The fresh produce trade has slammed chef Gordon Ramsay’s call for a ban on counter-season produce sold in UK restaurants as “preposterous”.
Reacting to the famously foul-mouthed chef’s suggestion in an interview with the BBC last week that British restaurants should serve only ‘in-season’ UK-grown produce and be fined if they did otherwise, Nigel Jenney, ceo of the Fresh Produce Consortium (FPC) said: “This preposterous proposition is unlikely to attract the support of the nation’s chefs and caterers, who seemingly could find themselves criminalised for adding non-UK produce to their menus, which if taken to the extreme would significantly restrict the range of fruit and vegetables on offer.”
The consortium said the knock-on financial effect on importers, wholesalers, retailers and foodservice operators would be severe.
“The effect of this ill-thought-out proposal would be catastrophic to the fresh produce industry globally, and consumers alike, and it is simply ironic to believe that the general public would accept such a significant restriction to their freedom of choice,” said Jenney.
But alarmingly, the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) appears to have backed Ramsay’s plan. An NFU spokesman said: “While we would not support the idea of more legislation in food and farming, we wholeheartedly welcome Gordon Ramsay’s desire to increase the consumption of in-season food. The NFU is a longstanding supporter of consumer education, through helping consumers to understand food seasonality, as well as menu transparency, where the origin of food is clearly stated on restaurant menus.”
But the FPC said it would have been significantly more constructive if Ramsay had championed the cause of a balanced diet for all, consisting in enjoyment of a wide variety of fruit and vegetables, produced and transported sustainably.
Pollsters on freshinfo were equally critical. “By and large, all fruit and vegetables on the shelf are in season somewhere in the world - economics are normally in line with the carbon footprint of produce as it gets simply too expensive (financially and environmentally) to grow too far out of the natural season,” said one.
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