What is Wrong with Commercial Fruit and Vegetables, Anyway?

We live in a time where food is more abundant than ever. Supermarkets are full to overflowing with any type of produce you could possibly want. You can eat strawberries at Christmas and oranges all year round, if you so desire. Why then, have I prioritised growing my own fruits and vegetables? Would I not be better off working as many hours as I can in paid employment, and buying food in to feed my family instead? These are questions I am frequently asked. So today, we are going to take a deep dive into this topic. Let’s find out what exactly is wrong with commercial fruit and vegetables, anyway?

Eating food out of season

In the modern day, you can walk into any supermarket and see a vast array of produce in the fruit and veg section. All kinds of berries, root crops, brassicas and legumes, available all year round. Most people now have very little understanding of what it means to eat “seasonally.” Or indeed, which fruits and vegetables are in season at any given time of year.

Apart from being a very sad state of affairs in and of itself, this situation has a range of worrying consequences. Let’s explore those now.

Food miles

The main enabler for the plethora of fruit and veg which we enjoy out of season is global transportation. Most of our tomatoes come from China. Grapes are shipped from South Africa. 90% of the world’s cucumbers are grown in a few square miles near Almeria, southern Spain. The greenhouses are so densely packed in that you can identify this area on the satellite view of Spain!

Transporting these fresh crops to shops and supermarkets around the world is no small task. And it comes at great cost to the environment. It is estimated that that entire global transportation system is responsible for 3.0 gigatonnes of carbon or equivalent each year. That accounts for 19% of the entire carbon footprint of food production.

These are intimidating figures. But it is easy to see that a few tweaks to your diet could have a big impact on your family’s carbon footprint. Buying local, seasonal produce will substantially reduce the food miles associated with the food on your dinner table. Or better yet, start growing some of your own fruits and veggies to take your food miles down to zero!

Energy use

Another means of extending the growing season, or eating food out of season, is to grow crops in heated greenhouses. This simulates the preferred climate of native summer crops and more exotic heat-loving crops.

This is hugely energy intensive, with big electricity requirements for running the heaters and fans to distribute the heat. All for a few extra weeks of strawberries that are grown more locally.

Pesticide use

Growing fruits and vegetables commercially can be a thankless task. Farmers can do everything right, but their yields are often out of their control. Bad weather, disease and pests in particular can decimate their crops, and the farmer’s profits as well.

So, to maximise their chances of getting a good crop at harvest time, it is common for farmers to use pesticides. These minimise the risk of disease affecting their plants.

Sadly, pesticide use has many adverse effects. These chemicals are harmful to pollinating insects and other wildlife. They also run off the fields with rainfall and find their way into water courses, causing harm to aquatic, animal and human life along the way.

The documented harmful effects on human health are severe, multiple and varied. Hence the advice to buy organic where possible, especially any produce where you eat the skin. And make sure you wash your fruits and veggies thoroughly before cooking and eating.

Fertiliser use

Chemical fertilisers are another means of bolstering crop yields. As each crop takes its nutrients from the soil, over time the soil is depleted of its reserves.

Crop rotation and/or the presence of livestock or wildlife can help to replenish these essential nutrients in the soil. But working the land this way is less efficient, meaning lower profits for farmers.

Applying chemical fertilisers in between crops allows farmers to work the land more intensively with bigger rewards.

But this comes at a cost.

• The production of chemical fertilisers is energy-intensive, contributing to greenhouse gas emissions, and in turn climate change.
• These chemicals can contaminate water courses, in much the same way as pesticides. Fertilisers cause algal blooms on the surface of bodies of water. This prevents gas exchange, and the resulting oxygen depletion harms aquatic life. (This can also happen with natural fertilisers such as animal manure.)
• Chemical fertilisers may replenish key nutrients in the short term. But over time, their use disrupts the very structure of the soil. They also contaminate the soil with heavy metals and other pollutants. [You can learn more about the normal structure of healthy soil here.]
• Chemical fertilisers also adversely affect biodiversity by harming plant, insect and animal life.
• Some studies have also linked fertilisers to a range of human health problems.

Lack of awareness about where food comes from

I once saw a group of primary school children on a school organised trip to the supermarket. They each had a clipboard and pencil, to complete an exercise about where food comes from.

This was absolutely astonishing to me. Yes, food can be purchased from a supermarket. But that is not where food originates!

In my opinion, children need to be digging the soil, sowing seeds, tending to seedlings and plants, and getting their hands dirty. They need to harvest some crops, take them into the kitchen and turn them into a meal.

THAT is how we as a society learn where food comes from. THAT is how we all develop an appreciation for food as a precious resource.

Food Waste

When you consider the amount of time, energy and effort invested to grow food for the general public, the fact that any food is wasted at all is an abomination.

And yet, before fruits and vegetables even reach the supermarket shelves, the “unattractive” or imperfect items are weeded out and often are either left to rot or are sent to landfill.

