Wednesday 19 December 2007

Mad food

This evening, the BBC reported the crazy trail that some of our food takes. The example quoted was scampi. This is made from langoustines (prawns), dipped in batter and fried. The result is frozen and sold in the supermarket.


Langoustines are caught in the Minch, east of Stornoway (shown above). They are then frozen and transferred by lorry to Annan, on the border between Scotland and England. From there, the prawns are taken to Rotterdam and shipped by containership to Thailand. Yep, that's about 8,500 miles. Out there, they are shelled by hand, then repackaged and returned to Rotterdam, and then back to the UK to the eastern English port of Grimsby. The company who supplies the scampi, Young's seafood, says that the consumer prefers hand-shelled langoustines for their scampi, rather than machine-processed ones. They also claim that the 17,000 mile journey to and from Thailand has less of a carbon-footprint per scampi than shelling the things by machine.

I just don't buy that. I really don't. Why not have them hand-shelled here? In Stornoway, or elsewhere in the UK. Cuts out the round-the-world trip, doesn't it?
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7 comments:

  1. Anonymous20 December 2007 at 00:49

    EEww-never had it-never will...........

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  2. Anonymous20 December 2007 at 02:49

    Thanks for showing me something NOT to eat.  Ewww.  I think that's a little weird they'd supply jobs far away from home.  I'm sure there are those who'd do that job but still I can't imagine eating it on purpose. lol

    Nelishia
    http://journals.aol.com/nelishianatl/PrayingandBelieving/
    http://journals.aol.com/nelishianatl/Crocheted-creations/
    http://journals.aol.com/nelishianatl/The-tents-of-Deborah/

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  3. Anonymous20 December 2007 at 04:54

    Yeah!  That makes no sense!

    be well,
    Dawn
    http://journals.aol.com/princesssaurora/CarpeDiem/

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous20 December 2007 at 05:19

    Good grief....it'd be easier to offer workers from Thailand a relocation/job in Scotland, wouldn't it?!

    ~Amy

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  5. Anonymous20 December 2007 at 05:37

    I am with you that is totally bogus! I bet the general public doesn't even know about what they are doin. The general public does not care how they are done just that they get fresh ones. OMG!!!! They are lying scampi scamps.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous20 December 2007 at 15:08

    I'm glad you posted the brand name....  so many companies do everything overseas because it's cheaper than hiring locals and abiding by tax and employer laws in their home country...... that's another pet peeve of mine.  GRRR!!!

    Joann

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  7. Anonymous20 December 2007 at 21:40

    ewwwww.........I've always wanted to try scampi but not now I know it's made of prawns!!  I don't like prawns :(  That's ridiculous though why do they do that??

    Jenny

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