UK: London Mayor talks cucumbers

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, contacted the Lea Valley Growers Association to ask how many Lea Valley Cucumbers were grown in London. They confirmed that 2 million Cucumbers and 70,000 Aubergines were grown by Lea Valley growers in London postcodes in the Lea Valley.

The Mayor used this information within his speech to the Conservative Party conference last week. "We have more baristas than barristers, there are quite a few barristers as well, and yet with so much green space in London that we produce two million cucumbers a year from London. Eat your heart out, Vladimir Putin. It is partly thanks to our cucumber yields, our staggering cucumber yields, comrades, that London now contributes almost 25% of UK GDP, which is more than the city has contributed at any time since the Romans founded it".

http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/2013/10/boris-johnsons-speech-to-the-conservative-conference-full-text-and-audio/

The Association hosted a visit from Rosie Boycott (3rd October) (chair - London Food Board, London Assembly) and received a tour of Valley Grown Nurseries by Chairman Gary Taylor MBE of his Sweet Peppers and Tomworld (Tomatoes) hosted by Joe Colletti & Sam Cannatella of Glinwell Plc.

The London Food Board how the Lea Valley Growers can increase the UK's low numbers of self sufficiency in Sweet Peppers (12%), Cucumbers (32%) and Tomatoes (17%) by expanding their growing area to meet London's predicted population growth.

The visit ended with an invitation to City Hall at the end of the month to discuss the issues further.

For more information:
Lee Stiles
Secretary
Lea Valley Growers Association
(A) 37-39 Turners Hill, Cheshunt, EN8 8NP
(T) 01992 625 076
(F) 01992 640 141
www.LVGA.co.uk