hold of the tomatoes, they can. They are not willing to pay the extra price.”
It comes after a farmer claimed he knows the reason why shoppers are seeing a lack of vegetables on supermarket shelves.
British farmer Olly Harrison said that the rising price of gas and oil means growers are no longer able to heat their greenhouses to grow vegetables out of season.
He also slammed supermarkets for refusing to pay farmers a fair price.
Lidl, Tesco, Asda and Aldi have all brought in a limit of three tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers each per customer.
But Sainsbury’s, Co-op and Marks & Spencer say they have no plans to introduce limits.
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