OMG — this past hot summer has caused a problem of serious dimensions over in Britishland:
The price of fish and chips is expected to soar this winter – due to a potato shortage that threatens to put some chippies out of business.
The cold snap early in the year followed by a long hot summer has hit potato crops in the UK, and a sack of spuds now costs double what it did last year.
And the situation has been worsened by increases in the price of cod and haddock due to scarcity caused by warmer sea temperatures.
Crops in northern Europe have been affected by similar weather, meaning the situation cannot be solved by imports.
I’m not big on government intervention, as a rule, but if ever there was a time when the BritGov needs to step in with a little relief (e.g. no sales taxes on fish ‘n chips, no import duty on foreign-grown potatoes, or reduced business taxes for chippies?), this would be the time.
Because if I go back Over There later next year and find no chippies in my favorite towns (e.g. Devizes, Wilts), there will be trouble.
We’re talking a national crisis, folks. The nearest parallel I can think of for us Murkins would be if hamburger meat were to be similarly affected Over Here.
Are there any Idaho potato farmers listening? I sense an export opportunity.
American farmers could keep Britishland knee deep in spuds if required. I suspect there are heavy import duties, or outright restrictions, on U.S. agricultural imports.
According to https://www.simplyduty.com/calculate-uk-import-duty-taxes/ there is a 3.5% UK duty on any import, plus a 20% VAT from the EU, so any imports will be marked up 23.5% even before taking into account any special restrictions that might be placed on agricultural products.
Not to mention the EU’s fear of GMOs, and that protecting French farmers from competition is a major part of the compromise that keeps the EU from falling apart.
Fear not, Kim, next year we’ll be out of the EU and British chippies will be free to buy spuds from all over the world.
And that shortage of fish? It’s down to EU fishing quotas. Fishermen have been chucking back fish hereabouts. You see all those nasty oil rigs are safe havens for fish because the big fishing boats can’t get close. The same goes for wind farms too. And some fisherfolk have sold their quotas to bigger companies. (Which idiot allowed quotas to be saleable? Use it or lose it.)
Pack a second trunk with the optimal sort of spuds for such a thing and fund your vacation…