AIBU to be worried about what the Director of the Food and Drink Federation said on the radio this morning?

[borntobequiet]

I get up early and like to listen to Farming Today on the radio (really interesting and informative about far more than just farming technicalities). This morning they interviewed Ian Wright, the director mentioned above. He was definite that leaving the EU without a deal would be devastating for both imports and exports. It would result in total logjams at ports, with just in time deliveries held up for considerable periods of time, and would impact very seriously on food availability in shops. This is all based on the government's own technical notices published recently. Here's a link to the programme (hope it works as they had an error message up earlier):
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qj8q
And here is a link to the Food and Drink Federation's statement on their website:
www.fdf.org.uk/news.aspx?article=8062
What worries me most is that this doesn't seem to be properly reported on mainstream BBC programmes or in much of the print and broadcast media.

it's not just food supply that will suffer but the whole industry where dependent on parts from outside of the UK.

Ian Wright is a trade industry specialist with decades of experience.He is Chief Exec of the food and drink federation which represents the whole U.K. industry. His career has encompassed senior roles with Diageo, Boots and Mars confectionary.He was awarded the CBE.

He wrote to the govt desperate for an urgent meeting with leaders from across the food industry to address concerns

He's a bit of an 'expert' then? Bound to be part of Project Fear I suppose.

I have no wish to eat american food, meat full of hormones, chlorinated chicken, insecticides, antibiotics. Vile.

I’m not worried. At the moment everything is hypothetical. We don’t know what will happen. Experts on either side disagree and the reality is we will only know when we get there. One thing successive governments (and society in general) have been fairly good at is crisis management. If the shit hits the fan and there are some shortages, we get through it. Remember the fuel strikes? We got through it. On a local level where we had a major snow storm for a week and food deliveries didn’t get through to the Central Belt in Scotland, we got through it. There will be disruption, there will be job losses, there will be things no-one thought of. It will sort itself out and we will get through it.

In the end, it will be a monumental waste of time, money and effort, resulting in things eventually being pretty much the same. But we will get through it.

Incidentally, stop with the “project fear” bullshit. It isn’t scaremongering to raise potential problems in order to make sure they are dealt with. It isn’t scaremongering to give a considered view about things which will be hard. It is bloody ridiculous to pretend absolutely everything will be absolutely fine because this is new territory and nobody can tell. I hope anyone who voted for this shambles actually considered the risks and made a decision on balance. Anyone who uses the term “project fear” probably hasn’t done that, and that’s worrying.

Oh grrrrr. Bloody bloody brexit, have lost ability to say anything more coherent

Small and medium sized businesses likely to be worst affected (from earlier this year):
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-42767534
Unfortunately written by experts/academics, sorry.

YANBU OP. When trade industry specialists with experience give warnings, we (and the govt) should listen.

I'm confused that you think the mainstream media isn't covering it. There are masses of articles and interviews about potential shortages and difficulties.
At this point I agree with a PP - and am focusing on the environmental benefits of less food miles.

What sort of things won't be available as readily - do we know? Is there a list? Is it just fresh stuff so therefore stockpile a few tinned versions?
I've no idea where the things we buy come from, so don't know what the more important things to stockpile are iykwim. I don't want a cupboard full of dried pasta if there won't be a shortage of that for example.

Glittery
I have to say I was surprised to find the Daily Express (also supporting "Project Fear", no doubt) has some useful tips:
www.express.co.uk/news/politics/997931/Brexit-news-latest-prepping-what-to-stockpile-no-deal-brexit-food-shortage
Hope that helps!

It’s part of project fear and total nonsense

Gosh how erudite using trite soundbites. 8th response in and its Brexiteer Bingo time

I'm getting my tin stockpile in for winter anyway.

I can see there will be issues but there's a high chance it will be on a par with periodic French strikes. At worst it might be like the dock strikes from my childhood. It won't be like WW2!

