Why We Need To Pay Attention To Our Tomatoes Supplier

If the food that you eat is going to do the job that it is meant to do, then it should be as fresh as possible and of as high a quality as you can afford. On hot summer days when all that you really want to eat is a cool, refreshing salad, then you need some lovely ripe and juicy tomatoes to go with it.

The tomato is a basic foodstuff that we tend to take for granted. Apart from the fact that this particular fruit is so great in a salad it is also a basic ingredient in many time honored dishes. How could you possibly imagine spaghetti Bologna without its tomato sauce base or bacon and eggs without tomatoes. Most people enjoy tomatoes, even though they may not be up to speed with the various types of tomato, they like the taste and enjoy the flavor that it adds to so many dishes.

Tomato growers like to be able to take pride in the tomatoes that they grow. Vegex recognizes this pride and takes care of the tomato at every stage of its production, from the time the seed goes into ground, to the time the tomatoes are picked, cleaned and packed away, you know that you are getting quality food. Tomato growers don’t just cherish the fruit for the home market they also like to know that they are sending out quality food to a tomato export firm.

Whether you like the ordinary tomato that you see on most fruit and vegetable stalls, or you prefer the larger, beef tomato, or the smaller, plum tomato, you will want your tomatoes to be firm and juicy. There are so many different ways that you can cook tomatoes, either fried or grilled with bacon, or baked with lamb chops; there are very few people who don’t eat tomatoes at all.

Some tomatoes are especially grown to be picked and then canned. Very often it is the canned tomatoes that are exported, although in the UK it is quite usual to see fresh tomatoes that come from Spain or Italy. Tomatoes tend to grow better in a warm and sunny climate, but if they are grown and nurtured in a greenhouse, they often do just as well. You can do so many different things with tomatoes that it is not surprising that they are packaged in different ways. In the supermarkets and the open markets you can buy fresh, loose tomatoes by the kilo, or you can buy them already boxed and packaged.

You can get tinned tomatoes and pureed tomatoes, both of which are great for using in sauces or to add a bit of extra  flavor to almost any meatdish. You can also buy tomato juice and many people swear by a mixture of tomato juice and vodka as a great hangover cure.

Tomato growers take a lot of time and care to ensure that people get quality food that is as fresh as possible. Obviously tomato exports are not as fresh as home grown tomatoes, because of the distance they have to travel before they even reach your local store.

It seems that we will always need tomato growers and quality tomatoes, if we want to eat many of our favorite dishes. Tomatoes are also a great source of vitamin C, which is an essential ingredient in any healthy diet.

Tips for Greener Travel

Public transport
Public transport is cheap, easy to use and efficient, and can take you almost anywhere you need to go. As a general rule buses are cheaper than trains for longer journeys, but do take much more time to arrive at their destinations as
they take many detours to pick up and drop off passengers along the route.  Subways systems are the quickest and cheapest ways to travel around major cities, and you can get season tickets that will make it even cheaper if you use
the routes regularly.

Hotel Rooms
Hotels generally keep their heating on all the time during cooler weather, which can be too warm sometimes if it has been a mild day, so you can make your stay greener by turning down your radiator at night and making sure the
television and electricity appliances are off when you leave the room.  Also make sure you take your own toiletries with you and avoid using the mini soaps and shampoos provided as these cannot be reused and will just be thrown away when the maid cleans your room.

Waste
Always put any waste you have when travelling in the nearest public bin, or carry it with you until you find somewhere to dispose of it properly.  Try and use rechargeable batteries for your camera and other equipment where
possible.

Support Local Trade
If you stop anywhere during your stay then instead of buying food from supermarkets try and use local farmers markets or store to help support the local economy and save on food miles.

Be Greener – Buy Local

We are all responsible for the area we live in, and this means supporting local businesses to ensure there are jobs and futures for all our communities. Buying local can also be a much greener way of living, as huge amounts of pollution is caused by transporting food around the world, and a lot of the produce in your nearest supermarket including cheese, meat and fruit will have travelled hundreds of miles to get to the shelf.

Local Farmers Markets
Farmers markets are growing in popularity in the UK, and you can find excellent produce from the local area in most cities and towns these days. Vegetables can even be cheaper from these markets, and have a much longer shelf life as they are fresh, and haven’t been in transit for days before they get to you. Meat from farmers markets is often a lot more expensive, because the animals are not commercially produced, but instead raised using more traditional and sometimes more organic methods. If you are worried about the extra cost then try to choose the cheaper cuts of meat such as braising steak, breast of lamb etc, which need to be cooked more slowly but result in tasty, filling meals.

Vegetable Boxes
Many organic fruit and vegetable producers have box services, which will deliver an assortment of seasonal vegetables to your door each week. Not only is this a good way to support you local businesses and save on food miles, it is also an excellent way of introducing new vegetables into your diet and eating more healthily.

Tips on How to Be More Eco Friendly

Small changes to your lifestyle can make you and your family much ‘greener’ and every little bit helps when it comes to changing attitudes towards issues such as global warming and pollution. Here are a few green tips that are easy to implement, and could actually save you money as well.

Drinks Cans
Soft drinks such as cola, lemonade and orangeade often come in aluminium cans that are easy and cost effective to recycle. Many UK high streets now have separate can bins, so look out for these or take the cans home with you to put in your own recycling bin.

Local Shops
If you have a shop within walking distance, invest in some strong bags and walk there to get small essentials such as milk and bread. This saves fuel and carbon pollution, and is also much less stressful than navigating around the supermarket when you only want a few things.

Freeze it
If you need to drive quite far to get to your nearest supermarket or farm shop, then limit your trips to around once a week, and buy enough that you can freeze and use during the meantime to save fuel and reduce your carbon footprint.

Save Fuel
Every time you go out to your car, think very carefully whether the trip is necessary or not. If you use your car to go to work, see if there are any car sharing opportunities at work, or have a look at using public transport or even waking or cycling if it is not too far.

Household Waste Recycling Tips

Over 50% of most people’s household waste can be recycled, and this includes glass bottles, drinks cans, plastic food wrapping and paper. Kitchen and garden waste such as vegetable peelings and hedge clippings can also be made into compost, and if you don’t have a garden yourself then many councils are now offering garden waste collection (for a small additional fee), which are then fed onto the councils compost heaps used for municipal gardens and borders.

Here a few tips on how to recycle more effectively and reduce the amount of waste your household produces:

• All UK councils now provide recycled collections every fortnight, but some of these can exclude items such as glass or aluminium. Set up an extra bin or box for those items that are not collected from your door, and take them to your local recycling centre yourself once a month.
• Kitchen Waste – shopping every day can reduce food waste by as much as 50%, as you will only buy what you need for that day, and vegetables and fruit will not go off. Weigh everything you cook carefully, to avoid leftovers that
• could be thrown away and wasted, and try to cook craftily and use up foods that maybe going out of date such as bread, which can be made into a breadcrumb topping or bread and butter pudding.
• Junk Mail – nearly 80% of junk mail gets thrown in the bin without being read, so contact the Mail Preference Service and get your name taken off the marketing mailing lists, to reduce junk mail to your address.
• Buy recycled packaging and paper whenever possible, as this supports the recycling chain and helps to save materials such as wood and fuel.