The ‘vegetable shortage’ will continue to exercise many minds. The scarcity of courgettes has been particularly prominent in the media. When they are available, they are expensive. But have all vegetables become that expensive? What about ‘our own winter vegetables’ such as chicory and the cabbages? Are these priced as normal, or do they also profit from the higher price levels of other products?
Plenty of chicory
There are plenty of outdoor vegetables, such as cabbage and chicory. One response at agf.nl: “Fortunately, there is plenty of chicory available, fresh every day, and locally grown. It is excellent as a winter vegetable, in hotchpotch and as a stir-fry. If you did not know that before, now is your opportunity,” according to Gerald Langerak, Nieuwe Niedorp.
Auction prices in Belgium on 23 January:
Chicory: 80 cent per kilogram
White cabbage: 40 cent per head
Red cabbage: 90 cent per head
Green cabbage: Fives 1.10, sixes 85 cent
Sprouts: 1 euro per kilogram
Leek: 1.05 per kilogram
Celeriac: sixes 45 cent per head
Prices higher than in previous years
A Belgian trader explains: “These vegetable prices would sooner be normal compensations for winter vegetables, the exception being red and green cabbage. But these prices are considerably higher when compared to previous years. Chicory, leek, sprouts and celeriac experienced very low prices in recent years, as a result of the warm winters and high productions.”
Sofie Lambrecht: follow the rhythm of the seasons
Plenty of other vegetables are supplied by BelOrta. Sofie Lambrecht writes on LinkedIn that the auction still has plenty of winter vegetables available. “Sprouts, chicory, savoy, white and red cabbage, leek, mushrooms, Chinese cabbage, but also forgotten vegetables, such as Jerusalem artichoke, turnip and parsnip.” She continues: “Don’t feel like eating cabbages all winter? That is not a problem, because Belgian producers also offer butterhead lettuce, other types of lettuce and tomatoes in winter. Thanks to the most modern cultivation techniques used for this, we as consumers have the luxury of eating tasty products from our own soil year-round. Buy local and seasonal fruit and vegetables in coming weeks. Go back to living with the rhythm of the seasons for a bit again, and you will be rewarded with good flavour and incomparable freshness.”
Pierre Wind buys cheap sprouts
Pierre Wind wondered whether all vegetables had become more expensive, or just the ones from Spain at Omroep West. He asked greengrocer Rick Mos. “Many vegetables are expensive now, but not all. The cheapest product I have now is sprouts.” Pierre will start using them in the kitchen. Please click here to watch the video of Omroep West.
