Head over to our My Planet section to win lovely ethical and green prizes. If you're a SmartPlanet member, entering a competition takes just two clicks.
Outspoken celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay has emerged as an unlikely planet saviour. Talking to the BBC, he said that all fruit and veg served in restaurants should be locally sourced and in season in order to cut carbon emissions and improve cooking standards. For good measure, he added that any restaurants not serving seasonal food should be fined.
"I don't want to see asparagus on in the middle of December. I don't want to see strawberries from Kenya in the middle of March. I want to see it home grown," the TV chef said.
Ramsay's not treating the subject matter with a pinch of salt. He's already talked to Gordon Brown about outlawing non-seasonal fruit and vegetables and hits out at chefs who don't follow the seasons, calling them lazy and lacking the creativity to work with seasonal grub.
Unlikely hero or not, we love Ramsay's passion for local and seasonal food and his idea of fining out-of-season restaurants is bonkers but interesting. Still, we certainly need clearer guidelines of what counts as 'seasonal'.
After all, his own restaurants don't exactly stick to his rule. We ate asparagus and raspberries at Gordon Ramsay's Maze in early March -- it was on the Chef Table's set menu -- and while we thoroughly enjoyed them, we'd be surprised to learn they were locally sourced and in season.
What do you think? Has Ramsay lost his marbles, or is he onto something? Let us know in the comments below.
Photo: Dave Pullig
09 May 2008 12:24pm
Ummm... whatever happened to free choice? Ramsay's bang-on in principle -- all restaurants *should* use seasonal food, but surely the market should decide?
If enough diners demand local and seasonal food across the nation, then surely those restaurants serving seasonal food will prosper and the others importing Strawberries in winter will suffer. Fining restaurants would be impractical to implement and draconian in the least.
09 May 2008 12:42pm
I?m tempted to use the F word here, but that?s not my character. We agree seasonal is best but perhaps Mr. Ramey?s gone a little too far. In fact we should stop importing food all together and forget about all the small farming cooperatives that benefit from much needed import revenues and lets forget about the chocolate and all the exotic spices he uses in his cooking and that cant be grown in this country, think he should be fined for saying it!
09 May 2008 01:38pm
Here's some of his seasonal veg that we pulled off his menu's:
avocados,French beans,shallots,apples,William pears,pineapples,yellowtail tuna,sweetcorn,cucumbers,wild mushrooms,artichokes,butternut squash,parsnips,tomatos and Jerusalem artichokes just to name a few!!
Words going around in our heads are TRY AGAIN MR RAMSEY!!
09 May 2008 03:45pm
forget it. if its not grown/made in the UK im not eating it. Go Gordon! Any of you who eat from restaurants serving unseasonal, imported food are indirectly harming the environment by increasing the demand for foreign produce and shouldnt consider yourselves eco-friendly consumers.
Please note: Your email address must be entered but will not be displayed
Please note: All submitted content becomes the sole property of CNET Networks UK and may be used, edited or rejected at CNET Networks UK's sole discretion. You acknowledge that you, not CNET Networks UK, are responsible for the contents of your submission.
Head over to our My Planet section to win lovely ethical and green prizes. If you're a SmartPlanet member, entering a competition takes just two clicks.
