Fruit and vegetables in the UK: vegetables are the new toilet paper – the economy

Caroline Woden’s plan to eat a salad was foiled yesterday. In Totnes, southern England, none remain. For his part, Jonny Favre tweeted that he couldn’t find a single tomato anywhere in Cardiff, Wales, at least not in Sainsbury’s, Lidl or Morrisons. Britain’s biggest supermarket chains, Morrisons and Asda, have recently switched to rationing fruit and vegetables. Currently, Morrisons only allows two cucumbers per customer, while Asda allows three tomatoes, three peppers and three (!) greens per person. Soon after, photos of empty fruit and vegetable shelves began to flood social media. Because that’s what rations are all about.

According to the Business Dictionary, rationing occurs when “the supply of goods and services is insufficient to meet demand.” But something important is missing: the insidious thing is that the announced rationing actually increases demand, and then, hey presto, the shelves are empty – and there’s nothing to ration. Especially when it comes to groceries and everyday items, such food items can be panic-inducing for some – even if they aren’t blessed with a huge appetite. A roughly empty refrigerator on the day of notification is sufficient.

Seen this way, rationing is the well-intentioned sister of the stupid brother hamsters. She is intelligent, sensible and likes to think of everyone; On the other hand, he is very selfish, but somewhat rational. Because he wants to make only adequate facilities. Why the British ration or hoard fruit and vegetables, the Germans are obsessed with toilet paper, and the French buy empty condom machines when they need it most is a question that affects folk psychology and therefore requires caution by definition – because. Generalizations are usually wrong.

English national dishes are fish and chips, scones and co.

If you follow the principle of exclusion, you can say without offending anyone that the lack of fruits and vegetables on the island has nothing to do with the new mega-trend of healthy eating. For now, England’s national dishes are irresistible fish and chips, Yorkshire puddings and scones, tomatoes or peppers seem foreign.

If you go back to the world of economics, you will know that rationing is related to rationalization. First, all possibilities for rationalization must be exhausted in a national economy so that rationing is avoided altogether. But UK vegetable rations are being back-tracked as Brexit rates are difficult to reconcile.

Even the BBC insisted that Vegan Gate had nothing to do with Brexit. Floods, snow and hail have damaged crops in Spain and North Africa. Chris Lowndes asks on Twitter if we can still trust the broadcaster. Anyway, he lives in Poland and managed to buy Moroccan and Spanish tomatoes yesterday.