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How Brexit Could Break Britain’s Food Chain

As Brexit threatens to upend Britain’s relationship with the rest of the world, fresh food supplies, like tomatoes from this farm in Sicily, are at risk.

Right now, it takes four to five days to haul produce to Britain from Sicily.

A tomato picked from a vine is at its best for about 10 days.

But with negotiations between Europe and Britain in disarray, it’s unclear how trade will work after Oct. 31, when Britain is set to leave the European Union.

The majority of what is eaten in Britain at that time of the year is imported.

New inspections may mean border delays — and even some rotten tomatoes.

Getting a tomato to Britain from Sicily involves dozens of people, multiple transfers, several truck trips and two boat rides.

After crossing to mainland Italy, drivers like Umberto Monachelli spend 24 hours hauling the tomatoes up the length of the country, eventually arriving in Milan.

Fruits and vegetables are repacked at one of Europe’s largest wholesale markets — a vast hub for produce that will be traded across the Continent.

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A new driver, Euzebio Ghisleri, takes over in Milan. He heads to the French border, hoping to cover as many miles as possible in the next 10 hours.

Streams of trucks, passing Mont Blanc to northeastern France, bring a constant flow of food from fields in one country to shops in another.

Efficient border crossings make it cheaper for some British businesses to import rather than to buy produce from within the country.

The next afternoon, the tomatoes arrive at the port of Calais, which has built new facilities to prepare for Brexit.

Traffic on both the British and French sides could be snarled by new safety and document checks required at border stops.

The British government fears that trucks could be delayed by two and a half days and that disruption could last for months.

“If things go wrong in Calais the system really quickly starts to clog,” said Andrew Opie, head of food policy at the British Retail Consortium.

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After a search of his truck, Mr. Ghisleri and the tomatoes roll onto a ferry and cross the English Channel.

His load is among as many as 10,000 containers, heavy with food and goods, that enter Britain via this port each day.

After resting near Dover, England, Mr. Ghisleri arrives at the distribution depot in South London the following morning.

There are worries that food prices, already pushed up by a weaker currency, could soar with Brexit.

Retailers fear an interruption in fresh food supplies for the whole country. Planning documents from August show that the government will not be able to anticipate the extent of problems. They also note that “there is a risk that panic buying will cause or exacerbate food supply disruption.”

“We don’t know what to plan for,” said Franco Fubini, the founder of Natoora, a produce importer in London. “We have limited resources at our disposal.”

“We can’t stockpile food.”

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Produced by Renee Melides, Aliza Aufrichtig and Rebecca Lieberman