-pops- Posted July 7, 2006 Report Share Posted July 7, 2006 I've just returned from my local Tesco. Piled high near the entrance were boxes and boxes of strawberries (special half price of half price offer sort of thing). I noticed that they were marked "Produce of the USA". I looked at raspberries - from Spain, blueberries from Poland. There was no fruit of English/British growing origin there at all. Even the rhubarb was from Spain.Now, I live in the South of England - I am surrounded by farms, many of which grow soft fruit and all of them at the peak of their selling season. I am also very close to the watercress growing centre of the Universe - Tesco gets theirs from the USA. Similarly with asparagus. A local farm is selling at £1 for a very large bunch. Tesco's Spanish offering is £1·95 for about six spears.Along the coast near here between Portsmouth and Brighton there are miles and miles of glasshouses growing many types of salad vegetables. Tesco's cucumbers are Spanish, only the wet toilet paper type lettuces are English, the others are foreign and of six types of tomatoes, one is English. Beetroot from Spain. Spinach from Israel.?What's with all of this? I have no qualms about importing out of season produce but when most of it is growing literally down the road from the shop, I fail to see the logic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dadyassa Posted July 7, 2006 Report Share Posted July 7, 2006 Thats annoying, I love rhubarb but only seen it for sale once over here :( :(The gypsies sell asparagus at 5 0r 6 bunches for a € Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted July 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2006 Thats annoying, I love rhubarb but only seen it for sale once over here :( :(All exported to England by Tesco. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordythegouge Posted July 7, 2006 Report Share Posted July 7, 2006 I'm not advertising... but you've got to go to the likes of Marks & Sparks for the best of British, in season, or better still, you're local independent veg seller!! I live 24 miles from Inverness, our nearest big shopping area, a City now, with a pop. of just 100K plus but growing rapidly! But it's surrounded by Tesco. There's four of them round the place including 2 of the Extra size stores! It was calculated that Tesco was taking like 50P out of every £1 earned in and around the Inverness area! That's way too much clout for any Supermarket to have! How do independents survive? Tesco, by the way are probably selling, Scottish Rasps, English Strawbs etc., over in France or wherever else they've set up stall for more than they'd get in this Country! By the way, has anyone ever asked these local farmers, who is doing the bulk buying of their crops? The answer might be very interesting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted July 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2006 I buy all my fruit, veg and meat from local producers and we have a fish man that delivers local (Selsey) caught fish twice a week. Bread is delivered daily to my corner shop from a small bakery in Arundel. The only reason I use Tesco is for items such as toilet rolls, not practical to buy at other places.Quite a lot of local producers refuse to sell to supermarkets because of completely unreasonable restrictions they put on things like having a curve gauge to measure the bend in a cucumber. Marks & Spencer are the worst of all for restrictions. They have a very large manual of standards which, looking somewhat like a Bible, is called in the trade "The Gospel According to St Michael". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted July 7, 2006 Report Share Posted July 7, 2006 I complained about this recently in my local Tesco. Customer services promised to pass my comments on to head office, and ask them to contact me. Needles to say I am still waiting to hear from them. The local Sainsbury store have been selling strawberries for several weeks now, grown in Staffordshire or Derbyshire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artist Posted July 7, 2006 Report Share Posted July 7, 2006 Sainsbury' is not too bad - Depends on the time of year.I got British strawberries there today - £1.69 for a biggish punnet. Strangely, it would have cost twice that for me to go to the P Y O farm........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catgate Posted July 7, 2006 Report Share Posted July 7, 2006 Sainsbury' is not too bad - Depends on the time of year.I got British strawberries there today - £1.69 for a biggish punnet. Strangely, it would have cost twice that for me to go to the P Y O farm........It would have cost that each at Wimbledon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thos Posted July 7, 2006 Report Share Posted July 7, 2006 Marks & Spencer are the worst of all for restrictions. They have a very large manual of standards which, looking somewhat like a Bible, is called in the trade "The Gospel According to St Michael".But it is not just food (altogether now) It's Marks and Spencer food.Sainsbury' is not too bad - Depends on the time of year.I got British strawberries there today - £1.69 for a biggish punnet. Strangely, it would have cost twice that for me to go to the P Y O farm........I agree. We bought some today. Unfortunately they were not grown for taste but for long lasting qualities.Thos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Watchful Posted July 7, 2006 Report Share Posted July 7, 2006 I bought strawberries today from NETTO and they were English. Lovely too :P Most of their fresh produce is English so why not give them a try if there is one near you. They don't have all the frills like Tesco (we don't go there anymore) but they're very competitive with prices. In other words, cheap and cheerful :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catgate Posted July 7, 2006 Report Share Posted July 7, 2006 Unfortunately they were not grown for taste but for long lasting qualities.Thos.It is all getting silly. We eat quite a lot of fruit, and it appalls me when I see "Ripen at home" emblazoned on the packaging (I think it's ADSA). The next thing will be half a dozen seeds in a pack for £1.99 labeled "Grow at home." