More than strawberries and olive oil...

There seems to be a daily drip of scare stories about Brexit during the silly season for the quality press. Particular ire seems to have followed a statement by L Fox, Trade Secretary or something unlikely, that no-deal is now likely. If that was bluff designed to pressure the EC, the EC's useful idiots of the quality press can be relied upon to match it. The Times has a story about Brussels cutting off UK access to their police databases. If that is not enough to petrify respectable citizens everywhere (although it could also make the EC out to be a lot of dangerous ideologues), The Grunidan has one closer to home even than that:

UK would run out of food a year from now with no-deal Brexit, NFU warns

Farmers’ union says supplies would only last until August of each year if Britain had to be self-sufficient

Addressing a good opportunity to pitch relevance: 'Britain would run out of food on this date next year if it cannot continue to easily import from the EU and elsewhere after Brexit, the National Farmers’ Union has warned'.

I can imagine Gudrian folk everywhere reacting in horror. Just when I was thinking how people survived the winter in mediaeval times, wondering if I could turn the garden into a veg plot, and looking up recipes for preserved fruits, salted fish and meat, game, pease pudding and onions, some caveats appeared to spoil it (my emphasis throughout) :

Research showed 7 August 2019 would be the nominal day that Britain would run out of food if it were asked to be wholly self-sufficient based on seasonal growth, the NFU said....Changing eating habits over the past three decades have helped fuel the increasing reliance on food grown overseas, with perishable items such as tomatoes, lettuce and citrus fruits expected to be available all year round...[We import lots of bacon, but] Defra statistics showed the next most vulnerable food category after fruit is fresh vegetables, with 57% of UK requirements produced in Britain, followed by pork at 61% and then potatoes, of which 25% are imported.

Then a hint of a hidden agenda:

“The statistics show a concerning long-term decline in the UK’s self-sufficiency in food and there is a lot of potential for this to be reversed,” Batters [NFU spokesperson] said.“And while we recognise the need for importing food which can only be produced in different climates, if we maximise on the food that we can produce well in the UK, then that will deliver a whole host of economic, social and environmental benefits to the country.”