Pigs are going to waste in Britain. Why? Well, the problem started in China
Across the country, these skilled workers are in short supply. The National Pig Association thinks there are 125,000 to 150,000 pigs waiting to be turned into pork. Boris Johnson, the prime minister, had sought to minimise the problem. But on October 14th the government relented to pressure, announcing 800 new six-month visas for butchers. They will have to get chopping fast to stop hundred of thousands of pigs from going to waste.
The problem started in China, where nearly half of British pork exports were sent last year, and which has a taste for basic cuts. With Chinese farms recovering from African swine fever, demand for imports has dropped this year—meaning more advanced abattoir workers are required. “When exporting to China you could send a whole leg...Here you need to make it all the way down to a loin steak,” explains Bethan Wilkins of the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board, a quango.
This has affected farms across Europe, but those in Britain face additional problems. In September a carbon-dioxide shortage added to backlogs . Post-Brexit immigration rules, particularly language ones, are also starting to bite. Most slaughterhouse butchers “wanted to work with their hands so probably [weren’t] top of their class,” says Nick Allen of the British Meat Producers Association. “OurModern pig farming is vulnerable to disruption.
If the beasts cannot be killed in abattoirs, they will be killed on farms, which renders them legally unfit for human consumption. Though industry insiders welcome the visas, they reckon Britain needs more than 10,000 skilled butchers. The government will also establish a “private storage aid” scheme to store carcasses for three to six months, and will drop a levy on pork products. In the long run, the aim is to encourage more Britons into the industry.
This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline "Making a pig’s ear of it"
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