Vegetable Rationing – Do We Really Need Icebergs in Winter?
I really find it staggering that this is even making headline news. Apparently there is a distinct lack of certain unseasonable vegetables in the supermarkets at the moment. The likes of courgettes, broccoli and iceberg lettuce, basically things that can’t be grown locally at the moment, so needs shipping in from overseas, all because of the peculiar way we now shop. So these continued poor weather conditions in Spain have reached the point where supermarkets feel they now have to impose rationing. Who doesn’t like a bit of drama!
Vegetable Rationing
According to the BBC News website, Tesco are limiting each shopper to a maximum of three iceberg lettuces; who on this planet would ever need that much iceberg lettuce in one go I am not sure.
Morrison’s are being even stricter. They will only permit you two iceberg lettuces, but are being more generous with their broccoli, as you can buy three heads at any one time.
Lidl is making the most of this supply and demand issue, by raising the price of their iceberg lettuces from 42p to £1.19, even though they have also admitted their stocks have not been affected.
Asda has apologised to their customers for the lack of certain fresh vegetables. But I don’t get why they feel they need to apologise for Mother Nature. If their customers don’t understand how nature works, they never will; just point them in the direction of the frozen broccoli, there is plenty of it in the freezer aisles.
How will we cope?
I think supermarkets just need to fill their shelves with what is available now in the UK. Cabbages, turnips, Brussel sprouts, cauliflowers, carrots and beetroot to name a few, are plentiful. They can save money on the shipping costs and promote local, seasonal British veg.
Don’t be daft, they would rather have the drama! Therefore, I recommend a visit to your local farm shop. You will probably find there is one not that far away from you, and I can be pretty sure their shelves won’t be empty. If you keep visiting them regularly, you will even see that they will eventually stock courgettes.
