Are chocolate, coffee and bananas in danger now? Climate change threatens plants that produce household staples, meaning they could be gone from supermarket shelves in less than 30 years.
Chocolate, coffee and bananas could disappear from supermarket shelves in less than 30 years due to climate change.
Higher temperatures threaten plants that produce chocolate, coffee and bananas and could make them scarce, according to the Fairtrade Foundation.
The charity, which supports disadvantaged farmers in developing countries through its Fairtrade brand, has published a new report, titled ‘Aisle in Peril’.
It warns that the cocoa-growing regions of Ghana and the Ivory Coast, which produce more than half the world’s crop, will become too hot by 2050 to grow the beans the UK depends on for its chocolate.
And within three decades up to half of the world’s area currently used for growing coffee could become unsuitable due to climate change, according to an analysis by sustainability consultancy 3Keel.
More than 90 percent of Kenyan Fairtrade coffee farmers say they are already feeling the effects, with more erratic rainfall and an increase in pests and diseases.
Three-quarters of Britons are aware that global warming is affecting their supermarket store, but only 38 percent are making changes, the study authors say.
A spokeswoman said: “Say goodbye to banana bread, goodbye to flat whites and ciao to chocolate, as experts warn these products could disappear from our supermarket shelves as a result of climate change, in just the next 30 years”.
The head of the Fairtrade Foundation, Mike Gidney, added: “It’s time to wake up and smell the coffee, because it may not be on our shelves forever.”
‘Today, climate change is making it increasingly difficult to grow food, making our food security increasingly vulnerable.
“There is a risk that farmers will have to stop farming.”
Gidney urged UK customers to buy Fairtrade products so that producers receive a fair price that allows them to invest in sustainable farming.
Caitlin McCormack, Senior Consultant at 3Keel, which carried out the analysis for the report, said: “The UK sources a significant proportion of consumer favourites, including bananas, coffee and cocoa, from countries facing risk potentials for future production, including changes in climate and the loss of biodiversity and habitats that provide ecosystem services that are critical to agriculture.
“It is essential that we work with producers in these countries to help them switch to sustainable and resilient production methods.”