Climate change jeopardizes UK nutrition access as Mediterranean fresh produce feels heat

17 Aug 2023 --- Climate change could threaten healthy diets in the UK as European droughts reduce the availability of Mediterranean fresh produce. In a new report, the Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) warns that food shortages and price rises are on the horizon, with the country importing a quarter of its food – mostly fruit and vegetables – from this region. 

According to the World Meteorological Organization, Europe is warming twice as fast as other continents. Nations in southern Europe and northern Africa have experienced some of the worst heat extremes on record in recent years, leading to drought, wildfires and subsequent flooding that destroys crops.

Rising global temperatures pose significant threats to British staples like oranges, lemons, sweet peppers and grapes, which cannot be farmed in the UK without energy-intensive indoor methods. Meanwhile, cauliflowers, broccoli and strawberries can only be grown in the country during warmer months.

Gareth Redmond-King, international lead at ECIU, comments: “As well as a climate crisis, we’re in a public health crisis too. 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.”Drought is creating increasingly undependable food exports from Mediterranean countries.

Unhealthy risks
The report warns that reduced yields could result in less fresh produce in UK shops and markets and higher prices for the commodities affected. The country is already widely considered to be facing a health crisis while inflation – exacerbated by the war in Ukraine – is limiting access to healthy foods for lower-income households, although Sainsbury’s has suggested that some UK grocery prices are starting to inch down.

ECIU highlights that UK households already experienced food prices rise by an average of £400 (US$510) last year due to climate impacts and fossil fuel price volatility. The growing threat from climate impacts this year could exacerbate the cost-of-living crisis and further threaten nutrition levels, the non-profit indicates.

The Mediterranean diet has been linked to numerous health benefits like improved brain health and decreased dementia risk, while the UK relies heavily on the vitamin C abundant in the citrus fruits imported from this region for immunity support.

The country also depends on Mediterranean countries for 80% of its edible oils, according to ECIU. The organization notes that this commodity has surged in price to such a degree that it is a major contributor to the UK’s sharp food price rises and therefore contributing to overall inflation.

The UK’s National Farmers Union (NFU) also recently warned Prime Minister Rishi Sunak that the country must be more self-sufficient and less reliant on imported food. The UK is around 61% self-sufficient in all foods but NFU President Minette Batters says this level cannot drop further and domestic food production should be given the same focus and political emphasis as the environment.The UK might be tempted to grow more crops itself, but the energy required could further exacerbate climate concerns.

No easy answers
ECIU is quick to refute claims that the UK should consider switching suppliers, repurposing land at home for agriculture or attempting to grow new crops due to the global nature of climate change. “Climate impacts do not respect borders,” the report illustrates.

The issue here is that replacing shortfalls from imported crops would require investment in energy- and cost-intensive agricultural practices like polytunnels and glasshouses, while growing replacement crops indoors would create further dependence on volatile international gas markets.

“The heat we’ve seen in Europe this summer and in April would be all but impossible without climate change,” continues Redmond-King. “These impacts will worsen as we continue to burn fossil fuels and emit greenhouse gasses, leaving the UK facing an unpleasant reality in a future of more shortages and higher costs.”

“This should be a wake-up call about the vulnerability of our food supply chains to climate change. We can’t simply grow our way out of the problem by producing many of these foods in the UK.”

“The only sure-fire way to avoid even worse and more dangerous impacts is to keep global temperature rises to 1.5 C, and the only way to do that is to cut our emissions to net zero.”

By Joshua Poole