In the July edition of Olive magazine, there is an excellent article about British fruit, written by the award winning journalist, Joanna Blythman, author of “Bad Food Britain: How a nation ruined its appetite”. In the space of two A4 pages Joanna asks what has happened to Britain’s orchards, and why do the British eat so much imported fruit ? I would like to photocopy this article and send it to every school in Great Britain, so that the Headmaster or Headmistress could read it in morning Assembly. How else are we going to open the eyes of the next generation to the devastating reality caused by this and previous generations?
The staggering fact is that in Britain today, only 10% of the fruit consumed is actually grown here. The long and prestigious fruit cultivation heritage of Great Britain, brought here during the Roman invasion, has all but disappeared. The plums of Evesham, the apples of Somerset, the cherries of Kent; they are all part of our collective vision of a bucolic, idyllic, British countryside. Yet nearly 90% of Britain’s orchards have disappeared since the 1950’s largely because of entry into the EU, which meant protection for the UK fruit market was withdrawn. As supermarkets increasingly began to stock fruit from every corner of the globe, all year round, the demise of the small British orchard fruit grower was further compounded. Overseas multinational fruit producers began to monopolise the mass market. The number of immigrants coming to pick fruit at harvest time dwindled, because of stricter controls. The death knell sounded for British fruit cultivation.
Despite all the economic challenges, however, the climate is still the main sticking point. There are simply not enough warm, daylight hours in this wet and windy isle for the UK to meet consumer demands for all year round berries, cherries and satsumas. The change must thereofore come, as in most food issues, from the consumer. We need to want to buy British fruit, and not expect unseasonal pretenders to be there on the shelf. No strawberry pavlovas after Christmas roast lunch.
According to Joanna Blythman, there is a movement rallying to the cause of British fruit. More and more people are keen to buy old heritage varieties of apples and pears, which in turn has led to an increase in orchard growers to respond to demand. The Government also has taken steps to put the bio-diversity and wildlife habitat creation that orchards afford back on the agenda. I have read in the National Trust magazine ( see my earlier Blog entry) that there will be Apple Days at designated NT properties this Autumn, where there will be tours and tastings around old orchards.
The many initiatives, both local and national, described in the article are re-assuring. The EU has recently given regional protection to the rhubarb grown in the Wakefield-Leeds-Morley triangle. Henrietta Green, of Foodlovers Britain, has inaugurated Saturday 17th July 2010 as National Cherry Day, to champion the cause of UK grown cherries.
Well done to Olive magazine for this call to arms. By raising consumer awareness of this important issue, we may be able to rescue the demise of British fruit growing, so that traditional fruit varieties may be on the school menu, and not just names in the history books.
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