09:15:28
Crop to Shop
All I can say is...WHAT? Well, I suppose I can say more...
I watched part of (football argument and I lost) Crop to Shop - Jimmy's Supermarket Secrets on BBC1 earlier in the week and I'm still stunned. The programme had Jimmy Doherty exploring the global logistic of "fresh" food from around the world to a shop near YOU.
Potatoes, I like a bit of mash, not so keen on the baked, but hey, potatoes are good food. But, did you know that potatoes are grown in Egypt and shipped to the UK. The logistics are incredible. Egyptian farmers buy seed potatoes from Scotland. The grow the potatoes in sand, which has no nutrients. They therefore need to water and fertilise the seed potatoes. Water + desert = huh? Well, there is a finite water source deep deep deep under the desert. They have tapped that for watering the potatoes and fertilising at the same time. Cool, the potatoes grown where none have grown before...Then the potatoes are harvested and packed in peat moss. Peat Moss + desert = huh? Ah, so, they import Peat Moss from Ireland, known for great Peat Moss... Then they ship the lovely winter pots to the UK.
So, although our British potatoes can be stored for months, supermarkets are importing winter potatoes from Egypt. A round trip of over 11,500 miles.
Egypt + potatoes = WHAT?!
Buy + Eat + Grow + Local British Potatoes = Common Sense
Now that my maths are out of the way...I'm hungry
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