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted July 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2006 No NETTO's down here, unfortunately.We have a medium sized Tesco, a small Co-op and a small Somerfields. We are lucky in still having a number of local shops but, they are gradually going. The ironmongers closed last week which is a real shame. It was a place where you could still buy a pound of nails instead of getting about a dozen of them in those silly vac formed PVC packets (for the same price as a pound of nails).This "ripen at home" thing is on Tesco stone fruit as well. What it means is "Buy me, stick me in your fruit bowl and watch me gradually shrivel and rot without ever losing my green colouration and sour taste." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted July 7, 2006 Report Share Posted July 7, 2006 I think all the major stores are now using this 'Ripen at home' business. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Watchful Posted July 7, 2006 Report Share Posted July 7, 2006 I've not come across this 'ripen at home' business yet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CurlyWhirly Posted July 7, 2006 Report Share Posted July 7, 2006 I've not come across this 'ripen at home' business yet Nor me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Watchful Posted July 7, 2006 Report Share Posted July 7, 2006 It must be a southern thing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CurlyWhirly Posted July 7, 2006 Report Share Posted July 7, 2006 It must be a southern thing Yeah must be! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rong Posted July 7, 2006 Report Share Posted July 7, 2006 You two from Birmingham then Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catgate Posted July 7, 2006 Report Share Posted July 7, 2006 It must be a southern thing York, Leeds, Colne, Skipton and Burnley are still all all north of Watford as far as I know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CurlyWhirly Posted July 7, 2006 Report Share Posted July 7, 2006 You two from Birmingham thenI'm not though I used to live in the area when I was younger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted July 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2006 If you see any fruit (peaches, nectarines, plums etc.) labelled "Ripen at home"AVOIDAs I said above, it more often than not it doesn't ripen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catgate Posted July 7, 2006 Report Share Posted July 7, 2006 If you see any fruit (peaches, nectarines, plums etc.) labelled "Ripen at home"AVOIDAs I said above, it more often than not it doesn't ripen.The same can be said of much of the fruit that is sold in supermarkets, even without the "Ripen at home " label. I should think that we throw out between 5 and 10 percent of our weekly purchases of fruit and veg through it being pick too soon, or similar. Some of it is caused by too much frequent "testing" by previous potential buyers ending up as bruising within 24 hours of getting it home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artist Posted July 7, 2006 Report Share Posted July 7, 2006 If you see any fruit (peaches, nectarines, plums etc.) labelled "Ripen at home"AVOIDAs I said above, it more often than not it doesn't ripen.The same can be said of much of the fruit that is sold in supermarkets, even without the "Ripen at home " label. I should think that we throw out between 5 and 10 percent of our weekly purchases of fruit and veg through it being pick too soon, or similar. Some of it is caused by too much frequent "testing" by previous potential buyers ending up as bruising within 24 hours of getting it home.Totally agree! Plus avocados - either soft and brown or you can't get them off the stone. As for melons.....don't get me started! ..and what about the sticky lettuces, the tastless tomatoes, the crunchy but no taste radishes! I don't understand why I'm not as thin as a bean pole! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deuces wild Posted July 7, 2006 Report Share Posted July 7, 2006 I've just returned from my local Tesco. Piled high near the entrance were boxes and boxes of strawberries (special half price of half price offer sort of thing). I noticed that they were marked "Produce of the USA". I looked at raspberries - from Spain, blueberries from Poland. There was no fruit of English/British growing origin there at all. Even the rhubarb was from Spain.Now, I live in the South of England - I am surrounded by farms, many of which grow soft fruit and all of them at the peak of their selling season. I am also very close to the watercress growing centre of the Universe - Tesco gets theirs from the USA. Similarly with asparagus. A local farm is selling at £1 for a very large bunch. Tesco's Spanish offering is £1·95 for about six spears.Along the coast near here between Portsmouth and Brighton there are miles and miles of glasshouses growing many types of salad vegetables. Tesco's cucumbers are Spanish, only the wet toilet paper type lettuces are English, the others are foreign and of six types of tomatoes, one is English. Beetroot from Spain. Spinach from Israel.?What's with all of this? I have no qualms about importing out of season produce but when most of it is growing literally down the road from the shop, I fail to see the logic. I agree with you............that makes absolutely no sense. I would boycott the store if there were others you could buy your fruits and veggies from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deuces wild Posted July 8, 2006 Report Share Posted July 8, 2006 Speaking of strawberries......The ones they sell in the markets around here are generally somewhat white in the middle and need to be sweetened with sugar or sweet 'n low.An old timer I know told me about how strawberries *should* be.........red throughout and naturally sweet.My wife purchased some "home grown" strawberries the other day and they were............red throughout and very sweet. They were the best strawberries I ever ate. The next batch she bought (not home grown) were white in the middle. :( How are your strawberries on the other side of the pond? :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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