Twelve organisations have warned Boris Johnson that the food and farming sector is on a knife edge due to the unprecedented workforce shortage impacting the supply chain.
The UK’s food and farming sector has written to the prime minister asking him to implement a Covid Recovery Visa to alleviate crippling labour shortages.
This follows an emergency roundtable convened by the NFU earlier this week, with representatives from the UK food supply chain.
The meeting discussed the growing crisis, which has resulted in empty shelves in supermarkets and, in some cases, food left on farms unable to be picked up or processed.
The organisations behind the letter have called for numerous measures, including a 12-month Covid Recovery Visa which they say would enable the supply chain to recruit critical roles as a short-term response to labour shortages.
Government commitment is also needed to a 'revised and expanded' Seasonal Worker Scheme for UK horticulture, to ensure it is flexible and large enough to meet workforce needs.
Finally, the groups urge the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to review the impact of ending free movement on the food and farming sector, in the same way it is doing for adult social care.
The letter to Mr Johnson said: “The industry came together in the summer to evidence these challenges, and the final report showed that there are an estimated 500,000 unfilled vacancies across the industry.
“The situation is not improving, in fact, images of empty supermarket shelves are becoming commonplace as labour shortages bite.
"As we move towards Christmas, there is a substantial threat of food inflation directly impacting the poorest families."
The organisations warned that without an emergency Covid Recovery Visa, more shelves would go empty, leading consumers to panic buy to get through the winter.
In parallel to this, the groups added that farmers were disposing of edible food as it could not be picked, packed, processed or transported to the end customer.
"Every day there are new examples of food waste across the industry, from chicken to pork, fruit and vegetables, dairy and many other products," the letter said.
"The food is there, but it needs people to get it to the consumers."
Signatories to the letter include the NFU, British Meat Processors Association, British Poultry Council, Food and Drink Federation, UK Hospitality, Road Haulage Association and Dairy UK.
