Asparagus from Peru
Supermarket Madness….
Just thought I would share with you the absurdity of supermarket giant Tesco and their food buying policy. I stopped by my local Tesco to buy fruit and as I walked past the vegetable stall I saw fresh asparagus for sale. For those of you from further afield asparagus has a very small window of avaliability in England, mid-May to mid-June. That’s it, any longer and it turns ‘woody’.
I should also mention that this particular branch of Tesco is situated in the best area in England for growing asparagus. My home county supplies all of the top end Michelin starred restaurants with asparagus because it is widely recognised as the best you can get. Why then do we have to have Peruvian asparagus on our shelves? What are Tesco thinking? Putting aside the small matter of air miles and carbon footprint for a moment, why would we want to eat asparagus flown over to England from Peru? I can understand the importing of bananas, oranges, pineapples and so on because we simply do not have the climate to grow our own but not asparagus.
Can’t we wait until May? How old is that asparagus from Peru? How much are Tesco paying these farmers? Is there really such a demand for year round asparagus? I don’t think so. Tesco should set an example.
Miles
I’d like to know just how much goodness is left in that asparagus or indeed the fruit you bought come to that.
I never got over learning that ‘fresh’ lettuce and cabbage can actually be up to 3 months old !
You could probably get more nutrition from eating paper !
Lunacy
Rod
January 14, 2009 @ 8:51 am
Miles,
I am glad you raised this issue. I look at Sainsbury’s veg. every week and, like you, just cannot understand why they sell asparagus. It is been there non-stop.
I will not buy it unless it is in season here. I just wonder what the turnover is to justify this or whether it is down to some contract?
Elsie
January 14, 2009 @ 11:21 am
Miles,
I saw a tv report last night about the banning of certain pesticides in the UK. The farmers interviewed were all based here in the Shire and they weren’t happy on the whole…. it will affect yield, they said and prices will go up. A spokesman for supermarkets in general would not commit to giving the farmers a more reasonable profit, in fact he skirted round all the issues raised like a well versed politician! Another man stated that what would happen in future is that Tesco and others will simply buy in their crops from outside the EU where regulations on pesticides might not be so stringently adhered to….. which brings us round to your Peruvian asparagus, what will those farmers be paid? Very little is my guess. Fair trade appears on bananas sometimes, perhaps it should apply to all fruit and veg. The green beans I saw yesterday were from Kenya by the way. Should the west be supporting other countries by buying their produce…. well yes why not, as long as the local people have enough to eat, the additives don’t kill us and the farmer gets a fair deal.
In order to investigate further I asked an expert what it costs to ship say an onion from the other side of the world to the UK distribution centers….. it worked out based on the largest variety, approximately 7p per kilo.
Cid
January 14, 2009 @ 11:46 am
I have to quit starting my day ranting on your blog (but it’s so much fun). This warrants a major diatribe, however, I must resist (partially, anyway).
Food politics! Oh, how I could launch off on so many aspects of this issue. But I’m going to stick with my intent to eat as much locally grown food as possible. And to forego stuff like asparagus unless it’s in season and grown somewhere “near” me. At least not in Peru.
Our industrialization of food has destroyed small farmers trying to provide healthy, local produce. And now with banks reluctant to loan money (another rant, another day), our little local farmers can’t get the loans to make it through the winter. There is so much going on here. And when you factor in the health of the food, the soil, the environment, etc. it becomes a brewing mess.
I just read a report about how we’re now being exposed to antibiotics in vegetables. Not just meat and milk, but vegetables. Even some grown on organic farms. Veggies can absorb the antibiotics found in the manure of livestock, which is used as fertilizer.
So, aside from the miles the asparagus travels, the environmental impact of that journey, what the farmers are paid, etc. — who knows what drugs may actually be in the vegetable because of the fertilizers used in the soil. We are taking in these antibiotics and drugs used to keep livestock from disease and to fatten them up. Many organic farms use straight up manure to fertilize rather than chemical fertilizers — now we find we may be ingesting all kinds of crap from that. If it’s not one thing, it’s another. Ugh!
Melissa
January 14, 2009 @ 12:24 pm
Rod,
A good point, it’s alright telling supermarkets to label their food but how about a date label on fresh produce? That would be interesting!
Miles
January 14, 2009 @ 3:58 pm
Elsie,
The same Sainsbury’s which employs Jamie Oliver, the same ‘chef’ who tells us all to eat seasonally.
We should tell them where to stick it.
Miles
January 14, 2009 @ 3:59 pm
Cid,
A great comment thankyou. You have shown the power the supermarkets have over all of us. If we ban certain pesticides on food then there must be a valid reason for it so to simply bypass this ruling shows the level of contempt the supermarkets have for government and the health of its customers.
Miles
January 14, 2009 @ 4:03 pm
Melissa,
Very thought provoking, thankyou. It really is a food Russian roulette isn’t it? We simply have no idea what it is we are eating for most of the time and the possible long term health implications that might cause.
It beggars belief.
Miles
January 14, 2009 @ 4:07 pm
Hi. Just got home from the local farmers market in West End Brisbane Australia and noticed while unpacking my purchases that the asparagus came from Peru. adness, I live in the subtropics and we can grow just about anything here including asparagus! My fault I suppose should have looked first. Is everthing now based on the last cent you can get from profit.
May 16, 2009 @ 1:04 am
Steve,
Welcome to the site, it’s amazing isn’t it? It really is a question of greed as far as I am concerned, I can’t help but wonderwhat the asparagus farmers in Peru get paid by our importers.
Thanks for commenting, hope you return again.
Miles
May 16, 2009 @ 7:16 am