living and learning

Wednesday 31 March 2010

My food and I

'Eat well' is my mum's mantra, and as a result I can skimp on practically anything but food. I like my food fresh and simple; tins and frozen fare are inevitable for a busy student, but whenever I've got the energy and budget I pop down to the local shop for greens and cuts.

Now I've given little thought about where it all comes from until today. I was looking at punnets of red and green grapes (you can tell how fresh they are by their stalks), when a really good one caught my eye: the best before date was same as the others, but obviously these were fresher. Why are most grape stalks brown and withered anyway? Where I come from, green is the standard. A little box stamped on the film held a clue: 'Produced in Chile / S. Africa'.

That's a long way to travel for a bunch of grapes! Naturally I had to find out where the rest came from...


View in a larger map
O fodder, a long, long way you've come...

In case you get the wrong impression, this is not at all what my weekly shop looks like!! It's fancier than normal because a friend is staying over:)

I try to buy whole, in-season, and locally-sourced food whenever possible, but it's not that easy. For one thing, good food is usually more expensive, for another, some things simply aren't grown on this island.

It's a fascinating topic, and we'll be starting the 217 'food' block right after Easter, so keep your eyes peeled! Meanwhile why not make a map of where your food comes from? Send it to and it may even get featured on the blog!

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