So to summarise I'm not panicking in the slightest. And I am prone to it at times.

It's a pity we fucked our own farmers over and built all over the farmland

On the bright side, if the UK does get food from Australia, you can be confident that it's generally very, very good quality. I live here now and the food here is excellent.

You don't know that Australian meat is banned from the EU because of the growth hormones in it?

It's worth looking at the prepper board for some tips, but for example, it's worth having tins as others have said (I don't think there will be power cuts so you can still cook things) and cereal (I'm guessing we'll still have milk although if the lorries can't get fuel, that could also be an issue) and am stockpiling multivitamins (also because the ones I like are made in Germany so I want to keep a supply for as long as possible).

I've also said elsewhere that it's worth considering more than just food and basics. Even if we have a deal it is likely the variety of products we have will be reduced - you can't get the same variety of foods in Switzerland for example. So if there is something you particularly like, it's worth stockpiling it - not just food eg a shower gel you particularly like. Also non-perfumed sanitary towels ;) Also consider your hobbies. For example I like running, so I am buying a couple of new pairs of running shoes in case they are not available after Brexit, or there are waiting lists.

Look on the bright side, it might help a bit with the obesity epidemic.

Look on the bright side, it might help a bit with the obesity epidemic.

Are thin people going to eat the fat ones?

I think we're going to be surprised at what we take for granted, and isn't available here. Government figures say we produce 49% of what we eat, and most of the rest comes from the EU. I don't remember what the exact percentage is but it's over 60% of the balance.

I didn't know until the other day that about half of the milk we consume every day comes in from abroad. What about eggs? I don't know the figures on those.

The food industry works on just in time supply chain just as much as any other industry. I find it hard to believe that we've elected people who've got us into this mess.

Look at it from the point of view of the food producers who currently export to the Uk. They will be putting pressure on their governments and the EU to facilitate food exports to the UK post brexit because the last thing they want is to lose a hugely lucrative market. They can't rustle up 66 million customers from nowhere.

The EU will be losing our EU monetary contribution, the last thing they want to lose is the UK as a market for their exports as well. Can you imagine whole of Spain covered in rotting tomatoes, the French having to eat their own tasteless apples, the streets of Italy paved with unsold tagliatelle?

Importing bleach bathed chickens from the US, and their grim cheese, or stuff that has been sailing on the high seas for weeks from Australia and NZ isn't going to wash with the UK consumer. I am not going to stockpile anything, no government that values its comfy seats in parliament is going to see its citizens starving on the streets.

"I support getting food with fewer miles travelled"

"Let's import our food from Australia"

The just in time supply chain was unable to cope with snowfall in my area this last winter. Its inherently fragile.

I read a while back that storage warehousing was selling at a premium as stockholding is seen to be worthwhile again. So some businesses have been quietly adapting already.

The Road Haulage Association is typically upbeat not:
www.rha.uk.net/news/press-releases/2018-09-september/no-deal-plans-are-a-recipe-for-post-brexit-chaos
The Road Haulage Association is warning plans in the Government’s latest technical notice on commercial freight in the EU are too little, too late.
The RHA is astounded by the suggestion that hauliers should consider alternative modes of transport to move goods between the UK and the EU in the event of a ‘no-deal’ Brexit.

I'm also really worried about a massive shortage in labour to produce food in this country. We are already struggling.

And before people suggest that we should pay our staff more, we already have and are practically at breaking point. The cost of raw materials has increased and the cost of labour has increased and we have to just swallow this cost. The supermarkets won't pay us more for the product and if they did pay us more, then this cost will ultimately get passed on to the consumer.

Food prices will rocket after Brexit. I can't see how they won't.

The government suggestion that hauliers should consider alternative modes of transport to move goods between the UK and the EU

Yes astounding! Basically there's tunnel , ships, air or train isn't there?

What alternatives can they mean? Hot air balloon? Racing pigeon?