What specific things do you think will be in short supply?

[tinkywinkyshandbag]

Assuming a no deal Brexit, what specific items imported from Europe do you think will be difficult to get and what do you plan on having instead?

So for example it might be hard to get mozzarella, but I assume cheddar will not be in short supply?

Tomatoes and cucumber will be hard to get but maybe a winter salad with red cabbage etc instead?

Potatoes instead of pasta, that kind of thing.

I assume meat, milk, eggs mostly come from uk anyway?

I've been looking for a definitive list online but can't find one.

Thanks.

Without trying to be too negative, if anything is in short supply, it seems that whatever is available is acquired tout suite, so then everything is in short supply.

This article from Wired might help: www.wired.co.uk/article/brexit-food-stockpile-rationing

But also what @indignatio said. If people can't buy tomatoes, for example, what else might they buy?

Aren't most tomatoes grown in hot houses in the U.K. ?

@DontBeShelfish that was exactly my point, so for example you could buy some jars of sundried tomatoes, or make a fresh coleslaw instead, I was trying to think of substitutes for things we normally import.

@DontBeShelfish a d tgat Wired article makes sobering reading, I was assuming we'd be okay for milk and meat as was thinking it came from the UK...forgetting about Ireland!

But everyone else will be substituting too, tinkywinkyshandbag

It's like just before the first lockdown, a lot of posters on Mumsnet saying, "oh, I'll just get my shopping delivered." Apparently, unaware that there were a finite number of delivery slots and everyone else would be doing the same thing. And then there were no slots available and they had to be reserved for the most needy.

[quote tinkywinkyshandbag]@DontBeShelfish that was exactly my point, so for example you could buy some jars of sundried tomatoes, or make a fresh coleslaw instead, I was trying to think of substitutes for things we normally import. [/quote]
Everyone will be turning to the substitutes though, so they will be in short supply too. Say you have 80 people who just buy a block of cheddar every week, and 20 who buy other cheeses, then, one week there are no other cheeses. 5 people might want mozzarella or nothing, but 15 people might look for the cheddar instead. Suddenly there is not enough cheddar.

As others are saying, it won't be possible to substitute because everyone will be doing the same.

The article is from August. Hasn’t there been an agreement last week, re the Irish boarder, which will be implemented whether or not we get a deal with the rest of the EU?

Here is some info- we should be ok for milk and beef!
But on 8 December, the UK and EU announced an "an agreement in principle" on issues including border control posts, the supply of food and medicines and clarification around state aid in Northern Ireland.

As a result, the government said it would drop the controversial clauses in the bill.

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbc.com/news/amp/54088596

After using google it turns out 20% of tomatoes we eat in the U.K. are grown in the U.K. the rest come from the EU.

If you look in the back of food packaging you buy it will tell you where it's produced. All the cans of tomatoes we've had (from different shops and different brands) come from Italy. Therefore there is a possibility that these could be harder to get.

Hopefully not though.

Remember it's not just the products, it's also:
Packaging
Machinery and parts (to keep production lines running)
Animal feeds and medicines
Labour

Also the people to pick the fruit and veg in the fields LadyofMisrule after Brexit

Blimey - so worst case scenario we end up eating stuff in season in this country? Be quite like the olden times! I think I've read that it will be fresh fruit and veg mainly, so over to frozen (which is just as good and in some cases better for you) and tinned. Not ideal but I can't see anyone starving through lack of a tomato... Might make people think a bit more about the airmiles and the ridiculous way be get our produce, I mean, why would we export milk and then import it? There are many examples like this - I really don't get it!!

Blimey - so worst case scenario we end up eating stuff in season in this country? Be quite like the olden times! I think I've read that it will be fresh fruit and veg mainly, so over to frozen (which is just as good and in some cases better for you) and tinned.
I don't think we actually grow enough in this country for everyone though, and everyone will head for frozen and tinned if there is no fresh food. It only works if you fill your freezer and cupboards now.

In March the soya milk I buy regularly was out of stock for ages as people were buying it because fresh milk & long life dairy milk was out of stock.

So look at what people will buy if their normal items are out of stock.

I've got a good stock of cream crackers as my dc like these for lunch & they're a good alternative to bread.

I've got lots of tins & packets & try to keep my fresh stuff stocked so we can enjoy it for as long as possible.

@awwkkwwaard we are a net importer of food, and have been since the 1840s. We import about 50% of what we eat, and we cannot significantly increase our food production at the drop of a hat. While it may seem counterintuitive to import foods (like tomatoes), it would take far more energy to grow them here as they need heat, so it is cheaper and better for the environment to import them.

I don't want to return to Olden Times. I quite like these modern times, with readily available fresh food, and lots of lovely medicines that work, and all those nice years where we didn't threaten our neighbours with gunboats, and where we had the ability to work, travel and study throughout Europe.

I like these times too LadyofMisrule but unfortunately we are not given the choice.

I like modern times too. I don't want to go back to some mythical "Good Old Days" when people queued for hours to buy turnips.
The worst case scenario is not eating fresh local produce, or even eating frozen instead of fresh. The real worst case scenario is more likely to be that people will starve if food supplies are disrupted. Lots of people can't afford food as it is, thanks to the Tories' war on the poor.

We import and export foodstuffs because we have a large food manufacturing sector. Apparently bigger than aerospace and automobile combined. Now that's going to be fun to reconcile with Brexshit.
www.fdf.org.uk/statsataglance.aspx

Sorry OP, I wasn't firing on all cylinders when I posted previously! Hopefully as other posters have come along since and said, there might be less of an issue as the Wired article was from August. I've just been stocking up on things I know I'd miss - I'm looking at you, Sacla green pesto.

During the last lockdown it was slightly amusing to see people walking past all the veggie & vegan options in Tesco moaning that there was no meat. Although I couldn't get the oat milk I use very easily.