Ugly Fruit Back on the Menu

When I was a child we did not have a garden, but after reading a book that I borrowed from the library combined with the advertising of the then new Grow-Bags, I persuaded the parents that they could grow stuff in containers on a large flat roof. This was mainly vegetables and salads. Some varieties worked better than others, so these were the varieties that I wanted to continue to grow. Especially as no one else seemed prepared to do any of the work.

However, when I tried to buy some of varieties that seemed to work best, I discovered I could not buy them as they were now not available for sale in the EEC (European Economic Community) as the EU was then called. This was long before the Internet and it was nearly impossible to find out why this was happening.

This was the first time that decisions in Europe effected me directly, but there was little or no information regarding why this was happening. The problem was simply that the media were so bias against the European Community that all I could discover was that this was the EEC imposing this upon us Brits. Even then, I was not buying that line as there had to have been a perceived benefit for this. Further I could not see why eight other countries would just stop us growing some varieties of vegetables just for the hell of it.

The more I looked the more I discovered that it was predominantly the major multi national businesses that were influencing the European agenda and the media rather than reporting on Europe, were standing on the sidelines just carping. This failure to engage with Europe meant that frequently it was Big Business that was setting the agenda. In Britain the media seamed dead set on refusing to engage in Europe at best, but at worst the media seemed to want to ensure that the people were not informed about what decisions our government were making within Europe.

Therefore when European vegetable packing regulations banned misshapen vegetables, it was not so much Europe banning these, but the major retailers saying that they only wanted perfect fruit and vegetables. Now as anyone who has a garden will know plants grow as they grow and beyond showering them with chemicals, there is very little we can do to stop them being the way they are.

Varieties were developed that are more uniform in look and size, but frequently at the cost of flavour. It was this demand by the supermarkets for uniform fruit and vegetables that created the loss of the heritage seeds and varieties that had been part of not just the British garden but the European garden.

The regulations on misshapen veg has now been changed again so that we can now buy fruit and veg that are less that picture perfect. As with all regulations there were unintended consequences. Not least was that in Europe twenty five percent of the fruit and vegetables grown were being thrown out.

That has serious environmental effects, especially when we are facing a food crisis created by the combined effects of climate change and over population. But equally, to produce picture perfect veg means that farmers have to spray more pesticides and agrochemicals on our food to create as perfect conditions as possible to get the picture perfect produce.

This is where food becomes a major environmental issue. As while we have the major retailers dictating what food looks like, there will be ever increasing environmental damage via agrochemical pollution as a result.

Further, while it has been shown that Fruit and Vegetables can be grown to be uniform by using commercial varieties and chemicals, what has been ignored is flavour. Often I find that produce that is less than perfect looking has much more flavour.

The problems with Europe will not be resolved until the media starts to engage with and report on Europe properly. Many of the mistakes that the EU makes could be avoided if there was truthful and accurate reporting. Also with more Green MPs now in the European parliament, the damage that has been caused by big businesses having their way.

The effect of Europe in Britain is real, and only by engaging with our partners can we help shape the region for our benefit and the benefit of all. In the media Europe is portrayed as a dictatorship, and when our government wants to hide activities that the people would not approve of will blame Europe. When the reality is that our government (no matter what flavour is in power) has hidden behind Europe when it has been convenient.

Our ability to buy misshapen vegetables is a good start. There is a lot more that Europe can do to help the environment, but as with all journeys it starts with that first step.