Here are a series of images that illustrate the complexity, diversity and sheer scale of our food supply network.
Dishes made by Michelin starred chefs
@KJHannaford’s lunch one day during rehearsals for the Food Futures performance at the MAC on 27th September
A ppt slide from Bill Finch-Savage of the Warwick Crop Centre shown on their Open Day on 25th September 2014. In BBSRC-funded work, they’re trying to understand molecular interactions that are crucial to seed vigour and crop establishment. They know a great deal about the molecular basis of the regulation of germination — and know there’s a great deal more to know.
A potato planting machine in action
The central visitor hall of the Millennium Seed Bank, housed in the Wellcome Trust Millennium Building in the grounds of Wakehurst Place in West Sussex. It is part of an international conservation project coordinated by the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew.
A Cargolux Boeing 747-400F with the nose loading door open
Freight being loaded on to an airplane along with supplies for in-flight catering
Less than 10% of our food imports come as air freight. Food is heavy stuff, so only time-critical produce comes via plane; some exotic fruits that have to be sun-ripened, for example.
A crassostrea gigas oyster from Marennes in the Charente Maritime department of France
The world’s largest seed is from a palm tree, coco de mer. It weighs up to 18kg. This image is taken from the Herbarium website, part of the University of Reading — school visits welcome!
More info about the plant is here; among other matters, this wiki entry tells us that it is used as flavour enhancers for soups in southern Chinese cuisine.
An employee checks an automated sorting area the immense Sainsbury’s depot.
Kate Cooper’s (in)famous amended baked bin tin label. The original gave, of course, an individual’s GDA (guideline daily amount). As Birmingham has approximately 1M citizens, we can easily estimate the GDA for the whole city, as shown in this image
An image by Bill Finch-Savage of the Warwick Crop Centre, showing the morphological diversity of crop seeds
Seeds or ‘time capsules’ as Bill Finch-Savage of the Warwick Crop Centre describes them
A supermarket in Ashton-under-Lyne, Great Manchester
Meat packaging in a Rome supermarket
Cattle at pasture
@KJHannaford singing a song to the market traders at Birmingham Wholesale Markets
A tea plantation in Sri Lanka
A wheat threshing machine in action
Apples. Photograph taken by @KJHannaford for the Food Futures performance at the MAC on 27th September
Ardossan grain silos
Battery hens in Sao Paulo, Brazeil
Industrial cheese production
Albutan Dod, a modern Spanish tuna purse seiner in the Seychelles Islands
A small shrimp trawler
An exchange at the Birmingham Wholesale Markets. Image taken by @KJHannaford for the Food Futures performance at the MAC on 27th September
Boxes of vegetables at Birmingham Wholesale Markets. Image taken by @KJHannaford for the Food Futures performance at the MAC on 27th September
