Another new food programme started on Channel 4 last week.
This one was fronted by Anna Richardson, and featured Jay Rayner and Ravinder Bhogal.
A useful segment in the middle of the programme explored the journey made by green beans, with Ravinder travelling to Kenya.
First sentence of report:
"Every choice you make in a supermarket has consequences - sometimes on the other side of the world... We want you to know the facts so that you can make informed decisions..."
Fits with the Fred Pearce book, "Confessions of an Eco-Sinner", which also focussed on Kenyan beans.
Beans take around 72 hours to get from farms near Nyeri to the UK. High altitude of this area provides cooler environment which helps bean retain moisture and warm climate enables 2 crops a year to be grown.
Majority of Kenyans in most regions are employed in agriculture. Picking starts early in morning - women employed to pick. Around 40kg of beans picked - wages are higher than the national average. Farmers and pickers have to be careful to keep beans straight and unblemished - they are graded on the basis of size and appearance, which means that other beans which would taste as good are not able to be sold.
Kenya is a water-scarce country and growing beans involves large amounts of water.
One green bean needs up to four litres of water to produce.
We pay £1.99 for a bag of beans, from which the farmeer would receive about 16p.
The farm featured in the program has, however been developed using the money from the beans, which are a lucrative crop.
The beans are graded then taken to Nairobi by lorry. It's a race to get them to the airport so that they can arrive fresh in the UK. They arrive at the cargo village at the airport, which is where the beans are refrigerated and then packaged at the pack house, which processes 10 000 kg of beans a day. Waitrose are supplied every day with fresh deliveries, other supermarkets less often. The beans are washed in a jacuzzi of water and chlorine then topped and tailed and packaged in bags.
They are usually flown on passenger flights in the hold using available space.
36 million kg of green beans a year are consumed in the UK, and the majority come from Kenya by air freight. The export is worth £70 million a year to Kenya - also export passion fruit and tender stem broccoli
Has overtaken tourism, and beans called the "green dollar"
Met a small farmer and his family, and
Choosing to buy green beans is therefore a dilemma between the support for the farmers and the economy of Kenya, and the environmental consequences of their production.
Programme is available on 4OD for a while.
Image by Alan Parkinson, which I know has Egyptian beans..
This one was fronted by Anna Richardson, and featured Jay Rayner and Ravinder Bhogal.
A useful segment in the middle of the programme explored the journey made by green beans, with Ravinder travelling to Kenya.
First sentence of report:
"Every choice you make in a supermarket has consequences - sometimes on the other side of the world... We want you to know the facts so that you can make informed decisions..."
Fits with the Fred Pearce book, "Confessions of an Eco-Sinner", which also focussed on Kenyan beans.
Beans take around 72 hours to get from farms near Nyeri to the UK. High altitude of this area provides cooler environment which helps bean retain moisture and warm climate enables 2 crops a year to be grown.
Majority of Kenyans in most regions are employed in agriculture. Picking starts early in morning - women employed to pick. Around 40kg of beans picked - wages are higher than the national average. Farmers and pickers have to be careful to keep beans straight and unblemished - they are graded on the basis of size and appearance, which means that other beans which would taste as good are not able to be sold.
Kenya is a water-scarce country and growing beans involves large amounts of water.
One green bean needs up to four litres of water to produce.
We pay £1.99 for a bag of beans, from which the farmeer would receive about 16p.
The farm featured in the program has, however been developed using the money from the beans, which are a lucrative crop.
The beans are graded then taken to Nairobi by lorry. It's a race to get them to the airport so that they can arrive fresh in the UK. They arrive at the cargo village at the airport, which is where the beans are refrigerated and then packaged at the pack house, which processes 10 000 kg of beans a day. Waitrose are supplied every day with fresh deliveries, other supermarkets less often. The beans are washed in a jacuzzi of water and chlorine then topped and tailed and packaged in bags.
They are usually flown on passenger flights in the hold using available space.
36 million kg of green beans a year are consumed in the UK, and the majority come from Kenya by air freight. The export is worth £70 million a year to Kenya - also export passion fruit and tender stem broccoli
Has overtaken tourism, and beans called the "green dollar"
Met a small farmer and his family, and
Choosing to buy green beans is therefore a dilemma between the support for the farmers and the economy of Kenya, and the environmental consequences of their production.
Programme is available on 4OD for a while.
Image by Alan Parkinson, which I know has Egyptian beans..
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