If the ash crisis in Europe does not clear soon, it is not only travelers who will suffer.

[Paper Roses]

The economy will obviously feel a huge blow. On a more basic level, Europeans do not shop for and store food the way we do. They buy bread, meat, veggies etc. on a daily basis. Stop on the way from work, pick up components for dinner. Walk to the local neighborhood market, pick up fresh food that is just off the farm. They have, in general, very small kitchens, tiny refrigerators and buy in a far different way that we Americans do.

We might shop for a week, but in bulk, keep pantries.

If, as I am told, most of the daily foodstuffs normally come in by air, what will happen after a week or more of this ash pollution. A lot can come by train and truck but nowhere near as fast as by plane.

Boy, the earth is shaking us up right now. I feel sorry for all those whose plans have been messed up by this volcano. From what I read, the trains are overbooked, there are few cars available for rent.

[Ikonoklast]

1. Most of the food comes in by air??? No.

Not hardly.

Trucking and rail.

Even in Europe.

[sinkingfeeling]

2. Don't think so. Europeans eat mainly at a local level. At most, things are trucked from one area to

another or to a city.

[SteppingRazor]

3. True that. In Ireland, for example, they have a law...

that a restaurant has to be able to trace any piece of meat they serve back to the farm the animal came from. Almost everything served in the country is grown in the country.

The OP is right that Europeans tend not to stock food the way Americans do. But it's an easier thing to do in Europe because there's a lot more locally grown food.

[sinkingfeeling]

4. I just came back from Italy and saw the most beautiful street markets. Even in Rome.

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. It's mainly out-of-season fruit and vegetables that come in by air

and not all of them (bananas are all imported, but by ship, for instance). We can live without the spring strawberries, green beans etc. And fresh flowers. Story on the UK supply chain here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/apr/16/flight-ban-shortages-uk-supermarkets

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

10. I think that if it got to that point...

...they'd probably air-ship to the south of France and truck it up - probably in refrigerated lorries. The main problem with that would be availability of trucks that could do the job.

[haele]

6. Actually, it may be changes to the growing season from the cooling that might cause trouble

Air transport is not a big deal to most Europeans when it comes to their food. And if there are specialty fruits/veggies that need to get to Europe via air initially, they can modify the drop shipping to the Mediterranian airports and transport the rest of the way via train and truck.
A bit more expensive, and might take a day or two longer, but the parties that would want specialty foods are not your average European on the Street.

But if your main source of food in an area are the local farms depending on a good growing season, there might be some shortage if the days are not as long or as warm as they need to be to grow critical plants, or keep them from rotting in the fields because their environment is too far from the required heat or moisture.

Haele

[Mme. Defarge]

7. The "Year without a Summer"

In 1816, Savannah, Georgia, celebrated the 4th of July with a high temperature of 46°F! Because it was so cold across the eastern U.S., crops were ruined as the growing season was shortened. Snow even fell in June, the heaviest in New England between June 6th and 11th, creating snow drifts 18 to 20 inches in parts of Vermont.

This cooler than normal weather also contributed to crop failure in Canada and Western Europe. There was also sunspots on the sun visible to the naked eyes. This combined with the unusual amount of volcanic dust in the stratosphere might have lead to global cooling.

It has been theorized that a series of volcanic eruptions in earlier in the decade ejected billions of cubic yards of fine volcanic dust high into the atmosphere. On St. Vincent Island in the Caribbean, Soufrière erupted in 1812. In the Philippines, the Mayon Volcano erupted in 1814, and Mount Tambora, located in Indonesia, erupted in 1815.

http://www.theweatherchannelkids.com/weather-ed/weather-encyclopedia/winter-storms/historical-storms/1800/

[RaleighNCDUer]

8. OTOH, volcanic ash is very mineral rich.

Next season's crops will be bumper crops.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

9. The paranoia is strong with this one.

On a more basic level, Europeans do not shop for and store food the way we do. They buy bread, meat, veggies etc. on a daily basis.

Huh? What? How are local markets going to stop functioning because air travel is messed up?

They have, in general, very small kitchens, tiny refrigerators and buy in a far different way that we Americans do.

So...?

If, as I am told, most of the daily foodstuffs normally come in by air

I think what you were told is wrong. It's not economically viable to ship most foods via air, anywhere in the world.

Boy, the earth is shaking us up right now.

And until now it was sitting around with its thumb up its arse?

[Paper Roses]

12. Nothing else to do tonight? Lighten up.

Most seem to feel that my observations were wrong. Maybe so but hardly wrong enough to be dissected sentence by sentence. Think I'll go read a book, people are on edge here again tonight.

[FarCenter]

11. Flight ban could leave UK short of fruit and veg

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/apr/16/flight-ban-shortages-uk-supermarkets

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.

Parcel delivery firms are also suffering because of the flight ban, which is estimated to be costing the global airline industry more than $200m (£130m) per day.

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.

Waitrose has said that the supply of "a handful" of products had been hit, including fresh pineapple chunks from Ghana and baby sweetcorn from Thailand. At Tesco, Thai orchids are likely to be the first item to vanish from stores if the disruption continues.

<SNIP>

---

But I doubt that there will be a haggis shortage anytime soon.

[Paper Roses]

13. Thank you for posting this link.

I'm not entirely crazy.