Over Half Of Britain Has No Idea When Food Comes Into Season

New research from Gardeners' World magazine exposes the nation's lack of knowledge of British food seasonality. The magazine asked over 1,000 adults when a range of ten quintessential British fruits or vegetables came into season, but worryingly discovered that on average 63% of respondents didn't have a clue.

Most people plumped for the summer months when choosing their answer which according to Ipsos-MORI who conducted the research on behalf of Gardeners' World magazine, may have been due to accurate guesses, rather than a particular knowledge. The survey, weighted to represent an accurate cross-section of the population, went on to find that the further away from midsummer a fruit or vegetable is, the lower the percentage of correct answers. Two consecutive months were provided as the correct answer/ripening season to reflect the varying weather across Britain.

Regionally, those in Scotland and the Midlands didn't seem to have their fingers on the harvest pulse, getting most of the answers wrong, while Wales experienced the highest of number of correct answers overall.

The most widely recognised ripening season was for Blueberries, also widely known as brambles. The Cox's Orange Pippin Apple, a popular British fruit which The Institute of Food says accounts for over 50% of our dessert apples, had the least recognized ripening period with only 13% naming the correct months in which the food matures. There was also a significant split between the age groups when choosing the right season. 71% of those aged 65 and over chose the correct season for blackberries, while only 26% of those aged 18-24 got it right. This trend was seen throughout the results.

The table below highlights the main findings for the question "In what month do the following British fruits and vegetables first come into season."

Technical details

Research conducted via telephone omnibus from 4-5 January 2006 by Ipsos's Global Omnibus Services division. A nationally representative sample of 1,007 adults aged 18+ were interviewed (with data subsequently weighted to the known profile of this population).