The Orange conundrum

How nice is to live in Valencia, drive through the lovely boulevards of orange trees when in blossom, the air smells wonderful, it is without a doubt the postcard of Valencia. I remember the day I found out that the difference between Cointreau and Triple Sec is that Cointreau oranges are from Valencia, internationally known as the best in the world.

But lately the Valencian Orange has been under threat; farmers are going to social media to get some attention as their entire productions are rotting under the trees. Do you know why? And, more importantly, do you understand the impact of this?

The reason is simple: we shop for our fruit and veg in supermarkets, supermarkets buy in big quantities to the best deal, the best deals usually come from third world countries where labour is almost free and standards of production and sustainability a nearly nonexistent. On top, add the transport, and resources used to bring them all the way here from afar, generating emissions and wasting supplies. We all have seen the lovely fresh juice machine in Mercadona, have we stop to think where those oranges come from? And also, while I’m on the subject, I would like to give you a tip, aside from the obvious use of plastic in the bottle you get your juice in, the way that machine juices, by squeezing the juice out by mashing it, makes the juice get in contact with the skin, where all the pesticides and toxics are. You may think you are getting a healthy option, but all around you are not.

So to help a little, we wanted to raise awareness, let you know that many neighbours are selling oranges at the doors, please just stop and purchase some, don’t let them go to waste.

Maybe people in Africa will also be able to eat their own produce if the West stops buying it for nearly nothing. Here I leave you a nice, orange sponge recipe, I made mine into muffins! Please help us look after our local farmers; they keep the food revolution alive!

Orange sponge

Ingredients

1 ¼ cup plant milk 1 tablespoon vinegar ½ cup brown sugar ¼ cup vegetable oil 2 ½ cup flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon baking powder ½ teaspoon salt Peel and juice of three oranges.

Instructions

-Preheat the oven at 170C -In a bow whisk the milk and vinegar. Set aside for 5 minutes. -Beat the sugar and oil. Add the orange juice and peel and beat some more. -In another bowl mix the dry ingredients. Add to the milk mixture. -Place in a greased cake pan and bake for about 30 minutes or until cake is set (15 minutes for muffins).