We popped to the supermarket on Friday night and I was rather offended by a huge display of fresh (I use this word loosely) strawberries about to go out of date and already looking well past their best. They were reduced to 39p per punnet and people were glancing at them, seeing the state they were in and - quite rightly - walking on by.
I'm pleased that people aren't buying strawberries (from Morocco) in March. If there isn't a market for such things then perhaps supermarkets will stop supplying them. I hope that will be the case anyway.
I stood and thought about what would happen to those strawberries, at midnight, when they were pulled off the shelves. Their fate was almost certainly a bin, and a freegan (if they exist in our small town) probably wouldn't have gone for them in the state they'd be by then either.
I felt bad. I wasn't responsible but I felt bad about it anyway. Wasting food is such an awful thing and there's really no good reason for it.
So I did something I never usually do - I bought strawberries in March. I filled my basket with some of those sad, reduced-price strawberries and brought them home to make jam, hoping that the supermarket wouldn't count my purchase as a sign that I want to buy out of season produce regularly.
I used a basic strawberry jam recipe from this book - which I really love, it explains things in such a simple way and has helped me get over my preserving-related fears!
The jam is amazingly delicious, despite the questionable strawberries.
5 comments:
Haha, I like to make statements like that. Its funny because I buy (fairtrade) bananas all year around but strawberries are strictly for summer.
Let's face it there something wrong about Strawberries in winter they dont taste as nice! Home grown ones are the sweetest eaten within minutes of picking too.
I did something similar with Blackberries, when they were in season in autumn I can pick TONS for free on the moors. The supermarket ones were perfect shaped in february lol but I made ones that were going out of date into Blackberry Jam.
Hi Mel
I think bananas are a different issue because they're *never* in season here in the UK. If you make the choice to buy them then you have no choices for supporting local or reducing food miles, but as you say, at least you can buy fair trade.
I'm slightly disappointed that the moroccan strawberries tasted so good - I would have loved to be able to write here that they were terrible because I absolutely believe strawberries in winter is wrong.
Where would we be without bananas? They are a staple of Small's diet.
Buying reduced price strawberries shouldn't send positive messages - you may have cut their losses but I doubt they made a profit.
I too have preservation fear - is it really doable at home? Wish I had someone local who could show me.
Preserving is really doable at home. You don't have to make massive quantities of things either, if that puts you off. I've found methods that mean I don't have to use a thermometer or boil jars. My big preserving pan is proving worth the cost though.
Well done on your bargain purchase, you'd be lucky to get them that price in the summer!
Preserving is not so difficult, start with fruit that has lots of pectin like blackcurrants or plums. Strawberries are probably the most difficult, but still worth a go. I've never used a sugar thermometer and although I have a preserving pan, I use the pot (without the lid) of my stainless steel pressure cooker, perfect!
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