Food for Thought

There’s a lot in this world we take for granted. I’m old enough now to remember in the 1970s when most fruit and vegetables were seasonal and the menu at home depended on what was available from local greengrocers at the time. Now, thanks to complex supply chains and large supermarkets, we can have almost any fruit or vegetable from around the world at any time. Access to those healthy foodstuffs has really enhanced our lives. That was until both COVID and Brexit hit the UK. It has been surprising to see just how quickly that the supply chain that took decades to build has broken down. Now almost all fruit and veg is in relatively short supply and the quality of what is available has been pretty bad.

There a few causes of this shortage - a lack of foreign workers means that some produce is rotting in the fields. There is also a shortage of drivers and people to work in food processing plants. Large outbreaks of COVID among supermarket staff have also affected the supply chain. Lorries bringing food into the country have been caught up at ports due to paperwork issues or delays at customs. Most of these problems should subside somewhat after the pandemic is over, but it is very likely that there will still be a shortage of workers for low-skilled jobs. At the moment, our government seems to be mainly concerned at the other end of the spectrum, making it easier for skilled workers to arrive.

Some farmers and producers are looking to automation to fill this gap in the workforce. Automation has come on leaps and bounds over the last decade, especially with Industry 4.0 being implemented, giving us a better degree of control over processes and better insight into them. Even though costs have come down over time, automating agricultural processes is complex and can still be very expensive, which makes it only an option to larger landowners. Also, today’s automation equipment is very advanced, but it still has trouble dealing with softer fruit or fruit that damages easily.

Another option in the future may be vertical farming. Vertical farming involves growing fruit and veg in large trays, often on a conveyor system. It offers a lot of advances over traditional farming in that it uses less water, soil and fertiliser as conditions inside the facility are carefully controlled. Vertical farms are relatively small for their output and can be placed anywhere, usually near the cities and towns where the produce is required, which cuts down on transport costs, as well as the resulting pollution. Growing cycles are controlled by LEDs, which can be varied in colour and intensity to provide the ideal conditions for growth, producing larger and more nutritious produce that is ready to harvest sooner. Finally, since the floor area and the trays are regular, vertical farms are much more suitable for the automation of the growing and picking processes.  

Practical vertical farms are still some way off, but there are currently many prototype examples around the world. It looks like we might have to put up with less choice in supermarket, rising prices and lower quality for at least the time being. It may be time to start looking to the future if the current worker shortage is set to continue for more than the short term. That future may well be vertical farming.