Alright! Let’s talk about locally sourced fruit and veg, the benefits of such products and one company that is beginning a new scheme to help students obtain them (plus the discount they’re offering, it’s down there at the bottom). Now, let’s begin by talking about the obvious benefit of the purchase of locally produced fruit and vegetables, that being the benefit to the environment. I’m sure you know these benefits as well if you’ve ever stepped into a science class within the last 10 years. A vehicle taking food from Nottingham to Nottingham farts out less carbon dioxide than one that goes from London to Nottingham and vehicles doing so from other continents are simply taking the polluting piss biscuit.
Now, we’re all at least a bit self-serving so how does local produce benefit us, the consumer? Well for a first, it’s fresher than a fresher perusing the fresher’s fair last week and so it tastes better and will have better nutritional content. The fruit and vegetables, that is, not the fresher – they’ll all be melting into a slurry with fresher’s flu by now anyway (enjoy that!).
What about the community? Farmers and wholesalers depend on people within their city or county in order to maintain themselves and keep said area active in the scope of business. So when you buy from these people you’re supporting your local community and can enjoy that warm fuzzy feeling of self-satisfaction that accompanies your karmic boost from being lovely. Congratulations!
Here we get on to that company with which I may or may not have intrigued you: Kerry’s Fresh. Chances are you’ve come across Kerry’s Fresh if you’ve entered the UoN Portland building within the last week. We went to interview an employee, named Aidan, who works for the company with regards to who they are and what they do.
Who they are: a company that sells fresh fruit and vegetables to students, and other people…
And what do they do? They source fruit and veg from local wholesalers and farmers into one place from which people can buy without the inconvenience of having to travel to the appropriate areas. A journey one cannot be arsed to make, so much so that their arse is in a separate postcode to the rest of their body. They also stock organic produce when it’s available as well as non-organic. They do import more exotic items that can’t grow in the UK but they source these items from the closest source possible, typically Europe.
Kerry’s Fresh has set up an online shop from which you can order a range of fruits, vegetables, prepared salads and assorted packages then have them delivered while you sit in the library pretending to work with the rest of us. With many ideas to develop the service such as recipes devised by dietitians and personal trainers, this website could be worth a gander.
As a student in his third year, I’m completely aware of how hard it can be to eat well (he says while helping himself to another questionable takeaway pizza) and whether you struggle to eat much fruit and veg or not, it’s worth making an attempt. Regardless, here’s a discount code for Kerry’s Fresh’s online fresh food shop. Go crazy!
This discount code is only available for use at www.kerrysfresh.co.uk. You cannot print it off and hand it in at a Kerry’s stall.
Jake Tenn
Image and featured image contributed by Kerry’s Fresh
