Fresh Produce From Mediterranean Expected To Become Expensive Due to Drought, Threatens Health Diet in UK

Extreme weather in southern Europe would diminish harvests and raise the price of fresh fruits and vegetables in the United Kingdom.

A report by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) revealed that fresh produce from the Mediterranean, on which the UK relies, will become more expensive and difficult to procure as high heat reduces harvests, putting a nutritious diet out of reach for the weakest members of society.

Imported products

Just over a quarter of UK food imports - 9.8 billion kg, worth just over £16 billion - came from the Mediterranean region, with the majority of it being staple fresh produce such as fruit and vegetables, which are essential to a healthy diet.

Many Mediterranean vegetables cannot be cultivated in the UK for at least part of the year, or must be grown inside, requiring more expensive and energy-intensive techniques to protect and heat the growing space.

Cauliflowers, broccoli, and strawberries fall into the first category. It also accounts for about two-thirds of cucumber and tomato imports into the UK, as well as nearly a fifth of total onion supplies.

Furthermore, the Mediterranean provides more than half of the UK's lemons and sweet peppers, as well as two-thirds of all oranges and 40% of table grapes.

Extreme temperatures can have an impact on olive oil; the UK derives 80% of its supply from the region. It has been one among the foodstuffs with the steepest price increases this year, contributing to inflation.

According to the analysis, in 2022, slightly more than a quarter of UK food imports - 9.8 billion kg, worth slightly more than £16 billion - would come from the Mediterranean region, primarily fresh fruit and vegetables.

Spain, which is suffering from some of the worst extreme heat and drought, accounted for 7% of UK food imports, totaling £4 billion.

Public health crisis

Gareth Redmond-King, the head of international programme at the Energy & Climate intelligence Unit, stressed that aside from being in a climate crisis, public health is also in crisis.

"Most of us already don't eat enough fruit and vegetables and often healthier diets already tend to cost more. As the impacts of climate change are likely to make the healthy food we should be eating more of even more expensive, it becomes even less accessible to the poorest in society," he said in an interview.

He also noted that as Europe continues to suffer the impact of climate change, the UK will have worsening shortages of fresh fruit and vegetables.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has declared unequivocally that humans have heated the planet by an average of 1.1°C since pre-industrial times; scientists working to attribute the effect of climate change on extreme weather phenomena work on the assumption that it is now closer to 1.2°C.

Over the last three decades, Europe has warmed at twice the rate of the rest of the world.

And, in recent years, countries in southern Europe and northern Africa surrounding the Mediterranean have suffered some of the worst heat extremes ever.

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