Travels In Britain Part: 2.

I’m home, and it feels great. I’ve never been one of those people who would go on a relaxing holiday and our whistle stop tour of the UK, although great fun, was far from relaxing. We were very lucky with the weather missing all the floods and enjoying the sun for virtually the whole two weeks.

Although it’s great to be back, I can’t help being envious of the popularity of Organics within the UK. Almost every town I went to had a small shop or deli selling great local organic food and drink. There is such a wealth of locally produced organic foods both fresh and pre-packed to choose from in Britain and such an awareness of the organic way that there is plenty of business to keep these shops going. Brighton had by far the best for choice, with several organic café’s and even a supermarket sized health store, there is nothing that you can’t get an organic version of.

The other thing that I noticed was, that even since my last grand tour of the country two years ago, the amount of renewable energy being generated has grown at a terrific rate. There seem to be Turbines everywhere and they appear in the most remote spots. Out to sea and in the mountains the windmills seem graceful and beautiful. There is a certain amount of opposition towards the installation of them amongst the British people, particularly those living in the countryside. I suppose it must be hard for people living in the most unspoiled part of the UK , who never before would have had the threat of a power station being built near them, to accept these huge turbines. At the same time it is great to see Britain taking a step towards sustainable electricity generation.

Travels In Britain Part: 1. Hay-On-Wye

I am writing this sitting outside the Cinema Bookshop in Hay and Wye, ‘Town of Books’, Wales. Despite the early start it feels great to be away. For anyone who hasn’t visited this truly eccentric town on the border of England and Wales, I would encourage you to do so. Host to the annual Hay Literary Festival, there are around 32 bookshops stocking publications on every subject you can imagine.

During my last visit here I found a great little guide to organic wine., and today I have picked up a fantastic book ‘An Agricultural Testament’ by Sir Albert Howard. It was first published in 1940 and is probably the earliest publication relating to organic agriculture I have come across. I’ve just finished the introduction, It paints an idyllic picture of the way that Mother Nature has created the perfect agricultural environment. Where plants and creatures of all species can live together, each contributing to the system, creating no waste, giving back what they have taken as they die and become one with the soil. It then takes us through ancient farming methods, describing in detail the tiered fields of the Inca’s, the fall of the Roman small holding system and the continuing agricultural practices of the Orient. I can’t wait to read the rest.

I have also managed to pick up one or two organic foods for tasting including a local Welsh jam. I will review anything I pick up on this trip over the next few months.

Supermarkets, Prince Charles and Food Miles

It seems Prince Charles’s carrots aren’t pretty enough for the supermarket. British supermarket chain Sainsbury have stopped stocking organic produce from his farm. Another producer to fall victim to the supermarket chains cull is Patrick Holden, the head of the soil association. Read more here. It seems that the major problem with the produce was one caused by food miles.

I think it is fantastic that organic produce is readily available in our supermarkets and on an island the size of Ireland any food grown here can be considered local, this means that food miles within our country are kept to a minimum. And let's not forget that Ireland had a tradition of buying locally even before it became trendy.

Unfortunately this isn't the case in the UK. A couple of years ago I visited an organic farm shop near Perth in Scotland. As I arrived the farmer (and shopkeeper) was coming in from the fields with a basket of freshly picked parsnips. I was delighted to be able to buy such fresh organic produce. We talked a bit about our joint love of everything organic. I was in the midst of setting up my hamper company at the time and soon our conversation turned to my frustration at not being able to source Irish organic gourmet foods. I told her that I felt that stocking local products would be very important to my customers. The farmer was envious of the Irish loyalty to local produce. She hoped that people in Scotland would soon become more aware that buying local and organic was important not only for environmental and health reasons, but also for the economy. Two years on I hope her dream is coming true. Food miles seem to be talked about everywhere now. They were even the topic for a row between Ken and Deirdrie on Coronation Street recently. Thanks to television programmes like 'River Cottage' and 'The F Word' the popularity of local food seems to be growing.

So what was the problem with Charlies local carrots? Well apparently he shared the same issues as Patrick Holdon who explained his story on BBC Radio Five Live. Apparently Mr. Holdon's carrots were being sent by truck from his farm in Wales to a packing plant in Peterborough. Once wrapped, they were then delivered back to eight Sainsbury's stores local to his farm via a depot in Bristol. All the handling, washing, polishing and packing meant that the produce was arriving at the store battered and, according to Sainsbury's, sub standard.

I am sure this rejection by a major supermarket is a blow to the farms in question, but think about which carrot you would prefer to eat. One that since it had been picked had travelled the length and breadth of the country over a period of a few days, or one that has been plucked from the ground by a local organic farmer in the last 24 hours?