Anyone managing to source medjool date from the middle east at the moment?

[soupfiend]

I keep seeing boxes of dates which are either from south Africa or Namibia but we used to buy a brand which was from Jordan, I'm guessing it's not possible at the moment for ME countries to export? The reason I'm wondering is because the Jordanian ones were far superior.

Ethical superstore have Zaytoun brand www.ethicalsuperstore.com/products/zaytoun/zaytoun-palestinian-medjoul-dates---500g/

But how can anyone buy Palestinian dates if the population is starving?!

Try British Wholefoods Online. Their Medjool dates are from Jordan and are delicious.

Palestine is a very tiny part of the ME?

I bought Jordanian ones in one of the ME supermarkets on Kensington High St this week. Delish.

Are you talking about Zaytoun? It’s a community non profit cooperative. They help people buy olive trees, pay fair trade prices, and reinvest all profits into the community. People in Palestine also need money in order to survive!

Try any turkish/mediterranean grocers. Ours is stacked high with ONLY middle eastern dates.

No it wasn't them but that is helpful, it was a beige box with brown writing, our greengrocer used to do them but now only do a brand from california

Supplying posh dates to the UK is not on their list of priorities...

Have you got a photo of the box?

Asda has some Jordanian ones.

Thanks the reviews are a bit mixed however, i didn't see them when I was looking the other day

Most the major supermarkets seem to have a lot of Medjool dates from Israel this year. I have noticed that country of origin does vary each year on the standard offerings.

We bought the Zaytoun ones from our local Oxfam shop last Christmas

The dates linked are from Palestine and what the people there need, if they can duck bombs long enough, is food. Thats well documented . I wouldn’t buy produce from Israel now.

I've been buying Zaytoun ones for years. Also Palestinian olive oil and za'atar. It's the least we can do to help the people being butchered, starved and dispossessed on their own land. I'll be buying double this year.

www.buywholefoodsonline.co.uk/medjool-dates.html

From Jordan

I saw some Jordanian ones in Iceland of all places this week.

Dates are produced all over the ME and North Africa. Gaza doesn't really have any exports anyway, presumably PP don't think that all farming and trade over the region has ceased. Jordan are not at war with anyone.

Thats helpful, I will have a look although a quick search on their website doesnt show any Jordanian dates, 2 options for Palestinian and one of unknown heritage

This isnt a political thing, I just want dates that are better than all the South African and Nabibian and american ones I keep finding. They're just not the same for some reason.

I had a really bad experience eating a mouldy date and it has really put me off. Was I just unlucky? I used to really love them. As somebody who obviously enjoys a lot of dates has this happened to you?

I try to always buy mine from Zaytoun, I do a big order in time for Ramadan. This year I also bought a number of bottles of olive oil.

They've got loads of Medjool dates in the Christmas aisle at LIDL

They didnt have these ones this evening, only their 'extra special' which are packed in Israel, presumbly from the ME? I dont know why they say where they are packed but not where they are actually from

Have you looked at halal shops @soupfiend? Saudi is one of the biggest exporters of dates (and they’re excellent), and those are usually pretty easy to find in the UK.

I certainly wouldnt buy anything from Saudi given the choice.

However we are off today to investigate Asda again to check the Medjool village brand, Iceland as suggested and then a local Turkish shop.

The issues isn't about the volume of food available in the country. There is plenty. It's about logistics - Israel is blocking transportation of food within the country as a weapon of war.

Refusing to buy Palestinian food produce won't help a single starving person in Gaza, quite the opposite, if anything this type of support is more needed than ever.