BRITISH CONSUMERS URGED TO COOK WITH CARROTS TO SUPPORT BRITISH FARMERS.
There is a growing band of consumers who want to support British farmers and are actively trying to cut down on their food miles and carbon footprint.
Carrots are being foregrounded as the perfect vegetable to purchase in order to secure consumers place as sustainable shoppers.
To celebrate their increasing home grown appeal and to encourage consumers to support the British farming industry, the British Carrot Growers’ Association has developed a ‘Best of British’ collection of recipes featuring the freshest seasonal ingredients, focusing on carrots.
British carrots are available in the shops for around eleven months of the year, from early to mid June when the new British season starts right through to May.
Carrots were recently given a carbon rating by Farmers Weekly of just 45g of carbon per 1kg of carrots, compared to 80g for onions, 240g for potatoes and 15,000g for beef.
Aside from doing their bit to help in the battle to reduce climate change and support British farmers and the economy, buying seasonal British produce just makes good sense if consumers want fresh, great tasting, reasonably priced food.
Carrots are also high in fibre and brimming with beta-carotene, which the body uses to make vitamin A, a nutrient that’s needed for growth and healthy hair and skin as well as good vision.
Studies have shown many children and adults have intakes well below the recommended levels of vitamin A and these new recipes hope to encourage families to cook with carrots to increase their intake.
Carrots are also naturally low in calories, fat, saturates and salt. An 80g serving – which is equivalent to about ½ a medium-sized carrot or 3 heaped tablespoons – counts as one of the recommended five portions of fruit and veg a day.
Some of the recipes include;
- Carrot, Chicken and Barley Soup
- Veggie Crumble Pie
- Cottage Pie with Carrot and Potato Mash
- The Best Ever Carrot Cake
Carrots are commercially grown in Suffolk, Norfolk, Nottinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Shropshire, Yorkshire and Scotland.
Chairman of the British Carrot Growers’ Association Martin Evans says:
“In the past carrots have had a bit of an image problem, probably because they are such a familiar item they were regarded almost as a commodity.
But now they are starting to come into their own as shoppers turn away from more exotic veg which has been flown half way
round the world.”
The government has recently published a twenty-year strategy on the future of food and farming which is aimed at increasing UK food security, tackling climate change and improving the nation’s health.
As over ninety five per cent of the carrots in Brirish supermarkets are home-grown, they are the idyl veg to promote in order to being to combat some of these problems as research shows a third of our household carbon emissions come from the food we buy.
For more recipes and carrot related facts, visit the website by clicking here.
Related posts:
- Need for carrots to stay versatile
- Customers may be ‘confused’ by new carbon labels
- British food companies urged to look further afield
- MISSION MILK LAUNCHES IN SUPPORT OF BRITISH DAIRY FARMERS
- NEW RESEARCH SAYS CONSUMERS WANT CARBON LABELS
- No more going bananas over carrots
- British meals boosted by ‘environmental focus’
- Consumers “interested in where their food comes from”
