Food & Climate
Floods and downpours are hitting food supply in many areas in U.S and UK and the situation is getting worse to the point where some people are unable to get a single day’s food.
While downpours hits food crops in UK, warnings escalate from flood waters in U.S due to containing chemicals, pollutants, bacteria, toxins, and viruses that can make people sick. And eating food or drinking water contaminated with these waters can be very dangerous.
Food supply also reaches homes in flood-ravaged North Carolina by foot, horse and ATV. This came After Hurricane Helene, the infrastructure damage is staggering, according many reports seen by “Food & Climate” platform.
Farmers are praying
Farmers in UK are “praying” there will be no more downpours as they struggle to meet demand amid widespread flooding which hits food supply crops.
Fruit and vegetable yields have fallen by about 5% across the UK, with carrots down more than 7% over the past 12 months, BBC figures show.
This has resulted in more carrots being imported, with prices rising by an average of about 40% since last year.
Market gardener Phil Collins, from Bromham, near Devizes, said: “There is not going to be enough food supply grown in this country if things go on like it is.”
He added: “It’s been difficult, we had three inches [of flood water] last Monday and it really messed it [yields] up”.
“It’s the first time in my entire life that we have not had enough spuds out, we’ve normally got quite a lot of spuds in the farm shop, and we didn’t have any to sell this year.”
Seven counties – Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Gloucestershire, Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire and Wiltshire – all recorded more than three times their average September rainfall, the Met Office said.
Southern England had its wettest September since 1918, and its third wettest in the records dating back to 1836.
Food pollutants
With Hurricane Milton hitting Florida, and people still cleaning up from Helene, there are some things people need to know about flood water. Drowning and building damage are not the only risks from floods. And this water is not just dirty. Flood waters contain pollutants, bacteria, toxins, and viruses.
Even containers that people think are sealed are not impervious to flood water, so, Charlotte County issued a bulletin about these dangers, according to “Food poisoning bulletin”.
One of the pathogens often found in flood water is Vibrio vulnificus. If this bacterium enters an open wound, you a become seriously ill. Symptoms include diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal pain, fever, chills, high heart rate, and confusion. This pathogen can also cause serious illness if it contaminates food or water.
On another side, Newport food pantry was destroyed during Helene, causing them to stop serving others.
Trish Clapper is the director of The Bread Basket. She said she didn’t get to see how bad the flooding was until flood waters started going down.
“We lost 100% of everything,” Clapper said. “I was just in shock, and for the first four days, everything was shut off, and I didn’t come down until after the water had receded and some of the cleanup was taking place.”
Another case in U.S, that Keith Watkins and his wife had been isolated and without power for a week after Helene laid a deep gash through the earth leading up to his home, leaving what was once a steep, nearly mile-long driveway in ruins.
While Volunteers try to provide a lifeline to those still stranded any way they can, in Creston, N.C., the volunteer fire department is delivering essential supplies to rural residents badly impacted by the flooding of Hurricane Helene.
So, jumping out of an off-road vehicle where the destroyed driveway met the street, Justin Wyatt who held a pair of hot meals — barbecue, mashed potatoes, and mac and cheese, have to proceeded to bring them to the couple the only way possible: by foot.