‘Foretaste’ of Brexit: Virus cuts off much of UK farm labor

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s fruit and vegetable farmers have long worried that the exit from the European Union would keep out the tens of thousands of Eastern European workers who come every year to pick the country’s produce. Now, the coronavirus pandemic has brought that feared future to the present. With most flights grounded, British farms are in desperate need of workers just as the harvest season for lettuces and berries begins in earnest. Without the necessary workforce, crops could be left to rot in the fields, and large growers may eventually decide to move some operations overseas. Some farmers have booked charter flights to bring in Eastern European workers,