Before i go to bed I like to enjoy a little snack. I usually will have greek yoghurt with some honey. I buy my greek yoghurt from the grocery store and it is made in Greece. Greek yoghurt is distinctive for its rich quality and high-protein content. Greek yoghurt is produced differently than regular yoghurt as it has been strained of its whey content. Greek yoghurt is full-fat and either made from sheep or goats milk. Having lived in Greece I have seen the production first hand and I can say with certitude that traditional methods are still used. For instance, in many small villages the goats/sheep are allowed to roam freely around the fields and graze appropriately. Their milk is often hand extracted (they claim it is more natural). The milk is sent to a yoghurt factory (FAGE is the main one). The yoghurt is made through heated and then cooled overnight. After that the straining process begins where the yoghurt is passed through a cloth filter to remove its whey content and giving it a rich and thick flavour. FAGE then packages the product in plastic containers and exports worldwide.

I pick up my honey form the same place as my vegetables: the local market. The honey is taken from Bee hives in lancashire (a northern part of the country). The vendor sells directly to the market owner and is a very small scale operation which is why I like it. There are no preservatives added to the Honey and the flavour is very natural.

Dinner time has come and I have decided to enjoy a good steak. I buy my steaks from a wholesale distributor that I discovered a few months back. Essentially this distributor sells excess meat that has been produced for restaurants and other large scale catering operations. I buy in bulk and freeze. This process of buying meat saves a lot on plastic packaging as I do not visit the store on multiple occasions buying individually packaged meat. The cut I buy is striploin which is form the short loin part of the cow and is a tender muscle the cow rarely uses. The cows in England are grass fed and largely left to graze and roam the fields freely. Most meats are of high quality and this is reflected in the price allowing the farmers to properly nourish and raise their cattle. Cattle are transported from their respective farms to local slaughter houses. When they arrive they are cleansed and then undergo the stunning process as to minimize suffering. The next step is the bleeding process where they are hung and bled. Each cattle has a tag which essentially acts as a passport allowing for quality control if a certain bacteria develops with a meat cut. After the  hyde is removed using careful peeling methods. This is an important step as you want to avoid contamination with the meat. After unwanted bowels are removed the meat is inspected for consistency and level of tenderness. After that the meat is sent to the boning room where it is sliced into the specific cut wanted. Meat production is quite regulated in the UK and every process involved is reviewed to ensure it is hygienic and ethical. I ensure my meat is grass fed as this gives it a more rich flavour in my opinion.

(link on slaughter process of cattle)

I buy my potatoes from my local market and they are organically grown in the northern part of the country by a small scale farm that utilizes all natural soil fertilizers.The potatoes are not packaged in any particular way apart from the re-usable bag by which i put them in. I try to be as eco-friendly as possible with my shopping and as you can tell from this blog I am a fan of smaller scale operations and local markets.

I must admit to having a sweet tooth which I take care of quite often! Today I have chosen some ‘minstrels’ a chocolate based candy snack that is similar in nature to smarties. Minstrels contain the following ingredients:

-Sugar,Cocoa Butter ,Skimmed Milk Powder ,Cocoa Mass ,Lactose ,Vegetable Fat ,Whey Powder ,Milk Fat ,Emulsifiers (Soya Lecithin, E442) ,Dextrin ,Starch ,Glazing Agent (Carnauba Wax) ,Colours (E104, E122, E124, E132) ,Modified Starch ,Vegetable Oil ,Flavourings ,Natural Vanilla Extract ,Milk Chocolate contains Milk Solids 14% minimum ,Milk Chocolate contains Vegetable Fats in addition to Cocoa Butter

The ingredients are written in order of content percentage in the snack. The ingredients that come to my attention are vegetable fat and cocao butter

Vegetable Fat: a fat that is derived from a plant and in this snack it is a trans fat which has numerous health impacts (hard to digest). Vegetable fat is made from seeds of corn, canola, sunflower etc. The method for making vegetable fat is similar to corn-syrup where seeds are pressed into an oil. Commercial production units of these use solvents to accelerate the pressing process. About 100kgs of oil produce around 50 L of oil which is an extremely seed intensive process requiring a lot of seeds from the respective plant.

