Eat (only) British
- Thread starter Chris
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Come along to the amazing Summer Moot (21st July - 2nd August), a festival of bushcrafting and camping in a beautiful woodland PLEASE CLICK HERE for more information.
It’s fairly flexible to be honest. This week has been mostly vegetarian (unintentionally, just happened that way) with lots of tomato, bread, aubergine, pasta, some eggs, mozzarella, olives, good quality olive oil.
Often it’s pretty high protein with a lot of beef and chicken, lamb probably at least once a month. That said, I’d actually like to reduce my meat intake and balance it so that I am eating the best meat I can get (quality and ethics wise), but less of it each day.
I eat a lot of broccoli, cabbage, asparagus, cauliflower, onions, swede, parsnips, tomato, peppers in all sorts of forms.
From food eaten this week, I think the olive oil, olives, tinned tomato and mozzarella would be an issue. Could replace those with British alternatives easily enough, though I’d miss the good quality extra virgin olive oil.
I might try a week of it to start with and go from there, perhaps a summer week and then a winter week later in the year.
English Rum — The Rum Company - British Rum | Subscription | Gifts
English rums are often made using high-quality sugarcane molasses, which is fermented and then distilled to create a range of different styles, from light and fruity rums to rich and full-bodied ones. Many English rums are also aged in oak barrels to impart additional flavours and complexity.
www.therum.company
Coca leaf doesn't grow here though, but meadowsweet does, and it's roots smell and taste like germoline...long provenance for their use agin toothache
English Rum — The Rum Company - British Rum | Subscription | Gifts
English rums are often made using high-quality sugarcane molasses, which is fermented and then distilled to create a range of different styles, from light and fruity rums to rich and full-bodied ones. Many English rums are also aged in oak barrels to impart additional flavours and complexity.
Ah! English rum made with imported sugarcane molasses.
Stick with making beer, wine, and cider, unless you can export whiskey, brandy or calvados... or if you must gin.
I'd rather focus on perfecting the grain bill for baking fine bread or brewing finer ales.
Hmmmmmm!
I’m impressed with their ethos but it’s still imported sugar cane products.
From what they say, it is only rum if it’s made with sugar cane.
our rums are made totally in-house by mashing high-grade sugarcane molasses - an excess ingredient from the sugar industry, readily available in the UK.
I’m pretty certain that they don’t mean the cane is grown here.
Pity! UK urgently needs more high value, low volume, internally sourced and produced exports.
I’m impressed with their ethos but it’s still imported sugar cane products.
From what they say, it is only rum if it’s made with sugar cane.
our rums are made totally in-house by mashing high-grade sugarcane molasses - an excess ingredient from the sugar industry, readily available in the UK.
I’m pretty certain that they don’t mean the cane is grown here.
Pity! UK urgently needs more high value, low volume, internally sourced and produced exports.
I think I agree with the post above which suggests we concentrate on the things for which we have the resources and climate.
Sometimes it’s nice to keep things special and exotic, whilst doing our own things well.
Reminds me I need to sow my seedsStarting my own poppy field might raise eyebrows…
Here you go, a UK Sugar beet Rum manufacturer: https://alkemydistillery.co.uk/
That farmer who sold off his very successful crisps business is now apparently making high quality vodka from his potatoes.
That farmer who sold off his very successful crisps business is now apparently making high quality vodka from his potatoes.
Interesting thread....
As many have said, it is possible to eat only UK grown food, but it is expensive to do so, and the primary accessable stock is organic, i.e. Riverford Organics. My family and I choose to eat primarily UK and organic, we even have our ducks for eggs and occasional meat.
I work with farms for my job (across 6 counties) and own a farm myself (since the passing of my mum this January). You need to be selective with choosing food, as you can easily get caught out, as packaged in UK and grown in UK can be misleading on labeling.
The understand of agricultural practices is really important to minimise pesticide exposure in your food, i.e. oilseed rape is sprayed off to kill it, so it can be harvested.
