Food

Oh, now there might be a pea shortage

Oh, now there might be a pea shortage
(Picture: Getty)

Were having a tough time when it comes to food.

First there were reports of halloumi shortage (but dont panic, halloumi still appears to be in good supply). Then there was the crumpet crisis (since resolved). Weve struggled with fizzy drinks, beer, and crisps.

Now, its time to give peas a chance at the shortage hype.

The heatwave were experiencing may limit the amount of peas we can produce, thanks to a lack of water and ideal conditions for bugs that attack pea pods, such as peat moths and bruchid beetles.

Thats according to Franek Smith, president of the British Edible Pulses Association (yep, thats a thing), who said: Peas have only just formed so stopping growth means fewer and smaller peas.

The number of pods is also reduced as top flowers have aborted production due to weather.

Stephen Francis, Managing Director of Fen Peas, told The Grocer: Its too late to rescue a lot of our peas, they overexerted themselves searching for water.

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All our locations are harvesting below average.

Most pulse growers have had little rain for the last six weeks, and BEPA reports that soil in many places has gone from holding 98% of its water capacity to significantly less than 10%

That means smaller peas and fewer peas. Devastating.

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Shockingly, were not as bummed about this as we were about the beer and crumpets.

Pulse-lovers shouldnt panic too much, though. The arrival of Storm Chris should give fields of peas a good load of water, which will help, and smaller garden peas and petit pois are still doing fine, as they thrive in the heat.

A quick check around the supermarkets shows no shortage of fresh or frozen peas just yet, but if you do notice stocks dropping, you can continue to rely on the far superior petit pois.

The British Edible Pulses Association isnt stressing out yet, as they still have high hopes for new crops of peas. Everyone remain calm and peas-ful.

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