Shortage of Broccoli!

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  • snickerscharlie
    snickerscharlie Posts: 8,578 Member
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    BarbaraHelen2013 wrote: »
    Nope, probably not, if you’re talking about the summer produce. But it depends on what fresh vegetables you’re looking for. Long before we imported so much of our produce people did eat vegetables. Cabbages, leeks, marrow/courgette, carrots, sprouts, swede, turnip, parsnips (yuk), onions...and don’t forget long term storage has moved on since those days. Ethane filled storage facilities can keep fruit and vegetables in virtually fresh picked state until demand calls for shipment. Yes, the clock starts at that point, but that’s no different than loading a cabbage onto a truck straight from the field.

    Whilst I totally agree with those above who don’t like frozen broccoli or cauliflower due to the mushy texture there are vegetables that survive the freezing process better than others. Most people will have a bag of frozen peas in their freezers as they sit and read this, I’m sure! I know I have broad beans, fine green beans, peas and spinach in the freezer at all times.

    It’s also true that we import a lot of things from outside the EU anyway. Those trade agreements should not be disrupted.

    Don’t get me wrong, I’m definitely a ‘remainer’ but I honestly doubt the entirety of the UK is going to slump into a malnutrition induced haze due to Brexit! I could, however, be wrong and it will be the end of the world! 😱😉

    Yes, frozen peas are indeed a staple that I have on hand at all times. I also grow them in the spring. (I'm near Boston.) Haven't had much luck with fall crops, but planted a few seeds yesterday when I was planting spinach, for which I have higher hopes.

    I also have spinach in the freezer.

    Cabbage and carrots do keep quite well - I stock up when they are on sale for St. Patrick's Day in March and have enough for a few months.

    Just curious - why do these go on sale at that time? Is there a traditional St. Patrick's Day dish that these are used in or something?
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    edited August 2019
    Likely corned beef and cabbage, typically made with carrots and potatoes too.

    In Chicago, it's common for there to be a dispensation from no meat Fridays in Lent if St Patrick's Day falls on Friday, in order to allow the corned beef and cabbage dish. I believe that's common elsewhere too, so it's a thing: https://abc7chicago.com/religion/catholics-in-chicago-get-dispensation-to-eat-corned-beef-friday-for-st-patricks-day/1805450/
  • snickerscharlie
    snickerscharlie Posts: 8,578 Member
    lemurcat2 wrote: »
    Likely corned beef and cabbage, typically made with carrots and potatoes too.

    In Chicago, it's common for there to be a dispensation from no meat Fridays in Lent if St Patrick's Day falls on Friday, in order to allow the corned beef and cabbage dish. I believe that's common elsewhere too, so it's a thing: https://abc7chicago.com/religion/catholics-in-chicago-get-dispensation-to-eat-corned-beef-friday-for-st-patricks-day/1805450/

    Thanks!
  • aokoye
    aokoye Posts: 3,495 Member
    Fuzzipeg wrote: »
    Has anyone seen a pomegranate? I've been busy and only checked out two stores, 40 grams really help with breakfast. I know they are imported, I should consider air miles, they can't be caught up in the promised mayhem, can they.

    I don't typically see a lot of them until they're in season. Where I live (the northern hemisphere), that starts around September. I've seen a few in stores this summer, but they're significantly more expensive.
  • LyndaBSS
    LyndaBSS Posts: 6,964 Member
    edited August 2019
    Went to the farmers market yesterday. Got some beautiful brocolli, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, potatoes, yams, romaine lettuce. I was in heaven.

    Wondered if you have farmers markets near you in the UK.
  • snickerscharlie
    snickerscharlie Posts: 8,578 Member
    lesdarts180 wrote: »
    LyndaBSS wrote: »
    Went to the farmers market yesterday. Got some beautiful brocolli, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, potatoes, yams, romaine lettuce. I was in heaven.

    Wondered if you have farmers markets near you in the UK.

    Yes, we have farmers markets - typically once a week, in my town its twice a month but the veg stall has stopped coming. Our greengrocer is a "farm shop" and stocks largely local grown produce and I do shop there. Other farm shops and farmers markets are further away and would involve driving there. I try to shop local -ie on my bike. I'm retired so I can pop down to town on my bike every day and pick up small quantities of fresh stuff, reducing waste, fuel consumption etc etc.
    I use my local co op supermarket because they focus on British produce as far as possible

    How come shopping is such an ethical minefield?

    It is? How so?

  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    NovusDies wrote: »
    lesdarts180 wrote: »

    How come shopping is such an ethical minefield?


