Aesthetically pleasing foreign varieties are usurping the English apple – it’s time to fight back, says Professor David Bellamy
Throughout my life I have made it my business to promote conservation and campaign to save endangered plant species.
The sad truth is that every year countless varieties become extinct. Here in Britain, one variety needs all our support - the English apple.
Traditional English apple varieties are a vital part of our agricultural heritage and a national institution, but they have become endangered. Recent news coverage around the decline of the Cox's Orange Pippin is just the tip of the iceberg a more serious decline and possible extinction faces more than 50 less well-known, but equally valuable, English apple varieties.
In 1972 there were 55,000 acres of eating apple orchards in Britain but by 2010 this had fallen to just 4,886. Their demise has been mainly caused by a lack of demand. Britons simply prefer to buy more aesthetically pleasing, foreign varieties of apple because they look better in their fruit bowls.
A recent consumer survey revealed 45% of people buy apples based on looks alone meaning odd-looking but better-tasting English apples are being neglected. Just as worrying is the amount of consumer confusion about which varieties are English. Three-quarters of the population think the Granny Smith is an English apple when in fact it's Australian.
The study also revealed that there are many different varieties of English apple that people are completely unaware of. Only 11% of Britons were able to identify English varieties such as the Ribston Pippin, Egremont Russet and James Grieve. On a more positive note, 65% of Britons are actively concerned about the plight of English apple varieties and that gives me a huge sense of relief and optimism.
When Copella approached me about being part of their Plant & Protect campaign in conjunction with the National Trust, I jumped at the chance. I was delighted to be able to help launch this great campaign just recently in the Suffolk countryside at Boxford farm, where Copella has been pressing apple juice from hand-picked apples for more than 40 years. With five English apple varieties and 3lbs of fruit in every litre, they are as passionate as I am about preserving our national fruit and they are prepared to put their investment and support behind doing something about it.
The campaign is encouraging everyone to show their support for national apples: whether it's choosing English over foreign varieties in the supermarkets, hunting down unusual varieties at farmers markets and orchards, planting an endangered variety in their garden or pledging support at www.copellafruitjuices.co.uk. Copella will make a donation for the planting and protecting of apples at English National Trust orchards and over the next couple of years it aims to plant 25,000 apple trees across England. This will go a very long way to helping secure the future of these threatened species for many, many years to come.
It would be a crying shame to see English apple varieties die out and I for one am not prepared to simply sit back and watch that happen.
Supporting homegrown industry is always a favourable choice and if we all make it our business to help save the English apple we can ensure they are available for future generations of Britons to enjoy.
Professor David Bellamy is a botanist, writer, broadcaster and supporter of the Copella Plant & Protect campaign.
Throughout my life I have made it my business to promote conservation and campaign to save endangered plant species.
The sad truth is that every year countless varieties become extinct. Here in Britain, one variety needs all our support - the English apple.
Traditional English apple varieties are a vital part of our agricultural heritage and a national institution, but they have become endangered. Recent news coverage around the decline of the Cox's Orange Pippin is just the tip of the iceberg a more serious decline and possible extinction faces more than 50 less well-known, but equally valuable, English apple varieties.
In 1972 there were 55,000 acres of eating apple orchards in Britain but by 2010 this had fallen to just 4,886. Their demise has been mainly caused by a lack of demand. Britons simply prefer to buy more aesthetically pleasing, foreign varieties of apple because they look better in their fruit bowls.
A recent consumer survey revealed 45% of people buy apples based on looks alone meaning odd-looking but better-tasting English apples are being neglected. Just as worrying is the amount of consumer confusion about which varieties are English. Three-quarters of the population think the Granny Smith is an English apple when in fact it's Australian.
The study also revealed that there are many different varieties of English apple that people are completely unaware of. Only 11% of Britons were able to identify English varieties such as the Ribston Pippin, Egremont Russet and James Grieve. On a more positive note, 65% of Britons are actively concerned about the plight of English apple varieties and that gives me a huge sense of relief and optimism.
When Copella approached me about being part of their Plant & Protect campaign in conjunction with the National Trust, I jumped at the chance. I was delighted to be able to help launch this great campaign just recently in the Suffolk countryside at Boxford farm, where Copella has been pressing apple juice from hand-picked apples for more than 40 years. With five English apple varieties and 3lbs of fruit in every litre, they are as passionate as I am about preserving our national fruit and they are prepared to put their investment and support behind doing something about it.
The campaign is encouraging everyone to show their support for national apples: whether it's choosing English over foreign varieties in the supermarkets, hunting down unusual varieties at farmers markets and orchards, planting an endangered variety in their garden or pledging support at www.copellafruitjuices.co.uk. Copella will make a donation for the planting and protecting of apples at English National Trust orchards and over the next couple of years it aims to plant 25,000 apple trees across England. This will go a very long way to helping secure the future of these threatened species for many, many years to come.
It would be a crying shame to see English apple varieties die out and I for one am not prepared to simply sit back and watch that happen.
Supporting homegrown industry is always a favourable choice and if we all make it our business to help save the English apple we can ensure they are available for future generations of Britons to enjoy.
Professor David Bellamy is a botanist, writer, broadcaster and supporter of the Copella Plant & Protect campaign.
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