Chronic food industry worker shortfall could force prices even higher, MPs say

theguardian.com:

Chronic worker shortages in the food and farming sector as a result of Brexit and the coronavirus pandemic could push food prices even higher and lead to more having to be imported, MPs have warned.

Parliamentarians on the environment, food and rural affairs committee reported that the sector had half a million vacancies in August last year, representing an eighth of all roles.

The huge labour shortages in the food industry have led to unharvested crops being left to rot in fields, the cull of healthy pigs on farms because of a lack of workers at meat processing plants, and disruption to the food supply chain, as well as threatening the UK’s food security.

The committee – which is chaired by the Conservative MP Neil Parish, along with five other Conservatives, four Labour MPs and one Scottish National party colleague – wrote in a report that the workforce shortfall was the “single biggest factor affecting the sector”.

The food industry is the UK’s largest manufacturing sector but MPs issued the stark warning that it could shrink permanently if the government does not address the acute labour shortages, which could lead to wage rises, price increases, reduced competitiveness and, ultimately, food production being exported abroad.

They found that food and farming businesses have been badly hit by a lack of workers, with the pig sector particularly affected, prompting a crisis in domestic production. Industry associations have previously claimed that as many as 40 independent farms have left the sector as a result.

Farmers have been warning for some time about a lack of workers, after many overseas workers went home during the pandemic, and Brexit has limited the number of EU temporary workers who can travel to the UK on the