Any fruit or vegetables which are left unsold in the supermarket are placed in a skip for landfill. They are not even donated to soup kitchens or other charitable organisations.

And lastly – we’ve all done it, haven’t we? Bought food with good intentions of eating home-cooked food. And a week later you find a squishy cucumber or some furry tomatoes languishing at the back of the fridge.

The carbon footprint of wasted food is an estimated to be between 3.3 – 4.4 billion tonnes of CO₂ equivalent per year. That is the amount of carbon used to grow and transport food which has ended up in the bin, uneaten. This is a larger annual carbon footprint than the entire aviation sector. What a colossal waste!

Climate challenges

Summer 2024 was much cooler and wetter than our typical summer climate. Sadly this meant that a lot of our usually very reliable crops failed. We didn’t get any tomatoes or squash. Our garlic developed rust. Our potatoes also struggled.

Fortunately we diversify enough that we were able to make do with other crops, and have learned some lessons for this year.

Globally, the climate is becoming increasingly unstable with a tendency towards extremes of weather. Conditions are changing far faster than the natural world is able to adapt, and this includes the plants we rely on to feed us.

This is highly likely to result in food shortages in the next 20-30 years.

Expense

Food prices have sky-rocketed over recent years. Global conflict, deteriorating international relations, and of course climate change have destabilised trading relationships and made it more difficult to grow key crops.

As the cost of living crisis continues and the threat of another recession looms, many households are looking for ways to cut costs.

While fresh fruit and vegetables remain so expensive, there are big financial gains to be made by reducing reliance on commercial produce.

Food security

I was recently listening to a program on Radio 4 about food security. Did you know that Switzerland has recently passed a law that the government must have a year’s worth of food for the entire population in storage at any given time? This will enable them to feed their citizens in the event of a natural disaster or other emergency.

The program analysed the logistical challenges of implementing this in the UK. We are an island nation, and we import approximately 50% of our food. The geography of the UK means that several major cities are still quite distant from the major transport routes. And there are many remote and rural areas with very poor means of access.

We all saw how quickly supermarket shelves were cleared of essential items at the start of the COVID pandemic. I am sure we can remember how long it took for shops to replenish their supplies.

So, the program concluded that it would be better if individual households were more prepared. A well-stocked pantry, fridge and freezer were recommended.

I would go one step further and advocate for a well-planted garden and allotment. To be totally reliant on commercial fruit and vegetables, is to place oneself at the mercy of UK-based farmers and global trading relationships. The only way to ensure food security for your family is to produce it yourself.

What can you do?

Hopefully you have a better understanding of the problems with heavy reliance on commercial fruit and vegetables. Here are some ideas and possible solutions for you and your family.

Shop local

Every purchase is a vote with your money. If you are going to buy commercial produce, shop locally. Try a farmer’s market, greengrocer, market stall or local veg box scheme. Ask about the origins of the fruits and vegetables being sold. Is it all being grown in your area, or are they importing any of their items?

If your only option is a supermarket, look at the labels on the produce. How much is even grown in the same country as you? At least try to stick to the same continent to start cutting down those food miles!

Learn about seasonality

Find a local “pick your own” farm and see what is on offer at different times of year. Speak to the farmers if you have any questions. Pick up a gardening book and look at the growing and harvesting calendar within. These will all build your understanding about which fruits and vegetables are in season at different times of year.

Buy organic

There is no doubt that organic produce is more expensive. It is more labour intensive for farmers, often with smaller and less certain yields. But the benefits for the environment and for your own health are unquestionable.

I would prioritise buying organic for any produce where you are going to eat the skin (e.g. berries, tomatoes). If you can peel the item (e.g. potatoes) then the chemicals used in non-organic farming practices are arguably less of a concern.

Buy only what you need

As food security becomes more of a concern, if you are buying commercial produce then be considerate to others and buy only what you need. Hoarding supplies in times of scarcity is selfish and will not win you any friends!

But this also leads nicely on to the next point!

Cut food waste

We spoke about food waste being a significant problem. When buying commercial produce, make sure you only buy what you are actually going to use, and make sure you do use it all. Why not try making a meal plan and going to the supermarket with a list of ingredients for those specific recipes? This is a great way to reduce waste.

Grow your own

The number one absolute best thing you can do to avoid all that is wrong with commercial fruit and vegetables, is to grow your own instead!

Of course, growing ALL of the fruit and veg to meet your family’s needs may be a very lofty or downright unachievable goal for many.

But anyone can have a go.

You don’t have a garden? Put a few pots on a sunny windowsill!

You don’t have the knowledge or the skills? Follow along with my blog and I will show you how! (Or these is a plethora of knowledge on the internet to tap into.)

Just start somewhere. Maybe just a basil plant in your kitchen and build up from there.

There is nothing more satisfying that sitting down to a meal that you have grown, harvested and cooked yourself!