Healthy soil and sustainable growing

["Tradingpost" <tradingpost@lobo.net>]

Flight ban could leave UK short of fruit and veg
Richard Wray and Graeme Wearden, Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/apr/16/flight-ban-shortages-uk-supermarkets

Air freight problems arising from ash cloud over Europe could leave 
supermarkets short of perishable products within days
---
Britain's supermarkets could soon run short of perishable goods including 
exotic fruits and Kenyan roses as the ongoing ban on UK air travel brought 
Britain's largest perishable air freight handling centre to a standstill 
today.

Norbert Dentressangle, the logistics company that operates this facility at 
Heathrow Airport, has warned that this weekend will effectively be a 
write-off. This will mean a three-day shortfall in the supply of certain 
products, including asparagus, grapes, green onions, lettuce and pre-packed 
fruit salads. The fear is that, while there are still supplies of these 
products in the supply chain, they are likely to be exhausted next week.

... All the major supermarkets insisted today that their shelves were still 
well-stocked but gaps could start appearing on shelves if normal service is 
not resumed soon at UK airports. Some of the pre-packaged fruit that appears 
on the shelves is prepared, cut and packaged overseas and then flown into the 
UK, predominantly into Heathrow.

... The UK imports about 90% of its fruit and 60% of its vegetables. While 
the vast majority come by sea – Fair Trade bananas from the West Indies, for 
instance, are regularly delivered to Southampton and Portsmouth – some of the 
more exotic inhabitants of the UK's shops come by air.

Air freight makes up about 25% of all British imports by value, but just 0.5% 
of all imports by weight. But while a diamond ring will not tarnish if it 
waits a few extra days before being delivered, some of the goods shipped by 
air are going to be in a poor state if the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in 
Iceland continues to spew hot ash into the atmosphere. Customers, meanwhile, 
will begin to run out of their existing supplies. Many of Britain's 
supermarkets operate their supply chains incredibly tightly, using the 
principle of "just in time" delivery. When disaster strikes, shortages of 
some items can start appearing within a few days.