Empty shelves in Shetland spark fresh warnings over food security

Empty supermarket shelves in Shetland after days of cancelled ferries have reignited warnings over the fragility of food supply chains and the risks of relying heavily on imports.

Orkney and Shetland MP Alistair Carmichael shared images from a Tesco store in Lerwick showing bare shelves, using the disruption to underline wider concerns about food security.

The photographs were posted after several days of bad weather led to repeated cancellations of NorthLink freight and passenger ferries between the mainland and the Northern Isles, leaving supermarkets without deliveries.

The images quickly circulated online, prompting comment from farming organisations and food producers.

Shetland Farm Dairies said the scenes showed “why supporting local produce is so important”, while the Shetland branch of the NFU also shared the post.

Carmichael said the shortages highlighted the risks of import dependence. “Shetland is an island community (just as Britain is an island nation),” he said.

“Our supermarkets import nearly all our food from the UK mainland,” he added, warning that supply chains could be exposed after only a short period of disruption.

“After a few days of bad weather and no ferries this is what the shelves look like,” he said.

While island communities were used to coping with disruption, Carmichael questioned whether the same resilience existed elsewhere. “We manage because we are a resilient island community and we are accustomed to bad weather and its consequences,” he said.

“I am less sure that people in cities and towns would be so pragmatic.”

Despite the shortages, fresh milk remained available thanks to local production. “Fortunately we still have a couple of dairy farms hanging on in there, so we have fresh milk,” Carmichael said.

He concluded: “Food security is national security.”