Thoughts from an organic grower, post-Brexit
Phantassie Organic Market Garden in East Lothian.
By Patricia Stephen
Fred asked me to write something on Brexit…and how awful it is for us. Well he’s right. Though as of now the costs are masked by two things: our government has delayed implementation of some of the more disruptive measures, and Sterling has risen against the Euro.
For anyone importing fresh produce there is more bureaucracy and thus more delay which reduces freshness, increases waste and impacts disproportionately on small players such as ourselves. £400 a week is our current extra cost (enough for a job for a school leaver) to import the type of produce that the UK has been importing from Europe for a hundred years or more. And this is before the costs of all the delayed measures.
It is not a level playing field and the cost for Aldi in Scotland for example, whose shopping is often on the same lorries, will not be so very different from ours. Fruit and veg is a cut-throat free market and raising prices, particularly to pandemic-affected customers such as l’escargot bleu is not an option. That said, these are practical problems and businesses adapt to survive and the organic sector will perhaps become more cooperative. And yes, we will try to grow more!
What I really wanted to mention though was immigration, so often a dirty word in Leavers’ England but not so much here in Scotland. People coming, and people going in Scotland’s case, is an economic and cultural good and such migration is the lifeblood of the food and drink sector. Yes, we need seasonal harvesting labour and it coming from elsewhere is not new. Until approximately 50 years ago Irish families used to come every year to lift potatoes. The jobs are filled and the workers return home, just as I and countless others went to the Vendange in France (a long and nostalgic time ago). I am filled with memories of early morning girolles collected for breakfast (disgusting!), oursins (sea urchins) and cold mustard-coated thyme-scented wild rabbit legs for lunch. In our little microcosm we have welcomed folk from all over the world to work with us and enjoy Scotland. The local staff always look forward to their arrival. Rich contributions and rich rewards.
These people are not taking British jobs but they are enabling British businesses to produce for their home market rather than supermarkets buying more cheaply from abroad.
There is a bigger picture though. Whilst negotiating Edinburgh’s Leith Walk the other day I mentally counted up all the empires of the Fortes, the Continis, the Crollas and their Asian counterparts, the Siciian pastry shop, Spanish tapas bars, Swedish pubs, Mama Bross (ok she is from Montreal!) Turkish and Greek sandwich places, Asian and Chinese supermarkets, Polish and Romanian corner shops - all vibrant parts of the most cosmopolitan street in Scotland. When people arrive from elsewhere the thing they cling on to most is their food culture, then they want to share it with their new neighbours. Businesses are born and nourished, roots put down, and when we play host at the world’s biggest arts festival we offer pan-global Scottish cooking, constantly reinventing and renewing itself in exciting and attractive ways. Brexit stemming the flow of European people into Scotland is just plain crazy. I am sure that Fred could pen a similar diatribe about the restaurant sector.
Fred and Betty are one of our most wonderful examples of these riches. Snails from Barra, Hebridean Mutton terrine, and on and on. Long may that continue and the friendships forged through food.
Visit Phantassie's website to find out more about their veg box deliveries and upcoming markets.