Oh yes, we have no tomatoes !

Whitewavemark2

GrannyGravy13

Whitewavemark2

Extract from a foreign report

Not really accurate though is it.

There are tomatoes, cucumbers etc on sale in the U.K.

More worrying is the Avian Flu outbreak which has meant that the majority of hens are now kept indoors.

It was a joke - in reply to maw but more accurate than many would have us believe.

Why in reply to me ?
What did I say?

GrannyGravy13

Whitewavemark2

Extract from a foreign report

Not really accurate though is it.

There are tomatoes, cucumbers etc on sale in the U.K.

More worrying is the Avian Flu outbreak which has meant that the majority of hens are now kept indoors.

It could be absolutely devastating for wild birds so the EU should crack down on the supposedly banned net trapping of songbirds which still goes on. 🤬

Fleurpepper

Well even Nick Ferrari, and he is hardly a leftie... does understand and agrees with the person who does KNOW

twitter.com/almcf/status/1628830043559395329?s=46&t=kG-Ij8BV6pqEmyAE-9zGYg

It was about this- and shortages which are planned and we have known about for a long time, and which will be much more serious. Basic foodstuffs, and so many other things, mentionned before, basic foods, medicines, chemicals for water treatment, parts for industries in production chains, and so much more. It is not funny- and yes, disasters elsewhere are making this much more imminent and worse.

It is certainly not funny, at all.

Having to make plans to get key medicines for ACs and GCs and close family, is NOT funny at all. Not one bit of it! Truly.

Granmarderby10

It can’t just be me can it? I find the ordinary salad tomatoes - the relatively cheap ones anyway, are usually hard and slightly green and not very tasty in winter. They just look “nice” on a salad plate. I’ve got a bit of an issue with the taste of most cucumbers too. I generally agree that it’s much more satisfying to wait for the summer season for salads and strawberries 🍓

Try keeping them in the fruit bowl or with a banana, Granmarderby10 and not in the fridge (assuming you do, you may not).

GrannyGravy13

MawtheMerrier

Modern slavery to enable cheap food for the First World is desperately sad
Children who go to school on an empty stomach is desperately sad
Pensioners who can only afford to eat once a day is desperately sad
A temporary tomato shortage in February is not.

Well said Maw

Totally agree. And my post was not about tomatoes or cucumbers.

^Sometimes I wonder if some of the joy has been taken out of food simply because our expectations are far too high now. That first strawberry, either from the garden or from the farm up the road is far more delicious than strawberries imported in January. A sun ripened tomato, far tastier than a tomato grown in Spain or Morocco in plastic greenhouses - the plastic later discarded in mountains which is destroying the planet.
African workers treated like slaves in Spain so that we can eat salad in winter?^

Well said Callistemon21!

You can make delicious salads with cauliflower and parsnips for instance. I wish our UK farmers filled their unheated polytunnels in the winter with rocket and other salad greens that grow well here.

I think that it is a serious threat to the environment to insist on having anything all the year round, regardless of the plastic, heat, distanced travelled and badly paid workers that it involves.

Whitewavemark2 love that “foreign report” 🤣

It can’t just be me can it? I find the ordinary salad tomatoes - the relatively cheap ones anyway, are usually hard and slightly green and not very tasty in winter. They just look “nice” on a salad plate. I’ve got a bit of an issue with the taste of most cucumbers too. I generally agree that it’s much more satisfying to wait for the summer season for salads and strawberries 🍓

I think the point has been made.

Continue with it and it will look like bullying - which of course never happens on GN.

maddyone

Is it really desperately sad that some people (only some) can’t find tomatoes to buy in February?
I will make the point that I’ve already made two or three times on this thread, echoed by Maw that there is much that is desperately sad in this world, but a temporary shortage of tomatoes in Britain isn’t one of them.

The war in Ukraine is desperately sad
The earthquake in Turkey and Syria is desperately sad
The shooting of a policeman in Northern Ireland is desperately sad

Perhaps we should stop making a mountain out of a molehill and perhaps even stop being so focused on our own immediate needs wants.

Indeed.

MawtheMerrier

Modern slavery to enable cheap food for the First World is desperately sad
Children who go to school on an empty stomach is desperately sad
Pensioners who can only afford to eat once a day is desperately sad
A temporary tomato shortage in February is not.

Says it all, really.

GrannyGravy13

Whitewavemark2

Extract from a foreign report

Not really accurate though is it.

There are tomatoes, cucumbers etc on sale in the U.K.

More worrying is the Avian Flu outbreak which has meant that the majority of hens are now kept indoors.

It was a joke - in reply to maw but more accurate than many would have us believe.

Whitewavemark2

Extract from a foreign report

Not really accurate though is it.

There are tomatoes, cucumbers etc on sale in the U.K.

More worrying is the Avian Flu outbreak which has meant that the majority of hens are now kept indoors.