    You mean personal ethics. I do my best to support local growers but I consider it a preference not a matter of ethics.

    Same here.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,881 Member
    For those interested in a lovely account of eating locally, I highly recommend Barbara Kingsolver's "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life" which is available in my library system so perhaps yours as well.

    "When Barbara Kingsolver and her family moved from suburban Arizona to rural Appalachia, they took on a new challenge: to spend a year on a locally-produced diet, paying close attention to the provenance of all they consume. Concerned about the environmental, social, and physical costs of American food culture, they hoped to recover what Barbara considers our nation's lost appreciation for farms and the natural processes of food production.

    Since 2007, their scheme has evolved enormously. In this new edition, featuring an afterword composed by the entire Kingsolver family, Barbara's husband, Steven, discusses how the project grew into a farm-to-table restaurant and community development project training young farmers in their area to move into sustainable food production. Camille writes about her decision to move back to a rural area after college, and how she and her husband incorporate their food values in their lives as they begin their new family. Lily, Barbara's youngest daughter, writes about how growing up on a farm, in touch with natural processes and food chains, has shaped her life as a future environmental scientist. And Barbara writes about their sheep, and how they grew into her second vocation as a fiber artist, and reports on the enormous response they've received from other home-growers and local-food devotees.

    With Americans' ever-growing concern over an agricultural establishment that negatively affects our health and environment, the Kingsolver family's experiences and observations remain just as relevant today as they were ten years ago. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle is a modern classic that will endure for years to come."
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,881 Member
    lemurcat2 wrote: »
    On the other hand, I like coffee.

    Re: "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle"? It's been a while since I read the book, but IIRC, each family member was allowed a pass on one item, and for several of them it was coffee.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    edited August 2019
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    lemurcat2 wrote: »
    On the other hand, I like coffee.

    Re: "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle"? It's been a while since I read the book, but IIRC, each family member was allowed a pass on one item, and for several of them it was coffee.

    I was kind of joking. I've read and enjoyed some of Kingsolver's fiction, but not that book, and I didn't actually know what it was about until now. I might well read it.

    But I did read this book when it came out: https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-307-34732-9

    Plenty: One Man, One Woman, and a Raucous Year of Eating Locally

    It's about a couple in British Columbia who decide to eat only locally for a year.

    I was kind of obsessed with the idea (because I am obsessive) for a while, and considered becoming a locavore (with exceptions for occasional restaurant meals, since it's part of my social life), but then when I thought it through I realized that it would be unworkable and, besides, I love coffee and avocados and oranges and fresh veg in January, etc.

    Of course, I don't live on a farm, but in the middle of Chicago, and I have no idea how to can anything, although it's something I want to someday learn. ;-)

    Wouldn't be any rational or ethical reason for me to eat all local, though (in this climate it would mean more meat, for example), and it would be less healthy and pointlessly difficult. I think my draw to do it completely was more about it seeming like a challenge and that I do have an unhealthy if something is good, going completely overboard in an extreme way must be better mindset at times.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,881 Member
    lemurcat2 wrote: »
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    lemurcat2 wrote: »
    On the other hand, I like coffee.

    Re: "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle"? It's been a while since I read the book, but IIRC, each family member was allowed a pass on one item, and for several of them it was coffee.

    I was kind of joking. I've read and enjoyed some of Kingsolver's fiction, but not that book, and I didn't actually know what it was about until now. I might well read it.

    But I did read this book when it came out: https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-307-34732-9

    Plenty: One Man, One Woman, and a Raucous Year of Eating Locally

    It's about a couple in British Columbia who decide to eat only locally for a year.

    I was kind of obsessed with the idea (because I am obsessive) for a while, and considered becoming a locavore (with exceptions for occasional restaurant meals, since it's part of my social life), but then when I thought it through I realized that it would be unworkable and, besides, I love coffee and avocados and oranges and fresh veg in January, etc.

    Of course, I don't live on a farm, but in the middle of Chicago, and I have no idea how to can anything, although it's something I want to someday learn. ;-)

    Wouldn't be any rational or ethical reason for me to eat all local, though (in this climate it would mean more meat, for example), and it would be less healthy and pointlessly difficult. I think my draw to do it completely was more about it seeming like a challenge and that I do have an unhealthy if something is good, going completely overboard in an extreme way must be better mindset at times.

    I heard about the BC couple's book and it's on my back-burner to-read list.

    It would sure be easier to be a locavore in Appalachian farm country than BC.

    My aunt is in North Carolina and her harvest starts way earlier than mine do outside Boston.

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