As for the ability for UK to feed the population I attended a conference on UK farming a while ago, and a really interesting point is that the world reached it productive food growing capacity for the relative population in 1979.... GM foods have since filled in the gap. The end message was that we are on borrowed time.
As many have said, it is possible to eat only UK grown food, but it is expensive to do so, and the primary accessable stock is organic, i.e. Riverford Organics. My family and I choose to eat primarily UK and organic, we even have our ducks for eggs and occasional meat.
I work with farms for my job (across 6 counties) and own a farm myself (since the passing of my mum this January). You need to be selective with choosing food, as you can easily get caught out, as packaged in UK and grown in UK can be misleading on labeling.
The understand of agricultural practices is really important to minimise pesticide exposure in your food, i.e. oilseed rape is sprayed off to kill it, so it can be harvested.
As for the ability for UK to feed the population I attended a conference on UK farming a while ago, and a really interesting point is that the world reached it productive food growing capacity for the relative population in 1979.... GM foods have since filled in the gap. The end message was that we are on borrowed time.
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Well I was avoiding oil seed rape on medical grounds but that definitely puts it in the NoNo category.
I've always been agin' GM , largely on gut feel rather than science, but having been given the "marketting promo" day by one of ther biggest, I think a lot of their claims about filling the production gap and doom warnings are false. Not that there isn't a current/future food production risk, there is, but that GM is the answer, no.
I've always been agin' GM , largely on gut feel rather than science, but having been given the "marketting promo" day by one of ther biggest, I think a lot of their claims about filling the production gap and doom warnings are false. Not that there isn't a current/future food production risk, there is, but that GM is the answer, no.
The world population was 4.37 billion
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estimates_of_historical_world_population#1950_to_2016
Check out the population growth curve here.... OH BOY!
Estimates of historical world population - Wikipedia
I am trying to understand the aim here. Is it to eat what is grown and produced here without any imports of any kind? Or is it to eat what is grown here with a few imports of stuff you really like?
I think the former option is interesting but the latter less so personally. No that I am taking part other than as a thought experiment about what is possible. I have too many concerns to risk changing my current diet for a challenge I probably not manage anyway.
There is of course an added thing, what if you were to put a criteria in with a UK introduction date for foods. Say the potato is in as it was "discovered" in Elizabethan times I believe but the capsicum and a lot of chilli peppers you can technically grow here is out? I am sure there are other things more obvious to people here, but you get my meaning.
I think the former option is interesting but the latter less so personally. No that I am taking part other than as a thought experiment about what is possible. I have too many concerns to risk changing my current diet for a challenge I probably not manage anyway.
There is of course an added thing, what if you were to put a criteria in with a UK introduction date for foods. Say the potato is in as it was "discovered" in Elizabethan times I believe but the capsicum and a lot of chilli peppers you can technically grow here is out? I am sure there are other things more obvious to people here, but you get my meaning.
I don't think this is about 'native' food; where would you possibly draw the line? Before the Romans came? No, I think this is about food that can/could be produced in the UK and, for me, without further agricultural destruction of our soils and habitat and without huge demand on power.
The real truth is we don't pay enough for our food relative to other things; surely good food should come before the latest iPhone? Because we don't pay enough we waste far too much - estimates are as high as 20% of all food produced in the UK for UK consumption is wasted.
The real truth is we don't pay enough for our food relative to other things; surely good food should come before the latest iPhone? Because we don't pay enough we waste far too much - estimates are as high as 20% of all food produced in the UK for UK consumption is wasted.
Correct - we take food for granted, the same with water.....
Although food is not cheap, we consume vast quantities of poor grade food, and equally waste closer to half of it (stats depend on where you look!). There is a study on food consumption and waste, modeled on primary school children, which is quite damming and should ring alarm bells to us all in relation to on going health concerns....I will try and find the paper, but in summary key stages 1 and 2 decreased their food range once entering primary school, and by the end of year 5 had hard coded poor health habits that they will carry on into life.
Food waste in children increased as they progress through school years, and food range was limited to the children by year 2 (6 years of age) at school and at home, triggered by school dinners and primarily carbohydrate rich food offered.
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