Buy British
As I write this we are well into the 3rd week in March, English asparagus from Norfolk and the Wye valley amongst other places has been available for at least 3 weeks now, in fact I am sure I saw a wholesaler offering English (may have been Yorkshire) asparagus during the last week in February, and another the week previous claiming to have white English asparagus, yet to date I have not seen a shop anywhere near me selling anything other than Mexican asparagus, and stacks of it. Why is this?
Throughout the winter months I buy a lot of apples and pears, great British fruit, only they are just about the hardest thing to find on the shelves these days in our shops. Apples to be fair are easier to find than pears but still! Go to Kent in September and see the trees laden with fruit yet we can’t buy any here. Why is this?
There are stacks of pears to be found but they are from Belgium, the Netherlands, Portugal, and occasionally, very occasionally you might find a few bags of British pears, but no often. Apples from France, South Africa, New Zealand, Italy, Netherlands, every bloody where and then, tucked away in a corner of the display again you might just about be lucky and find a bag of apples with a Union Flag on them. It seems they have a mission or edict to fulfil some sort of pact – to make sure every European country, along with as many others from around the world as possible are represented on the shelves, probably just in case someone comes in that is not British, and can’t find an apple, or whatever, from their country of origin. We like to keep everyone happy, except ourselves.
And what about rhubarb? Early English rhubarb, that stunning beautifully pink coloured sticks of gorgeousness is disappearing. Apparently, the Yorkshire triangle famous for its rhubarb growers is shrinking, possibly because the supermarkets aren’t stocking it? I’ve managed to buy the odd bunch here and there over the last 6 weeks or so but it’s hard to find, one of those happened to be Dutch, not English as I hoped. Sadly, its season (the English that is), will be coming to an end very soon.
British supermarkets claim to support British farmers, but do they in reality? Back to asparagus, I have been searching for it for weeks now, I love it, the season is short, even bloody shorter when it’s not being stocked. I see it advertised on wholesaler’s web pages and on their Facebook pages but I still can’t find any to buy. Is it really only restaurants that are able and willing to buy it? Surely not. there’s lots of it in the supermarkets but as I say it’s all Mexican. Sorry Mexico, I am not being racist or anything like that I just don’t want your bloody asparagus when ours is better and currently being picked!
Okay, I concede that it is just possible I’m being a little premature or even impatient. I know the asparagus season is not supposed to officially start until the end of March, more likely April, and is never really under way until after Easter, but thanks to a warm, very damp, winter it has been available far earlier. I suppose this really means that the supermarkets plan so far ahead and only buy certain produce when it is meant to be in full season (I am, I hope you notice, giving them a massive benefit of the doubt here). The fact is it is being picked and it has been for some time now. Wholesalers up and down the country have it so why not the main shops?
Come on, buy and sell British, if you are concerned about food miles, buy British, if you care about seasonal produce, buy British. Just stop oil, instead of holding up innocent commuters, or throwing orange paint around buildings and destroying works of art try throwing it over unnecessarily imported food instead!
There used to be, in the 80’s, a campaign called, I’m backing Britain, there were car bumper & window stickers pronouncing this to be seen everywhere, how about let’s bring those back!