Shortage of tomatoes in the middle of February

[Stillcountingbeans]

Oh how my great-grandmother would have laughed!

www.theguardian.com/business/2023/feb/21/asda-morrisons-ration-tomatoes-peppers-fruit-shortages

Tea and coffee can be dried and stored all year round.
Fresh tomatoes can't.
But we have tins and freezers so it won't just be turnips. Just not fresh strawberries 12 months of the year.

A combination of weather and travel issues are causing the shortages apparently.

I was in Spain until yesterday, visited three supermarkets and they were all very well stocked with no shortages of anything. My friend in France has no supply issues either.

So it’s just the UK being utterly inept as per usual.

We grow around 80% of the veg we consume, including across winter and the hungry gap (having a freezer makes preserving much easier than it would be for our ancestors)

Our sprout and cauliflower crop failed this winter, our sprouting brocoli is stunted but hopefully will come through, we've lost 50% of the broad beans we planted in autumn, luckily we get a second chance in spring with those

I would hate to have to only rely on the foods we produce, there is great comfort in knowing if the sprouts crop fail we can just buy them

But yes we eat seasonally and its not all turnips in winter but I will be the first to admit as the freezer stores run low in the hungry gap, my DH isn't examining the asparagus patch every day for the sheer joy of fresh asparagus (well not only for that) it's also for a change in veg!! And I also admit to sometimes buying tomatoes in february because who doesn't want a change from beans, root veg and brassicas!

If you are advocating for the eating of seasonal veg because its more environmentally friendly because it hasn't been transported as far, then that's great. If you are advocating for the eating of seasonal veg because you think we shouldn't be importing veg then you are in for some very lean eating, even in summer

Yep, spoke to family in Poland and Germany, no shortages there. My grandma can buy tomatoes whenever she want (and she does).

We used to live in France and sort of naturally started eating seasonally -- you can really tell the difference in the shops, things that are out of season are more expensive, not displayed as prominently, etc. Things aren't packaged in plastic so you can get a better idea of the quality.

It would be better if the shops here in the UK just embraced seasonality and put money into making it seem a good thing, rather than trying to keep things as they were and disappointing people.

BBC has a great seasonal foods calendar btw:

www.bbcgoodfood.com/seasonal-calendar

Maybe this will kickstart a small scale revolution....tomatoes are among the easiest thing to grow!! Even a pot of cocktail tomatoes on a kitchen windowsill grows easily and well. Give it a try! Super rewarding and fun and its very cool to pop your own homegrown tomatoes into your pasta sauce or salad.

Until we get blight.... Choose your seeds wisely.

spoke to family in Poland and Germany, no shortages there. My grandma can buy tomatoes whenever she want (and she does).

Jan 2023 -
Currently, Germans lag behind in vegetable consumption, with German men eating the fewest vegetables in Europe.

www.hortidaily.com/article/9493808/germany-ponders-proposal-to-scrap-vat-on-fruit-and-vegetables/

Mainland EU has different supply chains primarily based on location, even if we were in the EU I'm not sure they'd start sending us tomatoes as a favour in any sort of meaningful volume though.

I watched a video Nancy Birtwhistle did on Instagram about storing veg over winter. She had a crate filled with sand and had a load of beetroot in there, looking as fresh as the day they were harvested.

I was in Spain until yesterday, visited three supermarkets and they were all very well stocked with no shortages of anything. My friend in France has no supply issues either

Cauliflower, bell pepper, broccoli and ice lettuce shortages in the Netherlands;

www.freshplaza.com/europe/article/9503487/no-end-to-cauliflower-shortage-in-sight-yet/

Yeah cos tinned tomatoes go so well in a salad

What about 'Northumberland Tea'?
Grown up near Corbridge. 😉

I do grow cucumbers, peppers and tomatoes. Sadly it’s been some months since I harvested and and won’t have more any ready for ages. The growing season is short.

I'm growing cucumbers, tomatoes, runner beans, peas, potatoes, apples and plums this summer.

The UK is a shit country now. We have let things slide and are not self-sufficient in anything important. Our types and numbers of apple, pear, plum, damson, trees have reduced by millions. We have little skilled industry. We rely on cafes/bars/hotels/restaurants to provide a huge number of low-skilled jobs.

I do love tomatoes all year round. In winter I buy cherry tomatoes, which are still very flavoursome. Unless you only ever buy seasonal fruit and veg, you can't really say anything. I agree though that we should grow and consume produce more locally.

Yeah cos tinned tomatoes go so well in a salad

Tinned tomatoes make delicious tomato sauces and soups!

In my opinion imported 'fresh' tomatoes are tasteless and I personally would not make a tomato salad in the winter.

Carrots,sprouts, kale,cauliflower, swede, potatoes, various cabbage varieties, beetroot, celeriac,pumpkin,parsnips,broccoli, onions,leeks. And turnips.

They’re not great I agree.

Although I wouldn’t have noticed all this angst if it hasn’t been for loads of mn posts. We haven’t had much issue (Ocado / Sainsbury’s)

In defence of the humble turnip many other countries find them perfectly palatable vegetables.

Winter salads are various slaws, claytonia and even some lettuces.

If we rely on fresh produce that is forced in foreign greenhouses we are bound to run into problems fairly frequently. Or way of eating in this country has become so disordered.

We eat far more tomatoes than potatoes in our house! We rarely buy potatoes but have tomatoes in pretty much every main meal.

Canned tomatoes have much more lycopene bioavailable compared to fresh tomatoes, especially imported ones.

Snap! Can go a week with no spuds, rarely more than a day without either fresh or tinned tomatoes.

Fresh normal tomatoes are insipid at this time of year but the varieties of cherry tomatoes are much nicer.

I live in rural central Sweden (it is currently minus 4C with snow) and when shopping a few days ago there were no shortages of tomatoes. However prices were certainly higher. I wonder whether this is partially a problem of supermarkets driving down prices in the UK and suppliers being unwilling to supply during these times when supply is restricted at the prices demanded by UK supermarkets,

I do however remember shopping in Sweden before it joined the EU in the 1990s and the supply of veg in winter was often very limited - sometimes in those you could only get locally produced veg

• potatoes
• carrots
• leeks
• "swedes" - although we have to call it "cabbage root"
• cabbage - white or red
• onions
• sometimes cauliflower
• if lucky mushrooms, cucumber, iceberg lettuce

I remember that for the obligatory school salad bar there was a lot of grated carrots, defrosted frozen veg /peas, sweetcorn, broccoli) and "pizza salad" (white cabbage salad)