Blueberries are quite expensive, but many people buy them in punnets, and if not eaten, this causes food waste. Those who buy blueberries throw away around 336 each year, due to buying too many (most are sold pre-packaged) or not eating them quickly enough.
Homemade Blueberry Compote (The Simple Veganista) is a great way to use up leftover berries. You can cook up fresh or frozen berries with lemon and sugar, to make a tasty topping for porridge, pancakes or vegan ice-cream.
To sterilise jars, put jars, lids and rubber seals on hot dishwasher cycle (fill with hot water, while warm). Or wash in hot soapy water, and ‘cook’ in pre-heated oven (to 160 degrees C) for 15 minutes (again fill with hot water, while still warm). Only put hot jam into hot jars, to avoid thermal shock.
Only rinse blueberries just before eating (the ‘silvery bloom’ is what protects them). Once bought, they only keep in the fridge for a few days.
Why Are blueberries so popular?
Blueberries have soared in popularity in recent years, their sweet taste meaning so-called affluent ‘yummy mummies’ feed them as a ‘healthy treat’ to children. People on diets often ‘pop some blueberries’ as a snack, over a slab of chocolate or cake!
Pack’d sells organic frozen blueberries (certified by the UK Soil Association) in paper packaging. This is a good way to avoid plastic punnets, support organic farming and avoid food waste.
However, although they can be grown in England (the season is from July to November), farmers have mostly given up growing them, as they have been squeezed out by cheap imports. Today, nearly all punnets sold in supermarkets are from Peru (which also has cold winters).
One farmer gave his surplus crop to charity, and is now consider selling off his land for building development. This is what happens, when parents choose expensive imported fruit, instead of local organic produce.
We looked up the ‘finest’ range of blueberries from a major supermarket online, and found that the punnet contained a combination of fruits from ‘Chile, Egypt, Spain, Morocco, Peru, Portugal, South Africa and Zimbabwe and UK’ .
Why so, if this high-priced item could be supplied by local farmers? And they aren’t even organic, with reviews like ‘squishy and tasteless’.
