Ever wondered where the food on your plate came from?


As a child, buying food was a totally different experience for me to how it is for BB today. Our meat came from animals my parents farmed, our veg from the garden or the farm, and if we didn't grow it ourselves there was a fruit and veggie place in our village, run from someone's garage. That's not actually that long ago. I'm only 42!

Occasionally I find myself wondering about the person that grew my food. It's a special thing, to plant, nurture, and harvest food, and then to pass it on to nourish someone else. We have, on the whole, lost that connection. 

A new small fruit and vegetable shop has just opened up in our town and BB loves to go there. There staff are great with him and encourage him in selecting his own produce, and bringing it to the counter. Where possible, things they stock are locally sourced, so I love the idea of it too. Not everything can be bought from there though, and of course many crops are seasonal, so the supermarket is still a main source of our food.

Sad as it may sound, I was a bit excited when I learned about the Birds Eye Traceability scheme. Traceable packaging is being introduced across the entire petits pois range, with each pack providing the shopper with a unique code. This can then be entered into a Facebook app which shows you where your peas were grown.




I now know that our peas came from East Yorkshire and were grown on Molescroft Grange Farm by Tamara Hall - yes a woman! How awesome is that? Tamara has been managing Molescroft Grange farm for over 5 years, taking over the running of the farm when her father decided to retire. It's a real family affair as their farm has been growing Petit Pois for Birds Eye for more than 30 years. Tamara is one of 230 pea growers in East Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire.

Facebook users are able to navigate through the app even if they do not have a code and a social sharing functionality will enable users to promote the tracker on their social media pages. There's even a little video on YouTube, which shows the journey of a typical pea.




Birds Eye Senior Brand Manager Matt Blackmore said: “We are hugely proud of the way in which we grow and harvest our peas – and work hard to ensure our product is the best it possibly can be.  We wanted to share this story with our consumers and create understanding of the incredible journey our petits pois go on before they reach people's plates.  It's been great fun creating this app and we hope people enjoy learning more about where their food comes from and the care and commitment that goes into each pod."

This does connect you to your food a little more and I really like the idea. I wonder if it will catch on with other brands. BB loves peas, so I'm guessing we'll get to track the journey of another pack before too much longer.

Disclaimer: This post is in association with BirdsEye

Hello, and thanks for stopping by. My name is Emma and I am a lifestyle entrepreneur, writer, teacher, coach and mentor. I am passionate about eating real food, learning, travel and health. I get to spend my days with my amazing son who has chosen to learn from the world rather than at school. We write to share the life we love and to help others create a life they love too.

4 comments:

  1. We used to make salt dough ornaments every year when I was a kid, and i started the tradition last year with my own kids. In face, I was planning on doing it this weekend for my own KITK post next week! We always decorate with water colors, but I like your glitter glue idea better. Might need to pick up a set before baking this year!

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  2. I'm sure there's space for lots more posts on Salt Dough Christmas Tree decorations! I look forward to seeing yours.


    This is actually last years post - I was finding it for myself and thought I'd share. Were are going to make more this week - all the ingredients were bought today. I might be really crazy and invite another toddler to join in!

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  3. It's not so hard being me actually - most of the time I quite like it! I just like everything to be harmonious and hate upsetting the apple cart and causing anybody pain. I know they wouldn't stop me doing anything, I stop me, because I want us to stay a happy family and I know it's an area of tension. Still, things seem to be working out OK for us despite everything

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  4. DD and PP would never stop you from doing what you want. It's not their decision to make. If you want to have more chn then that's your choice. I'm guessing that DD is quiet on the subject for that reason. He has no right to encourage you to have a baby as it's your body, your life and ultimately your decision. DD is tied with PP being scared of what the impact on their relationship is but he's slowly coming around as he realises he's not about to lose the best partner in the world. (A direct quote) Also, DD detected a change in BM and backed off. He's Australian and will always go with the flow. Just remember, as hard as it is being you, it's equally hard being him. Jx

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