BBC News: Possible food shortages at Christmas

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And a “travesty” of waste is less than a fortnight away – as farmers prepare to “throw pigs in a skip” because a dearth of butchers means they cannot be slaughtered and carved. As space in farms begins to run out, 150,000 animals are expected culled in the next 10 days, the National Farmers’ Union says. National Pig Association chairman Rob Mutimer said: “The industry problem has got very considerably worse over the last three weeks. We are within a couple of weeks of actually having to consider a mass cull of animals in this country.”

He warned: “[Cullings involve] either shooting pigs on farm, or taking them to an abattoir, killing the animals, and actually disposing [of] them in the skip at the other end of the chain.

“These animals won’t go into the food chain. They will either be rendered, or if not, sent for incineration. So it’s an absolute travesty.”

Usually Mr Mutimer’s pigs top the scales at 115kg when they go to slaughter, but the problem means most have now swollen to 140kg.

Staffing shortages in key supply chains are causing chaos across the UK, with critics blaming changes to the labour market after Covid and Brexit.

The Cabinet is said to be thinking of easing visa restrictions for up to 1,000 foreign butchers in a major U-turn, after ministers admitted that meat shortages at Christmas were a distinct possibility.

But the British Meat Processors Association (BMPA) says this number is still 14,000 short of the 15,000 the country will need – as it predicted chronic shortages of “labour-intensive” pork products such as pigs in blankets.

The BMPA said: “We really should have been producing Christmas food from about June or July onwards.”

Retail analyst Clive Black of Shore Capital commented: “A lot of people eating on Christmas Day will be asking: ‘What the hell is this?’”

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