Cocoa butter: is a derivation of vegetable fat. The butter is made through roasting cocoa beans and separating them from their hulls. The liquor created is pressed to extract the butter from the solids and then deodorized to take away the undesirable strong taste.

The sugar used is not high fructose corn as this is not as common in Europe compared to North America.

For lunch I will usually try to get a good source of carbs and today I have selected some italian “linguini con vongole” which is essentially pasta with mussels and clams. The other ingredients are fairly basic consisting of olive oil and herb seasonings. The pasta I enjoy using is an Italian one that is imported from Italy. The pasta is made in a commercial factory but the ingredients are grown locally. The main ingredient is semolina which is a hard amber coloured wheat. The semolina is mixed with water where a dough is created and then passed through a mould depending on the desired shape. The dough is then placed on dryers for a few days until hardened. Then they are packaged and sent worldwide. Similar to the coffee and watermelon the pasta is transported to England via cargo truck and distributed in local grocers. Now onto the mussels that come from the atlantic ocean. The mussels are produced using the “bought” technique in the north of france where the mussels are grown on vertical poles in tidal zones. This method originated in the 13th century and continues to be a common method to this day. The mussels are harvested when they have reached a size of about 40mm usually taking 12-15 months to reach such a state. The mussels are then washed and sold in markets throughout the world. I buy my mussels from a local french vendor that imports them daily form Normandy. The method has been relatively unchanged for centuries and utilized natural processes. I boil the mussels in some white wine and serve in my pasta for a delicious healthy lunch.

Most days I enjoy a roast coffee from Starbucks. The Americano coffee I drink is medium sized. Starbucks accounts for about 2 % of the coffee production worldwide and only buys fair trade coffee which is essentially coffee grown based on a specific criteria that seeks to control low-wage exploitation of coffee growers in developing countries and ensures distribution methods are fully transparent. This specific blend that I purchased came from costa rica in Latin America. Coffee is grown in around 1500m high altitudes on  plots of land that can total 3000 hectares for the biggest operations. Most small scale farms are members of a Co-operative which acts as a negotiating body that ensures a fair price is received and farmers are not exploited. Many costa rican farms are eco-friendly and use natural rain water for irrigation purposes and have compost pits where they are used for fertilizing purposes. This method is very chemical free and seeks natural remedies to obtain quality. Starbucks buys in bulk from various cooperatives that meet their fair trade production standard. The coffee is then cargo flown to the UK and into a distribution center where the coffee is distributed to the cargo branches. There is many steps to getting that coffee into my cup, however, it is able to realize economies of scale which reduces the marginal impact of every cup of coffee. I do not like the fancy high sugar drinks that Starbucks offers and prefer a pure blend of coffee with some Milk. This reduces my ecological footprint as the process products in such sugary drinks are costly on the environment.

I begin this blog with my morning breakfast which consists of a fresh fruit. Normally I cut up whichever fruit I have in my fridge, Today I have watermelon that I bought from the local fruit market that I have here in West London. The watermelon is imported from Cyprus a country with a Mediterranean climate and favourable for growing various fruits and vegetables such as grapes, strawberries, melons, bananas, corn, carrots, onions and many more. This particular watermelon was commercially grown in a fruit farm using a variety of fertilizers and soil enhancers. Cyprus is a member of the European Union and means that fertilizer use is controlled. This does not mean that no fertilizer was applied to this watermelon production process. Pesticides are applied via nozzle on the plantation and effectively remove any insects attempting to chew away the fruit. The common fertilizer used is a potassium heavy fertilizer. The production of watermelon in cyprus is not care intensive as the natural heat facilitates the germination process. The main secret is an adequate irrigation system for the field as proper watering is essential to growing a healthy fruit. The fruit is transported to the UK via cargo through a distribution company that then sells to local vendors in the UK. The flight is about 3 hours long from Cyprus to London and fuel consumption for that flight is roughly 1500 gallons of fuel. This is of course amortized across all the cargo within that plane but still gives you an idea of the amount used. The watermelon is then transported by lorry to the markets warehouse before it is sold every morning to local residents.