School meals could be disrupted for the remainder of this term by delays and shortages of food supplies across the country as a result of a dearth of lorry drivers in the UK.
The warning came as industry representatives told Boris Johnson that the driver shortage – exacerbated by Brexit and the pandemic – was causing a “crisis” in the food supply chain.
Sheffield city council wrote to schools last week warning they may have to rely on emergency standby ingredients such as fish fingers and dried pasta to feed their pupils.
School cooks would be supplied with two days’ worth of standby ingredients in case the supply chain failed. “Some last-minute changes may have to be made to menus … This is clearly not what anyone would want in the last weeks of the school year,” the letter said.
The UK road haulage sector has a shortage of 100,000 lorry drivers. A warning to the prime minister was sent from the Food and Drink Federation, British Frozen Food Federation, Federation of Wholesale Distributors, Cold Chain Federation, Meat Producers Association and the British Beer and…
