On Saturday, the Deputy President of the National Farmer’s Union, Tom Bradshaw, said the UK government needs to “take command” of domestic food production, as he warned that the present shortage of fruits and vegetables throughout the nation may be just the “tip of the iceberg.”

In an interview with Times Radio, Bradshaw said the shortages of fruits and vegetables, including tomatoes and cucumbers, is due to a combination of climate change, and market volatility being produced by geopolitical events, both of which have been intensely pressuring supply chains.

Bradshaw went on, “What we saw last summer with 40°C heat is climate change in action,” adding the weather’s effect on the supply chains was exacerbated by the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Bradshaw also noted that geopolitical tensions have been driving inflation up, in particular in the energy sector, where fuel prices rose to unprecedented levels. That left UK farmers struggling to pay their energy bills.

He also pointed out British trade has been complicated as the UK has sought to reposition itself in relation to trade partners, following the 2016 Brexit referendum. As the UK exited the EU trade structures, which were designed to provide favorable trade relations, it inevitably complicated cross-border trade.

Bradshaw concluded, “It’s really interesting that before Brexit we didn’t used to source anything, or very little, from Morocco but we’ve been forced to go further afield and now these climatic shocks becoming more prevalent have had a real impact on the food available on our shelves today.”