Therese Coffey, the minister for environment, food and rural affairs, faced urgent question on food shortages in the House of Commons on Thursday (22 February).
It comes as supermarkets in the UK are limiting sales of certain fruit and vegetables.
The shortages started with tomatoes, but has since extended to peppers, cucumbers, lettuce, salad bags, broccoli, cauliflower and raspberries.
Tesco, Britain’s biggest supermarket, has introduced a cap of three items per customer on tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers.
During the winter, the UK imports approximately 95 per cent of its tomatoes and 90 per cent of its lettuces. Most come from Spain and north Africa.
The issue is thought to have been caused by difficult weather conditions in the south of Europe and northern Africa, which have disrupted the harvest for some fruit and vegetables.
At this time of year the UK also imports some produce from domestic growers and the Netherlands, but producers in both countries have reported cutting back on their use of greenhouses because of high energy prices.
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