MawtheMerrier

Modern slavery to enable cheap food for the First World is desperately sad
Children who go to school on an empty stomach is desperately sad
Pensioners who can only afford to eat once a day is desperately sad
A temporary tomato shortage in February is not.

Well said Maw

Extract from a foreign report

Keep the tomato/turnip jokes coming!

I agree, a lot of things are desperately sad in comparison.
On its own, I actually find the one upmanship thing about tomatoes quite amusing.
Anyway, I'm sorted with my delivery today. There is NO shortage here.

maddyone

Is it really desperately sad that some people (only some) can’t find tomatoes to buy in February?
I will make the point that I’ve already made two or three times on this thread, echoed by Maw that there is much that is desperately sad in this world, but a temporary shortage of tomatoes in Britain isn’t one of them.

The war in Ukraine is desperately sad
The earthquake in Turkey and Syria is desperately sad
The shooting of a policeman in Northern Ireland is desperately sad

Perhaps we should stop making a mountain out of a molehill and perhaps even stop being so focused on our own immediate needs wants.

Well said maddyone and Maw

Is it really desperately sad that some people (only some) can’t find tomatoes to buy in February?
I will make the point that I’ve already made two or three times on this thread, echoed by Maw that there is much that is desperately sad in this world, but a temporary shortage of tomatoes in Britain isn’t one of them.

The war in Ukraine is desperately sad
The earthquake in Turkey and Syria is desperately sad
The shooting of a policeman in Northern Ireland is desperately sad

Perhaps we should stop making a mountain out of a molehill and perhaps even stop being so focused on our own immediate needs wants.

Roasted tomatoes was part of last night's recipe but I didn't dare use DH's precious pack of tomatoes so I used a tin 😁
It was fine.

I really do not need salad veg in mid February
Well I sort of do, because I often make stuffed tomatoes as a wintery meal. They're great with rice on a chilly evening and DGC eat them too.

Fleurpepper

Totally agree. In supermarkets I have often asked to speak to the manager in charge of fruit and veg, and asked why there were no British apples on sale, in season. British apples are fabulous and very varied- but orchards are going to pot, not maintained or pruned, and fruit left to rot. Massively wrong.
And yes, we should eat in season and local whenever possible.

But this is not what we are talking about. We are talking about the stuff we do not, or cannot, produce ourselves, which are so much more important than tomatoes and cucumbers.

2004:
"The English apple is very much part of England and being English," said James Gray, a Tory agriculture spokesman. "I happen to like the taste of English apples more than the taste of French ones."
Mr Gray warned that the pressure on fruit growers would increase in the coming year with the implementation of the new Brussels subsidy scheme. While strawberry and vegetable growers will qualify for EU cash, orchard owners will not, unless they allow animals to graze around the trees. He said many farmers would decide to "tear down their orchards" to claim subsidies as arable farmers.

While smaller orchards will qualify for British cash under the countryside stewardship scheme, the Government confirmed that they would not get EU subsidies.

There are small signs of encouragement with schemes for community orchards, farmers being encouraged to replant more fruit and nut trees.

There's a long way to go and more government help is needed.

Modern slavery to enable cheap food for the First World is desperately sad
Children who go to school on an empty stomach is desperately sad
Pensioners who can only afford to eat once a day is desperately sad
A temporary tomato shortage in February is not.

Fleurpepper

Urmstongran

That shoehorn you got for Christmas is coming in very handy Fleurpepper.

Urmstongran, I have those very long ones from IKEA, they are so useful at our age. But honestly? Do you think I take joy in this? I have my ACs and GCs in the uk, and so many family and friends, and I find it desperately sad.

But the situation is serious. The UK has not yet dared implement checks in Dover, etc, for imports, which were clearly part of the 'getting back control' campaign. Because they know it would cause futher chaos with other foodstuffs, especially meat, and chemicals, medicines, and so much more.

What is desperately sad?

That they can't buy out of season tomatoes in February?

Sometimes I wonder if some of the joy has been taken out of food simply because our expectations are far too high now. That first strawberry, either from the garden or from the farm up the road is far more delicious than strawberries imported in January. A sun ripened tomato, far tastier than a tomato grown in Spain or Morocco in plastic greenhouses - the plastic later discarded in mountains which is destroying the planet.
African workers treated like slaves in Spain so that we can eat salad in winter?

How did we become so entitled and greedy?

Totally agree. In supermarkets I have often asked to speak to the manager in charge of fruit and veg, and asked why there were no British apples on sale, in season. British apples are fabulous and very varied- but orchards are going to pot, not maintained or pruned, and fruit left to rot. Massively wrong.
And yes, we should eat in season and local whenever possible.

But this is not what we are talking about. We are talking about the stuff we do not, or cannot, produce ourselves, which are so much more important than tomatoes and cucumbers.