| Fascinating Musings |
| Season 1 – Monday – 27/02/23 |
| This, too, shall pass.” Attar of Nishapur |
| Music – Hysteria |
| The news informs us that there are now fruit and vegetable shortages, which may occur between now and May. According to the experts, the deficits may only be the tip of the iceberg. Tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, cauliflowers, carrots, aubergine, broccoli, peppers, lemons and raspberries are in significant shortfalls. I only eat a few from that list – albeit we have requirements of aubergine, broccoli, peppers and cauliflower, and Suze has raspberries. But l no longer eat salads. According to the news, there have already been shortages of eggs for several months due to the avian flu outbreak. Although with the latter, our local market, which supplies eggs from the local growers, doesn’t have an issue. But also, l have cut back on my egg intake – decreasing my consumption of nearly 40 eggs a week to a dramatic cut back of only six eggs a week personally, although our household only now uses 30 eggs weekly. Apple farmers in Kent are destroying acres upon acres of their crops because they can’t keep them cool due to the energy hikes. Potato prices are on the increase as well. I remember saying to Suze a few years ago that there would come a time when this would happen, and here we are. Thérèse Coffey, our environmental secretary, was blasted last week when her comment about letting people eat seasonal products was made worse than it was. She wasn’t wrong – her analysis suggested that people should enjoy what this country does grow, and turnips are something we can grow. We should back British growers and limit what we purchase from abroad – because the quality of fruit and vegetables long before now has been questionable. Our problems as a country have been due to keeping food items in long cold storage. More and more people may have to look at growing their own and returning to backyard farming concepts. People want choice; l get that, l understand, but we can’t keep taking, taking and taking from nature, can we? Yet, the environmental climate crisis, political endeavours for good or bad, an inability to support British farming, and reliance on imports have led us to this situation. Poor quality controls and contracts between growers and supermarkets don’t help either – both sides blame each other side of greed – a same old same old story. Everyone wants a slice of the action for the lowest possible price. But also, the war in Ukraine is having an impact and taking its toll, especially on energy inflation. But above everything, a lack of government planning that rings a bell seems to be the story for the Conservative party for the last X number of years. So many issues are at play here, ranging from Brexit and Covid to anything else you might like to throw into the mix. It’s shambolic. I shouldn’t, of course, laugh, but l find that l do because if you didn’t laugh, you might be concerned and stressed. I am not, but many people are. People must also adopt some common sense, stop over-dramatising things on social media and NOT believe EVERYTHING the news media tells us. They thrive on these topics and can quickly turn a spot of wind into a cyclone … Ironically the advice now is to start stockpiling food. This takes me back to the days of the pandemic – we must now be better prepared for potential emergencies … of course, the media will encourage panic buying like this – ho-hum, covid is back, ho hum … Canned beans [great farting material], rice, grains, pasta, canned vegetables, tinned fish, and even peanut butter can be stored. People need to grow their own and rethink their consumption. I agree with the environment secretary – people need to relearn how to love locally grown produce and only sometimes favour exotic foods from abroad. I think Suze and l got our allotment at the right time, and l believe there may be an interest in growing your own projects too. But people need to either grow their own, buy from local growers, or, ideally, do both. |
Earthly Comforts 
I agree my friend! Eat local and seasonal produce. It’s more healthy and cheaper
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Hey Sadje, yes it is – but people being people and wanting a bigger choice have become so used to placing the demand on growers – plot to plate – that all that is happening is an ever increased burden on all involved.
Growers cut corners, buyers cut corners, retailers cut corners – all to make a profit and ultimately the biggest culprit are governments who don’t care or think ahead. But they are out to make the biggest profit from everyone else.
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Unfortunately, that’s very true.
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🤔 There are those who never stopped growing vegetables in their kitchen gardens.
Unfortunately, we cannot grow everything ourselves because we might end up in a similar situation to the apple farmers in Kent.
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Well, that’s good to know, Renard – that is the second time you have mentioned that you have a garden – so what do you grow?
Kent farmers need to start diversifying their growing ranges like they used to back before we entered Europe. Now we are out; they must stop being so drama llama about things and get on with other production lines.
We don’t need to grow everything ourselves – we need to reevaluate what we need, start supporting our domestic production lines again, reduce our importing supply lines, and strive to become independent again.
We also need more people who can take accountability and responsibility and grow where they can or join community gardens.
The UK became too reliant upon external food crops for many reasons, and suppliers want to make higher profits.
This situation has come about, and it is long overdue. Sadly, we are experiencing problems through a lack of foresight and ignorance of issues staring at us for decades.
We can afford to send weaponry and finances to Ukraine continually, yet our countries suffer in many other areas, and we are desperate for huge financial windfalls of support. That’s not just a British problem, either. Many countries globally are experiencing issues.
