Half of Brits Don’t Know Where and How Most of the Veg They Eat is Grown

Know Your Onions? Half of Brits Don’t Know Where and How Most of the Veg They Eat is Grown and 1.4m Think Onions Are Grown on Trees

• New research from Ginsters has revealed that one in four Brits don’t know how or where celery is grown.
• This comes despite 60% wanting to learn more, and four in five (80%) feeling like they need to take a keener interest in the ingredients used in the food they eat.
• To help show Brits exactly where their food originates, Ginsters is launching a ‘Sow Your Own Slice’ service allowing people to immerse themselves in a ‘field-to-fork’ journey and have onions and potatoes grown on their behalf at its farm in Cornwall. Once their veg is harvested, their slices will be delivered to their door in personalised packs.

New research from Ginsters has revealed that many Brits in fact don’t know their onions, as nearly half (47%) admit to having poor or patchy knowledge of how the veg they eat is grown. A fifth (20%) have never seen a vegetable grow at all, with 79% saying they have never personally grown a vegetable from seed to harvest, and one in ten (11%) having only ever seen their grandparents with green fingers.

Brits aged between 45 and 54 were found to be among the least savvy, with 58% admitting to not knowing where most of the produce in their food comes from, compared to just 35% of over-75s, and even Generation Z at 47%.

Amongst the vegetables people are most in the dark about, celery comes out top, with almost one in four (24%) Brits not sure of where or how it grows. Celery is followed by mushrooms (18%), courgettes (17%), swedes (16%) and onions (10%). Potatoes and carrots can breathe a sigh of relief however, as just 4% of the nation respectively is unsure about how they are grown.

How many UK adults think these vegetables grow on trees?

Source: Ginsters

When it comes to how long things take to grow, the picture gets even worse. Nearly half (42%) admit to being ‘clueless’ as to how long it takes vegetables to grow, with 86% getting the answer to how long it takes potatoes to grow (12-14 weeks) wrong.

But when asked about their lack of knowledge, over half (58%) of Brits confess that they wish they knew more about where the food they eat comes from and how produce is grown, and four in five (80%) feel as a society we need to take a keener interest in the ingredients used in the food we eat.

Regionally, those living in Greater London are the worst off, with nearly three quarters (73%) wishing they knew more about where their food comes from. Meanwhile, those in the East Midlands feel the most connected to the earth – with just over half (53%) feeling the need to deepen their knowledge.

To help Brits grow their knowledge and get them involved in the field-to-fork journey of its range of slices, Ginsters is launching an exclusive ‘Sow Your Own Slice’ service that reveals the growing, harvesting and baking process of their slices. The service will give people the opportunity to have potato and onion seeds sown on their behalf at Hay Farm, the very farm which supplies local vegetables for the Ginsters range. Once grown, and after receiving updates along the way, the vegetables will be harvested and then handmade into delicious slices before arriving to them in a personalised pack.

Sarah Babb from Ginsters said: “At Ginsters we’re proud of the fact that we source many of the ingredients for our products, from our neighbours at Hay Farm in Cornwall. We hope that our ‘Sow Your Own Slice’ service will not only take people back to the roots of fresh food and open people’s eyes to how the veggies we eat are grown, but also allow them to experience the field-to-fork journey of the ingredients in Ginsters Slices, from the planting of the veggies to a perfectly baked and delicious pastry for them to heat at home and enjoy.”

Jeremy Oatey, Farmer at Hay Farm said: “My team at Hay Farm works hard all year round growing the freshest local vegetables for all Ginsters products, no matter how the British weather treats us. As we’re so close to it, it’s easy to forget that not everyone knows where these vegetables come from and how they’re grown, so I’m pleased that with Ginsters, we’re able to shine a ‘spud-light’ on this apparently rare knowledge.”

The limited-edition service will be open from 22nd February. Those who wish to sign up should visit the Ginsters website and enter their details along with selecting which Ginsters Slices they would like to receive from the choice of Peppered Steak, Chicken & Mushroom and Cheese & Onion.

Top UK cities who wish they knew more about where their food comes from:

1. London: 73%
2. Manchester and Birmingham: 61%
3. Liverpool: 60%
4. Belfast: 59%
5. Sheffield: 57%