Shoppers have been left outraged after two leading supermarkets were found to be selling foreign squash and apples during peak British season.
Sara Venn, who works with small-scale farmers as part of her role at the Incredible Edible growing network, got in touch with Sainsbury’s to ask why all the squash on the shelves in her local store was grown in Greece and Portugal when it was peak British cropping time.
She was quickly inundated with shoppers responding to her tweet claiming they had been unable to find any British-grown squash in other Sainsbury’s stores such as Derby and Sussex.
Marks and Spencer also came in for criticism for stocking New Zealand ‘baby apples’ in a cumbersome plastic tube during peak British apple season.
Ms Venn said: “In my work I support local farms and small producers so I do not often go into supermarkets, but we were running into Sainsbury’s because we needed something quick.
“I picked up a squash and then realised it said it was grown in Greece. That is just crazy."
“Supermarkets are doing so much harm to British farming"
“I would like to see supermarkets put in a position where they have to have a policy about local procurement."
Promise
“And I would also like a promise that if it is this time of year, and we know there are apples and squashes aplenty, I can go in store and buy them."
Both Sainsbury’s and Marks and Spencer responded to Ms Venn’s complaints, saying they sourced products from different locations to ensure they were available to customers all year round.
Source: fginsight.com
