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The Fresser

Teach Tu Bishvat properly

My sadness at a missed eco-opportunity

January 18, 2022 20:06
Victoria Prever Moroccan Carrot Salad
1 min read

It’s no surprise our planet is simmering.

Even educated people do not understand — or choose to ignore — the basics.

Why is it that only foodies and farmers seem to comprehend — for reasons too numerous to count — that we should be eating what’s grown close to home? No food miles nor lengthy refrigeration and no nasty preservatives needed to bring fruits and vegetables to
our plates.

The general public do not seem to get their heads around even the simplest tenets of environmental awareness. No one needs strawberries (or cherries) in January. That would be fine if we lived in Australia, but in the Northern hemisphere it could not be more wrong. How far have those pale imitations of ripe English summer fruits travelled? What has gone into them to keep them from turning to mush? The same goes other berries and other fruits gracing our supermarket shelves that are more out of season than the
Premier League in July.

I blame the big chains — thanks to them, we’re all used to being able to pluck summer stone fruits from their shelves throughout the year. Only a few fruits are a treat — certain citrus fruits seem to fall within that category. Blood oranges; satsumas and Sevilleoranges all make a winter appearance and then vanish. Admittedly even they aren’t grown on our shores, but at least they are grown in the same hemisphere - and literally thick-skinned enough to cope with the journey.