Comments on: peppers http://blog.lemongarden.co.uk/2005/08/30/peppers/ No lemons and no garden Thu, 04 Dec 2008 18:49:24 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.4 by: Jann http://blog.lemongarden.co.uk/2005/08/30/peppers/#comment-43 Fri, 02 Sep 2005 14:53:57 +0000 http://blog.lemongarden.co.uk/2005/08/30/peppers/#comment-43 And the irony is that the producers (Spain, France etc) get to keep all the best stuff for themselves while selling on all the tasteless crap to us at hugely over-inflated prices and then rubbing their hands at the triple-whammy of their enormous farming subsidies. Subsidies which British farmers spend on pink diesel, Agas and dogs called mitzy. Actually, I'm not so sure this is irony in the true sense of the word. More the Alan Morris sense. Rain on your wedding day's just bad luck or poor planning, surely? And the irony is that the producers (Spain, France etc) get to keep all the best stuff for themselves while selling on all the tasteless crap to us at hugely over-inflated prices and then rubbing their hands at the triple-whammy of their enormous farming subsidies. Subsidies which British farmers spend on pink diesel, Agas and dogs called mitzy.

Actually, I’m not so sure this is irony in the true sense of the word. More the Alan Morris sense. Rain on your wedding day’s just bad luck or poor planning, surely?

]]> by: Blue Witch http://blog.lemongarden.co.uk/2005/08/30/peppers/#comment-42 Thu, 01 Sep 2005 14:44:27 +0000 http://blog.lemongarden.co.uk/2005/08/30/peppers/#comment-42 Easy solution - boycot supermarket fruit and veg. Ah problem - the likes of Tesco have caused all the greengrocers to close... Easy solution - boycot supermarket fruit and veg.

Ah problem - the likes of Tesco have caused all the greengrocers to close…

]]> by: Richard http://blog.lemongarden.co.uk/2005/08/30/peppers/#comment-41 Wed, 31 Aug 2005 13:09:03 +0000 http://blog.lemongarden.co.uk/2005/08/30/peppers/#comment-41 Actually, my mother used to work for a company that grew salad stuff for various supermarkets. She told me that Tesco require their cucumbers to be delivered at 12 degrees celsius. But, as they are harvested in the summer, when they come off the fields they are a lot warmer than this. So the cucumbers have to be cooled. And because Tesco want them delivered as soon as possible after the harvest, they have to be cooled quickly. But if you cool them too quickly they go mushy. You can just imagine how many cucumbers are binned whenever this process goes slightly wrong. Absolutely bonkers. Actually, my mother used to work for a company that grew salad stuff for various supermarkets. She told me that Tesco require their cucumbers to be delivered at 12 degrees celsius. But, as they are harvested in the summer, when they come off the fields they are a lot warmer than this. So the cucumbers have to be cooled. And because Tesco want them delivered as soon as possible after the harvest, they have to be cooled quickly. But if you cool them too quickly they go mushy.

You can just imagine how many cucumbers are binned whenever this process goes slightly wrong. Absolutely bonkers.

]]> by: Blue Witch http://blog.lemongarden.co.uk/2005/08/30/peppers/#comment-40 Wed, 31 Aug 2005 12:02:39 +0000 http://blog.lemongarden.co.uk/2005/08/30/peppers/#comment-40 I was about to say exactly what David did! The line is now, I believe, "And the public get what Mr Tesco/Sainsbury/Asda wants" rather than, "And the public get what the public want". I was about to say exactly what David did!

The line is now, I believe, “And the public get what Mr Tesco/Sainsbury/Asda wants” rather than, “And the public get what the public want”.

]]> by: David http://blog.lemongarden.co.uk/2005/08/30/peppers/#comment-39 Wed, 31 Aug 2005 08:46:23 +0000 http://blog.lemongarden.co.uk/2005/08/30/peppers/#comment-39 This sort of thing was featured on a telly programme several weeks ago [I think it may have been called "The Truth About Supermarkets", or something like that]. Apparently the British are particularly fussy about the shape and general appearance of their fruit and veg, and are more than willing to pay over the odds for the priviledge; on the continent they're more than happy to purchase irregularly-shaped peppers <i>et al</i>, and only when they're in season. We want nice-looking things, all year round, and don't care if they're competely lacking in any kind of tastiness. Not to mention the 30% rejection-rate of food that's not up to our extreme standards [most of it goes back into farmyard food, although we were shown mounds of rotting "unsightly" potatoes]. As you say, bonkers. This sort of thing was featured on a telly programme several weeks ago [I think it may have been called “The Truth About Supermarkets”, or something like that]. Apparently the British are particularly fussy about the shape and general appearance of their fruit and veg, and are more than willing to pay over the odds for the priviledge; on the continent they’re more than happy to purchase irregularly-shaped peppers et al, and only when they’re in season. We want nice-looking things, all year round, and don’t care if they’re competely lacking in any kind of tastiness. Not to mention the 30% rejection-rate of food that’s not up to our extreme standards [most of it goes back into farmyard food, although we were shown mounds of rotting “unsightly” potatoes]. As you say, bonkers.

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