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Original poster

Shortage of tomatoes in the middle of February

208 replies

Stillcountingbeans · 21/02/2023 18:05

Oh how my great-grandmother would have laughed!

www.theguardian.com/business/2023/feb/21/asda-morrisons-ration-tomatoes-peppers-fruit-shortages

OP posts:
Thread gallery
13
Uptownswirl · 21/02/2023 18:10

We need to go back to farming and eating seasonally. I think the era of eating whatever you want whenever you want it is over.

frozendaisy · 21/02/2023 18:16

We now live in a global trade world.

And seasonal won't help much with climate change affecting crops seasonally globally with each passing year. Laughing grandmas or no laughing grandmas.

So to help each other out perhaps global trade is a good thing so that if tomatoes fail this summer in UK Italy might be able to help out.

Original poster
Stillcountingbeans · 21/02/2023 18:16

It looks increasingly like we don't have any choice about eating more seasonally, whether we want to or not.

OP posts:
frozendaisy · 21/02/2023 18:17

Uptownswirl · 21/02/2023 18:10

We need to go back to farming and eating seasonally. I think the era of eating whatever you want whenever you want it is over.

Are you including tea and coffee in this? Because UK don't produce jack of these crops.

frozendaisy · 21/02/2023 18:18

Stillcountingbeans · 21/02/2023 18:16

It looks increasingly like we don't have any choice about eating more seasonally, whether we want to or not.

Depends how much you can pay for things.

Setyoufree · 21/02/2023 18:20

Yeah, I'd love a diet of just turnips all winter (being a bit facetious but you get my point)

Needapadlockonmyfridge · 21/02/2023 18:21

frozendaisy · 21/02/2023 18:17

Are you including tea and coffee in this? Because UK don't produce jack of these crops.

Show quote history

What about Yorkshire Tea 😆

Seriously though, I agree, we need to get out of the "available all year round" attitude.

Original poster
Stillcountingbeans · 21/02/2023 18:26

Funnily enough I saw on the TV the other day that they are now growing tea plants in Cornwall.

I think 'winter greens' used to be a big thing, it wasn't just turnips. As well as winter cabbage, you can eat the leaves sprouting out of the top of turnips, beetroot, etc.

In years to come you could also grow micro-leaves (lettuce and spinach etc. that you just eat really young), or sprout seeds.

OP posts:
Turmerictolly · 21/02/2023 18:44

It's on the news now so expecting panic buying from tomorrow!

MeinKraft · 21/02/2023 18:46

It's really not the end of the world is it? Not like tomatoes are an important staple of our diets like potatoes. Plus you can buy them tinned so they're still available, just in a different form.

TheMousePipes · 21/02/2023 18:47

Meh. Tomatoes are shite in February anyway, I barely buy them.

Original poster
Stillcountingbeans · 21/02/2023 18:49

Yes, there is a reason tomatoes bought in February are always a bit 'meh'.

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RedToothBrush · 21/02/2023 18:53

frozendaisy · 21/02/2023 18:16

We now live in a global trade world.

And seasonal won't help much with climate change affecting crops seasonally globally with each passing year. Laughing grandmas or no laughing grandmas.

So to help each other out perhaps global trade is a good thing so that if tomatoes fail this summer in UK Italy might be able to help out.

How did people preserve food for winter?

Y'know it might not stop climate change but actually how much do you think shipping tomatoes from Spain contributes to it?

Fresh tomatoes in Feb is a luxury. We should start realising it.

FatSealSmugSoup · 21/02/2023 19:00

Crates of dried tea have been brought to docks for 100s of years.

I draw the fucking line at coffee rationing though and have been training the cat to shit out the beans.

Original poster
Stillcountingbeans · 21/02/2023 19:01

It wasn't food in winter that was the issue - there were/are various storage and preserving methods. It was early-to-mid spring that was the hungry time, with winter stocks all consumed and the next season's food nowhere near ready to harvest.

Prior to the importing of potatoes, in the medieval period, it was flour and dried peas - the "pease pudding" of the nursery rhyme - with any bits of greenery or herbs that could be added.

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flowerycurtain · 21/02/2023 19:10

I'm reading a fascinating book on the history of food.

I'm an 80's child and my diet was so different from my children.

It was also incredibly different from that of my granny born in 1915.

I'm a farmer and I would LOVE to be able to go back in time and see what the people farming our land were eating in Feb in 1850, 1650 and 1450.

The hunger gap would have been huge and the boring monotony of pease pudding, cheese, bacon and potatoes would have been so alien to our tastes.

AdventFridgeOfShame · 21/02/2023 19:19

My grandmother used to bottle tomatoes, basically make your own tinned tomatoes.

The Englishman's Food is a good book about the history of Food and diet.

Original poster
Stillcountingbeans · 21/02/2023 19:19

Did you see the tv programmes with Ruth Goodman - Victorian Farm, Tudor Farm, etc. She is a great presenter.

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Original poster
Stillcountingbeans · 21/02/2023 19:20

That was @flowerycurtain

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flowerycurtain · 21/02/2023 19:22

@Stillcountingbeans yes I loved those programs!! There's also a great book by a Scottish Borders lady who tried to live like an 18th century teacher in her stone cottage. She didn't last as long as she'd hoped!

Original poster
Stillcountingbeans · 21/02/2023 19:23

AdventFridgeOfShame · 21/02/2023 19:19

My grandmother used to bottle tomatoes, basically make your own tinned tomatoes.

The Englishman's Food is a good book about the history of Food and diet.

Added the book to my wishlist. Thanks for the link

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currantbee · 21/02/2023 19:27

It wasn't until people started moaning on Facebook that I realized I don't really buy out of season fruit and veg. It's not a conscious decision, I expect it's seeped in from my upbringing but I'd never even think of buying strawberries in February or fresh tomatoes in March.

Original poster
Stillcountingbeans · 21/02/2023 19:27

Just seen another thread here

www.mumsnet.com/talk/preppers/4747522-oh-dear-expect-a-run-on-great-british-carrots

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Reddahlias · 21/02/2023 19:30

Do most of you actually buy tomatoes in winter when they're flown in from Spain (and are tasteless imo)??

Personally I only ever buy tomatoes and strawberries etc when they're grown locally in the uK and taste soo delicious (and are much cheaper).

Reddahlias · 21/02/2023 19:31

I'd never even think of buying strawberries in February or fresh tomatoes in March.

Me neither. I buy kale, carrots and butternut squash instead.