Have you heard of ‘The Hungry Gap’? Well I hadn’t until my local organic supplier Tolhurst Organics told me they had very few vegetables either growing or in storage. I went through the veggie section in my local Waitrose and found only a handful of produce from the UK- asparagus, spring greens, carrots and Jersey royal potatoes. Most of the organic veg came from Spain (but see the last quoted paragraph below). I Googled this phenomenon to find out more. Below is copy from https://wickedleeks.riverford.co.uk/, but you can also try https://sustainablefoodtrust.org/ and https://www.farmdrop.com/ for more info.
The Hungry Gap is the hardest time of year for UK farmers: a few weeks, usually in April, May and early June, after the winter crops have ended but before the new season’s plantings are ready to harvest.
It all comes down to the UK’s latitude. We sit right at the geographical limit for many spring crops, which would not survive our cold winter temperatures if grown any earlier. At the same time, as the days warm up into spring, many hardy winter crops like sprouts, kales, and caulis ‘bolt’ (abandon leaf growth to start producing flowers and seeds). The result is unproductive fields and fewer British-grown crops…….
If it’s such a dire time, why hasn’t everyone heard more about the Hungry Gap before – or noticed its impact on their plates? …..
The name ‘the Hungry Gap’ harks back to a time when an empty field really meant going hungry. Traditionally, the gap had to be bridged with a spartan diet of cabbage, old potatoes, and fruits preserved during kinder months. These days, however, very few people eat a local, seasonal diet; the supermarkets can easily top up their shelves with even more imported produce, or crops grown in the UK under heated glass, and no one need notice the difference.
Importing isn’t a perfect solution, but it’s far less damaging than growing the same crops in the UK using artificial heat. Take the example of tomatoes. The huge amounts of heat used in glass hothouses is produced by burning gas or oil. For every kilo of tomatoes this way, 2-3 kilos of CO2 are released into the atmosphere. Trucking tomatoes over from Spain uses just a tenth of the carbon compared with growing them in the UK using heat. It’s not perfect, but it’s the least damaging option.”
Taken from Ellen Warrell https://wickedleeks.riverford.co.uk/features/local-sourcing-news-farm/what-hungry-gap
This month (June) will try to choose a menu that reflects The Hungry Gap….but we have ways of making it appetising!!