Would you buy food from a fake farm?

Quite right, John. This topic only arrived today, only 2 commenters spoke before your query, no obvious poll buttons, and yet (still) 185 people have cast their “vote”.

Perhaps the NFU had a preview, or the Which? office. I’m sure there is a simple explanation though.

The main thrust of the NFU’s argument seems to be that UK-sounding names – Boswell Farm for example – might be used on a foreign-sourced product. I would certainly agree that this is misleading if the country of origin is not very prominently shown.

Not very good at polling in this country are we?!!

Hello John, apologies for this poll being temporarily closed, I reopened the poll but didn’t spot your comment to say so.

Hi Malcolm, the poll was temporarily open for a short period last Thursday and collected 185 votes in that period. It was my oversight for not re-opening the poll for Saturday’s publishing date. The poll is open now.

@ldeitz, thanks Lauren. As the Convo didn’t start until 30th, where was the poll taken?

Hi Malcolm, the poll was live on Convo – you’ll see the polls rotate on the homepage or to the side of every convo , the votes are only from people visiting Convo and the poll will still register your vote even though it was closed and re-opened.

@ldeitz, thanks Lauren

Aunt Bessie’s Yorkshire puddings used to be [and might still be made in Norfolk]. They’re not really puddings either as I understand the term.

I can only speak for Tesco because I have not seen any other supermarket ‘fake farm’ branding; I can confirm that the country of origin is clearly shown on the packaging. Perhaps the other companies don’t perceive they have an image problem and so are more than happy to trade under their own name.

The country of origin details are important. Some fruits and vegetables are not [or cannot be] produced in the UK so I wish to know which country the imports are from. Spain [including the Canaries] produces a vast amount of fruit and salads but little of outstanding quality. France and Italy are our favoured producers of soft fruits like peaches, nectarines, and grapes so we check before buying.

I have noticed an increasing amount of local [Norfolk] produce in Tesco and Morrison’s lately.

E I E I O!

Looked at yesterday’s shopping basket and all items show where the product was made or packed and the source of the ingredients – such as Irish mushrooms, Honduras Prawns, North Atlantic haddock, Peruvian avocados….. i’m happy that if I find that information important, it is there to see.

Thanks for the Thomas Hardy reference Beryl – I don’t recall it myself but I expect it’s from one of the Wessex novels. I should be interested to know where the inspiration came from.

There are a number of Rosedene Farms around the country possibly also inspired by a place in Hardy’s Wessex. There are also some Redmere Farms. I wonder what the farmers think of Tesco using their names in a misleading manner. I haven’t bought any of these products because I prefer to buy fruit in packaging with the actual grower’s name and location [and the specific variety] declared. I hadn’t realised they were their economy version – with fruit that is never a good buy and Tesco’s fruit is some way down the taste & flavour scale anyway in my opinion

I wonder where this sort of falsification sits in the “Legal, Decent, Honest, Truthful” motto of the Advertising Standards Authority.

Sophie – I agree that we need to tackle the problem of ‘fresh’ food being transported long distances, but the governments don’t like to interfere with free trade and I expect that the majority of consumers would put freedom of choice above environmental considerations.

The fake farm names are less of a problem, but I’m not keen on the misrepresentation that pervades advertising and other forms of marketing. As you say, it’s difficult to draw the line and marketing has gradually pushed the boundaries of what we will accept without complaint. I have bought fruit & veg branded Rosedene etc when there is no local produce but as a Scot I have no intention of buying anything branded Lochmuir.

Increasingly we are informed of where British fruit & veg are grown and if this information is honest, it is a welcome form of marketing, even if the aim is to encourage us to pay more.

My apologies to Sophie and Beryl for getting your names muddled up in my post at 11:21 today.

Cheers, John.

My turn to apologise, to those whose farms are called Rosedene and thinking immediately that the name was fake. My excuse is the context, and I guess supermarket tactics have made me over suspicious and cynical over the years. A good thing in a lot of cases but perhaps not in all.

Maybe the British Rosedene farms could turn this to their advantage. I hope so.

If enough people felt strongly enough about buying beans and flowers from Africa, fruit from South America, meat from the Antipodes……..and stopped buying them there might be some impact. As usual, voting with your feet – or lack of – perhaps shows the lack of real support for these proposals.

For the same reason, people continue to take cars into city centres despite serious air pollution. You and I might avoid doing this but it won’t help if everyone else does.

At least there is plenty of British and even locally produced food in the shops at the moment.

Although we sometimes buy Kenyan runner beans during the year we cannot wait to enjoy UK runner beans when they come into season shortly; they are simply the best. Same with Cox apples – the NZ ones just haven’t quite got the nutty bite and tang of the English produce [perfect with a medium Cheddar cheeze]. Coming next on my seasonal agenda are English Victoria plums and greengages which are also beyond compare.

Our local produce at the moment is cucumbers and tomatoes from the greenhouse, runner and broad beans from the veg. plot, raspberries, and just waiting for sweetcorn. If you’ve never grown the latter I think it is unbeatable; easy to grow, takes up little room and as the sugar starts turning to starch as soon as it is picked you can pop it in the saucepan straight from the garden and get the most sweet and delicious starter – lots of butter for us. All under the Home Farm brand (apart from the butter. 🙂

You are forgiven for that slight oversight John. Beryl incidentally does happen to be my first name, it is not fake but I am more widely known by my second name which has to remain confidential for Which?Convo.

Back to topic, I tend to avoid buying fresh fruit and veg in packages if possible but I have noticed lately how tasteless eating apples have become so have switched to organic which seem to have more flavour, which begs the question, do fake package names also apply to organic fruit and veg?