I saw a program on TV, about the food we buy in the English supermarkets – I guess they will be the same as in Scotland and Wales but the program seemed to be focused in England, with a short walk to Europe that only materialised in Madrid.
The presenter gave some pieces of fruit to people who were buying in a market that I thought looked very much like the “Mercado de la Ribera” (the river bank market) and the “Mercado del Ensanche” (the market of the broadening), in Bilbao. Tomatoes, strawberries… all said that they tasted like nothing – without knowing it was English fruit. The presenter seemed astonished at the fact that Spanish people still buy in the market more than in the supermarket, specially fruit and vegetables. And also the fact that the Spanish consumer knows what fruits are of which season, and does not buy it at any other time of the year.
Apparently the English public has been asked about how they want their food, and since they have answered that they want it without soil or worms, supermarkets will only buy the farmers spotless and perfect fruits and vegetables. And, since farmers can’t go and sell elsewhere because there are literally only 4 distributors with the same demands, they just have to throw away the fruit that doesn’t fit in those standards. The result is the intensive use of pesticides, with the inevitable loss of vitamins and quality, and the scandal of food thrown away.
One feels ever so compelled to buy only organic food. But this state of affairs makes decent farming more and more expensive and therefore, the organic food that reaches us is expensive and scarce. In the whole of London I only know four shops where fresh fruit and vegetables are sold. The first one I knew was in Upper Street, closer to Highbury & Islington than to Angel, and I believe it closed down; in any case in the last years it stopped selling fresh fruit. There is one in Crouch End; it is worth a tourist visit. It has an extraordinary 19th century atmosphere, it has two storeys and a wall covered with shelves up to the ceiling, with herbal teas in little compartments, each with its label indicating what it is and what diseases it helps cure. There is another one in Camden, a bit away from the market, that has won some prize but has lost its essence. There is another one in Stoke Newington and it is delicious, although the truth is I feel a special love for that neighbourhood maybe because it is very linked to my early history in London, and/or because beloved people have lived there. And then there is the one in Brixton, literally under the railway.
Damn pity they are so expensive. Alternatively there are the markets. Being the first one in knew, my preferred one is Chapel Market in Angel, followed by the one in Dalston Kingsland. People of all colours, specially women, with clothes of all colours. I have also been told good things about the one between Elephant & Castle and Camberwell; in general markets are like English pubs: the further away from the centre, the better.
By the way, where does the name “Elephant & Castle” come from? It was the most likely sound the English could pronounce when they tried to refer to the person who lived in that area next to the City of London: El Infante de Castilla (the Infant of Castille). It might be just a funny story but I choose to believe it 🙂