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🙂 I grow limes, peppers and chives.
Once a country can grow most of its food, it would not have to import as much food.
Like the United Kingdom, we also import a lot of food.
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They sound great, Renard – do you have a lime tree or several? You certainly have the heat for it, hot peppers or normal heat or both and chives; l love chives; they are great for a garden 🙂
The UK would only be able to grow some of its imports. Still, l remember as a teenager in England, long before we joined Europe, the range of foods we had available was limited. The more exotic items were expensive – like bananas and avocado and kiwis and so on – they were luxuries.
We must remember what we can grow with our weather and incorporate the newer weather climate changes. This means we can produce a more diverse range than were forty years ago and reduce the import lines.
By reducing the import of veg and fruit, we would place less demand on growers, meaning we could start to restabilise the seasons and growing seasons.
The food chains around the world are in an absolute mess.
I remember speaking to the then-warden of Gazen Salts last year about the orchard in the rear of the reserve – it’s a wild area that used to be domestic back in the 70s. We have apples and plums and wild gooseberries and blackberries growing there. I remarked how fortunate he was to have such a fresh bounty of food available to him.
He answered that he wouldn’t touch anything because it would be dirty and he would only buy from a store with fruit and veg in the plastic … l was astonished.
Another time l was speaking to a friend who was talking about his son, who was asked to go out to the garden and retrieve lettuce from the patch. He returned with a cabbage … asked why, and his response was – l only know what they look like in the shop.
The problem with many young adults these days is that they have become too reliant on food availability and don’t need to know what they look like in the ground.
To sort out this mess, we would almost have to press pause, rewind and start again – it’s not just one issue. It’s several.
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🙂 I only have one lime tree!; which bears a lot.
The hot peppers and chives are grown in the usual Caribbean heat.
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Are you a huge fan of hot peppers Renard – do they not burn a hole in your stomach?
I used to be able to stomach them raw, these days l think the silly competitions l used to take part in during my later twenties – eat as many hot peppers as you can in five minutes – melted my stomach lining. Hahaha 🙂
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🙂 I am not a huge fan of hot peppers, but I do eat them in moderation.
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Our food sources are now and have been in trouble. Corporations buying farms is dangerous to our well being.
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Hey Lisa,
i know corporations are supermarket chains are the death sentence for many farmers. The farmer is pleased to be part of the machine but quickly realises that every opportunity the buyer can, they will knock them down on their prices to the point that farmers fold.
Big companies are bad news indeed.
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My dad used to grow his own vegetables. I remember keeping tomatoes in the airing cupboard to make them ripen quicker. Popping peas in a pod. He also grew potatoes and lettuce. My garden is our project this year. Our decking is rotting, so we are going to replace it with paving slabs. I would like a raised bed, where I can grow vegetables with my granddaughter.
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You’d love a raised bed with your granddaughter Diana – the Two of you would both have a great time together 🙂
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I haven’t seen any shortages in California, but we grow a lot of stuff here. The cost has gone way up, but the cost of everything has.
I paid 79 cents for one lemon, but I’m not surprised… it’s too early for them here.
I agree that diversity is the key, and being mindful of the growing environment.
💌💌
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Everything has gone through the roof here from vegetables to patience 🙂
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Yes you most certainly were ahead of the curve with getting that allotment … I’m sure there is more interest now!
California is an agriculture state and we have something called Farm to fork
https://www.farmtofork.com
Farmers, wineries etc come to showcase what they offer and showing recipes and what can do
My region hosts more than 1.5 million acres of active farmland, but only 2% of what’s grown is consumed locally. The rest is sent around the country AND the world.
Farm to fork features what this area has to offer and gives people pride in their area, a new experience and knowledge of what area has to offer
Also helps with access to local foods, food assistance, and info on what an area does have to offer
I bet England would do wonders with a farm to fork festival!! It’s pretty cool
People should have pride and support for their local farmers and area ❤️👏
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Farm to Fork is a really cool catchphrase, like the plot to plate we have here except that is mostly an allotment terms.
You have to be careful try saying farm to fork three times fast 🙂
F2F though is abrilliant concept, we have similiar here just smaller and not so centralised.
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It could help your community even on a small scale.
Bring pride to area over what have local – and much support for local farmers ❤️👏
You could probably do something like that around the allotments? Bring attention to allotment farming ?
And who doesn’t love a festival?
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Absolutely – Suze and l were discussing something like that earlier because of this discussion you and l are having 🙂
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👏👏 cool… I’m glad to spark thought 😊
Is wonderful way to create pride and community… as well as give people a glimpse of what they could do or have 😊👏
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Yes very much so 🙂
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