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Hell's Kitchen TV chef wants to outlaw out-of-season fruit & veg

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Foul-mouthed Hell's Kitchen host Gordon Ramsay has called for "stringent" restaurant licensing laws to be put in place in the UK to ensure that "produce is only used in season." The Scottish born celebrity chef appealed for extreme measures to penalize non-compliant establishments during an interview broadcast by the BBC today. He has previously met with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown to voice his concerns about the environmental impact of modern food production techniques.

While the idea of legislating against out of season fruit and veg may seem a little over the top, the reasoning behind Ramsay's appeal for radical action is sound. With food prices rising along with the price of gas, it makes sense to make the most of cheaper seasonal produce that can be grown locally. Such measures also make environmental sense, reducing the impact of high-energy food production methods, and the fuel consumption and emissions caused by its transportation.

"I don't want to see asparagus in the middle of December. I don't want to see strawberries from Kenya in the middle of March. I want to see it home-grown," says Ramsay. "Fruit and veg should be seasonal. Chefs should be fined if they don't have ingredients in season on their menu."

The Daily Mantra couldn't agree more. Food grown locally, and in season is better for the environment, and better for your health and palate, since food that is force-grown and transported over long distance loses both flavor and nutritional value.

Click on the link above to find out what's in season now.
AndreaKnoll

21 responses // Hell's Kitchen TV chef wants to outlaw out-of-season fruit & veg

  • It's a great idea. Eat locally!
    Julie_Soller
  • Totally. Food grown in far away places can be bathed in pesticides that are banned here in the U.S. You have no way of knowing what's on your food unless you buy it locally.
    AndreaKnoll
  • I have stopped by Current briefly to try and give the ones that are ready a gift and have already been given some virtual lashes of the whip. I will still try for a while because the gifts placed before me are worth taking a little rough times over and I know that there will be some that have been waiting their whole life for what I am trying to pass along. Briefly, everything in the Universe is made up of molecules held together in various forms, no matter what it is. It is all constantly rearranging. It seems cruel that there are so many things eating things but that is the way the transference takes place. Big fish eat little fish and get bigger, small people eat everyday of their life and grow to a large size. It is true of everything on this planet and on all the other planets in the Universe. And for people of Earth to think you are the only ones in the Universe would be like living in New York and thinking you were the only one there. Next time you pick up anything to eat please stop and think that it is the same as you except you are making it part of yourself, changing it and placing it in a different place. You should ackowledge the priviledge also and be grateful. It is a great system really because fruit and vegetables have a hard time getting around on their own. The thing that eats people is the Earth and even that is wonderful but when the chemicals started being applied it ruined everything. This all took place because of a need to feel elevated above everythng else. You can not achieve elevation by what you are, only by what you do. You must all look backwards to the people that were here before you like the Indians. You should have constantly asked for their wisdom and not thought of how to hurt them. What I am offering is a chance to drink from the same river they did. If you are ready, please read www.relevations.org That is all I can do at this time, if you like what you read tell your friends, if not tell your enemies. Please do not ridicule me for caring about you and this Earth. Their are two forces, positive and negative. I want everything to do with the first and nothing to do with the last..................... Thank you Johnnie Hargrave
    Relevations
  • Yay for small farms. If we grew our own foods we would have more appreciation for strawberries and asparagus. I think that choosing in-season fruits and vegetables is the only way to go.
    cheyroze
  • Yes. The intensive farming methods used today were only intended to combat food shortages during World War II. They were never intended to be a long term solution. After the second World War, more traditional methods were forgotten, and we just never went back, but it's high time we did.
    AndreaKnoll
  • excelent! its beller and way cheap. cheap is good!most people dont even think of what all is involved we all need to get dead serious.
    arizonamike
  • But I like my freakishly huge and tasteless California strawberries....
    Elligirl
  • http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/content/local/
    It's like Revelations so rightly points out,

    "fruit and vegetables have a hard time getting around on their own"

    Just think of the airmiles that strawberry will miss out on without us.

    Legislation will not work initially due to globalised brands such as fast food outlets.

    But a standard could be introduced that restaurants adher to. We have to start somewhere

    Check Beeb Seasonal Food Guide
    Purdey
  • http://www.kitchengardeners.org
    Plant a kitchen or victory garden.
    Good time now to plant radishes, salad greens, spinach for eating in a few weeks and strawberries for berries next spring.
    You can grow lots of food on a very small area of earth, or even start with an empty coffee can, a few seeds and a bit of soil. A raised bed and intensive farming techniques can yield even more produce.
    Nothing is more local.
    There are no transportation costs or greenhouse gases used when you grow fresh greens, vegetables, berries and fruit outside your kitchen door like our grandmothers and early Americans did.
    Kitchen gardens also eliminate the need for petroleum based plastic and other packaging that adds to the environmental impact and cost of store-bought food.

    Check out this link to www.kitchengardeners.org for ideas, news and tips from Kitchen Garderners International - Promoting the "localest" food of all Globally. www.kitchengardeners.org
    TouchArt
  • I want to outlaw Gordon Ramsey, but you dont hear me complaining.
    teddy14
  • I love Gordon Ramsay. Anyone that can be that angry, intelligent and funny at the same time gets my vote. This is exactly the type of stuff the makes Kitchen Nightmares and interesting and enjoyable show. I like the idea of my favorite restaurant tweaking its menu in accordance with the seasons. That just means I’ll be able to try out other things I never really considered.
    Ricky84
  • i watch gordon scream his ass off, and completely improve restaurants everyday on bbc america. his mantra makes complete and total sense.
    dylcool23
  • Ramsey is an intelligent man who knows his business. I agree fruits and vegts were originally designed seasonally for a purpose. Its only people's demands that encourage foods to be out of season which in effect cause impact to enviroment and costs of transportation and growth! People too would then appreciate their fruits & vegts more if only available in its actual season, example: Tangelos, and certain types of Cherries are only available for perhaps 2 months in the States, and boy i look forward to them everytime! The problem is man's greed...if humans would only stick to the original plan created, many of the earths sufferings would never occurred! It always reverts back to greed & selfishness folks!
    ArtisticByNature
  • he's being an idiot! its friggin ridiculous to have certain foods at certain times. I personaly dont care what the food is aslong as it isnt meat and it tastes good. Its stupid to even think of making rules about what we can/cant eat depending on the season.
    Joe_Leo
  • This may be a nice idea, but I live in the frozen north where nothing grows from November until at least April or May. What does he think I should eat during those months? Seal blubber and snow?

    I grow many of my own veggies and buy things like blueberries locally, in season, but must dry or freeze them if I want any the other 11 months of the year.

    So, what should I do during the winter? Suggestions?
    patsarts
  • Oh Patsarts i completely forgot about that factor! wow good point! Hmmm, now im gonna have to rethink my comment!
    ArtisticByNature
  • Good ideas. He has always been huge on using locally produced fruit and vegetables as well as using local meats, fish, etc.
    BradH
  • Ramsay is a wanker .
    malathion
  • The more local grown the better. That way, we reduce CO2 emissions from transporting food all over the world. As far as living in the north during winter is concerned, transporting food during that time is fine. But during seasons when food can grow, why import? Cutting out at least one season can make a big difference.
    laurahrahrah
  • I'd love to see this done in my home state which is very agrarian.
    ocanada
  • I thought it was Clinton's Kitchen?? What do they like?
    ArtLiquidBlogspot

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