Asda/T***O etc

[hoomin_erra]

Nope, i just figure they are from sunnier climes.

[Annpan]

Yes M3, I am afraid so

Everything is available all year round... Strawberries are currently on offer in every supermarket. Peaches, plums, pears, apples, berries, etc, etc, are always available. They are grown in Israel, South Africa, Mauritius, Argentina, etc and shipped/ air frieghted here.

You need to do your research to know what's in season (I mean one must do ones research...)


Does this not happen in France then?

[Millymollymandy]

No, absolutely not! We can only buy what is in season here!

Which is a good thing as nothing comes to us from the other side of the world. Sure we get early forced Spanish strawbs in May but I wouldn't touch them with a bargepole.

October sees the end of the summer fruit i.e. peaches, plums etc until about June the following year.

All we can get right now are apples, oranges, clementines, grapes and Kiwi fruit - OK, bananas and pineapples are available all year round but they at least come from Cote d'Ivoire or other former french colonies in north Africa.

[Annpan]

I am emmbarrased by British consumerism

I thought (in my ignorance) that this is how it is in all western countries.

Maybe it is the American influence...

[mrsflibble]

I for one can't afford to eat organic most of the time; but i do make some concesions. organic eggs for instance are a must 'cos they taste like... eggs.
if organic fruit is on offer, i will but it. same with veg but i just can't afford to do all my shopping on organic stuff or we'd starve.

[Annpan]

I can't afford to buy all organic either.

I also buy organic eggs, because I can survive, perfectly happily without forcing animals to live in hiddeous and painfull situations. I only buy organic animal products unless I am at the farmers market, but I trust the welfare standards that those farmers uphold.

I try to buy organic fruit and veg, but it is not always finacially viable, and I do have a family to feed - thats why I want to grow more of my own produce.


MrsF - As concienous shopper you can look at the country of origin on produce, refuse to buy NZ apples - as they grow perfectly well in blighty, but I gladly eat (the occasional) avacado or banana (which are usually shipped rather than air frieghted) as we can't grow them in this country.

Living in Scotland, I refuse to buy strawberries from anywhere that is not local (we grow the best strawberries in the world )

I don't think you have to buy organic, if you can't afford it. You shouldn't feel bad about it. Just excersize your consumer choice and try to buy local, seasonal produce... and of course grow your own

[hamster]

M3, I lived in Paris in February a couple of years ago, and there were plenty of unseasonal vegetables in Auchan! Maybe it's a rural/urban thing. A lot of them came from Spain, whereas most of the stuff here comes from South Africa or Israel. Somehow Spain to Paris doesn't seem as bad.

I can't afford to buy all organic either. I get an organic veg box, but only cos that's the only way to get local veg in the winter. I don't generally feel there's enough of a difference between organic and well-managed local/seasonal to justify the extra cost. I just want to be happy that my meat or eggs have been reared sensitively.

[Shirley]

Obviously nobody else is surprised you can get cherries and peaches in England in December. I am flabbergasted!

Do you REALLY get these things so out of season, that it is so NORMAL to you all that you don't bat an eyelid?

Something very wrong here I think!

It IS absolutely wrong and I don't buy them.... but I'm not surprised to see them. I was watching a mum and her little boy - little boy was screaming for blackberries... I think they had been grown in TURKEY. I made a comment about them being from miles away and likely picked before they were ripe so that they could survive the shipping (probably airfreight!) but it fell on deaf ears. The mum wanted the child to stop screaming.

J often sees the strawberries but is now aware that they only grow in Scotland in the summer months and that the others are inferior and have travelled too far.

[hoomin_erra]

Ok, i started this thread feeling quite good about my accomplishmens.


I'm not so sure anymore!!

[hamster]

Sorry, hoomin_erra. I am very impressed by your mammoth preserving accomplishments!

How about waiting for the Scottish fig and mango season next time, though, eh?

[Annpan]

hoomin_erra I think you did well.

You turned landfill fodder into some delicious goodies, that is to be congratulated. The supermarket policy is not your fault, and when things are marked down I for one, wouldn't walk past to the next shelf and buy the more expensive identical product.

[red]

I can't imagine you are helping the farmer any to walk past produce and let it be thrown away.

[ina]

I'm still annoyed at how difficult it is to buy British produce... Today I went past the Co-op and stopped in to look for apples (the local shop doesn't even show where their fruit and veg is from, so I won't buy it). Not a single British apple at the Co-op; they did have some British pears. Sad, isn't it!

I did get some English apples in the end at a small shop (the Camphill shop at Newton Dee, for the locals). Organic, Topaz, and they taste great. But they also sell a lot of imported stuff.

[Thomzo]

Mandy
Unfortunately, it is getting much more common. Normally they are far too expensive for any sensible person to buy them. There is obviously a demand for it, otherwise they wouldn't sell it.

Zoe

[Millymollymandy]

I think it's a real shame, quite aside from the flying things in from thousands of miles away. I begin to realise why that cook on the TV series The Restaurant didn't have a clue about seasonal produce - when asked to produce some seasonal dishes he cooked parnsip soup in April/May!

Hamster - I was talking about fruit - now veggies are different - we can always buy lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, peppers, avocadoes etc etc and a lot of stuff does come from Spain, you're right there.

However I remember one time cooking a roast in early summer and wanting some kind of wintery veg (at least cabbage or something!) to go with it but all I could get were French beans or courgettes!

I just don't remember there being that much unseasonal fruit in the supermarkets when I was last living in England (12 years ago) though. Certainly not things like peaches! We always, just like here, looked forward to summer fruits arriving in the shops.