REVIEW BY HATTIE ELLIS

Charles Clover’s first book, The End of the Line (2004), revealed the catastrophic effects of overfishing and reached a wide audience through a powerful feature documentary. Now comes his follow-up, Rewilding the Sea, about the two decades since, and his journey from despair to action and hope, despite much jeopardy and formidable obstacles. 

The principle of rewilding is to leave nature alone to heal itself.  The book tells stories about how this has been done underwater, including South Coast examples in the restored kelp forests near Brighton and the Lyme Bay Fisheries and Conservation Reserve off the Dorset coast. lymebayreserve.co.uk 

NGOs (Non-governmental organisations) and ‘unofficial conservation’ show the way here, rather than governments. Clover is the co-founder of one. The Blue Marine Foundation (BLUE) is behind some ambitious marine eco-projects that help fishermen and conservationists work together, as well as being a good source of information and advocacy. bluemarinefoundation.com

THE FUTURE OF FISHING IS ARTISANAL, AS IT IS IN HASTINGS

The book focuses on the work Clover knows best through the foundation, accentuating the positive whilst also dramatising the nitty-gritty of change. The last chapter summarises his vision more broadly. He quotes the belief of the great fisheries scientist, Daniel Pauly, that the future of fishing is artisanal, as it is in Hastings. Fishing fleets in future will go out 40 miles at most, says Pauly, and the high seas must be left to allow eco-systems to flourish, providing a sustainable fishing industry. There is a bigger purpose to rewilding the sea: the climate catastrophe is entwined with the fate of the oceans because of their potential to store carbon.  However, the British government’s attitude to this science is still in ‘analysis by paralysis’, says Clover.

This is one of many hard problems to solve. Clover nets these mostly into one chapter, ‘Enemies of Progress’. There’s the size of the rapacious Chinese fishing fleet. Then he lays out the scandal of how governments around the world subsidise boats that fish destructively, particularly by trawling, and ‘dark fleets’ that turn off their tracking devices to avoid detection of illegal fishing (BLUE is doing some brilliant work challenging this via shipping insurance). In terms of the UK, there’s the lack of meaningful protection in so-called Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). Clover has gone from journalist to activist, calling most of the current MPAs ‘paper parks’; his name marks one of the large granite boulders dropped by Greenpeace in Dogger Bank in the middle of the North Sea to counteract the destructive trawlers breaking the law in one such area.

Still, a shift has happened since The End of the Line. Clover points out that in the 21st Century we’ve gone from just over one per cent of our oceans being protected to towards eight per cent. The aim is to get to at least 30 per cent. He thinks we have to make it happen in the next ten years.

GO SHOP WITH ‘THE BOYS ASHORE’ AT ROCK-A-NORE

The book’s angle is mostly about eco-systems and fishing rather than consumer choices. You have to try to draw your own conclusions about how it relates to what we buy in the shops, not least the way the EU’s distant-water fleet goes after tuna in the Indian Ocean; our fish is sourced globally and its provenance can be murky – another reason to go shop with ‘The Boys Ashore’ at Rock-a-Nore. What’s clear is that supporting activists and advocates is absolutely crucial to help bring about systemic change.

Overall, I finished the book feeling energised by how change can happen with patient and committed work even if it’s still a gleam of light rather than a certain bright future. 

The issues of the oceans are engagingly covered in a recent Writers Rebel event, Oceans on the Brink. It brings together a range of people and NGOs, including BLUE, and is anchored by Sussex-based novelist Laline Paull, whose marine-based novel POD has been longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction.
Available on YouTube:
youtube.com/live/Yq-pnabt4cA

By Hattie Ellis

Like the best shops, Good on Greens manages to cram an astonishing range of stock into a small space whilst giving everything room to sing.

The regular produce is well done and varied.  There aren’t just several kinds of spuds; you can choose between ‘dirty’ reds for 60p per kilo or washed for 80p.  Abundant seasonal fruit is as local as possible. Alongside is plenty of what greengrocers used to call ‘queer gear’: pak choi, beansprouts, smoked French garlic, turmeric root, Scotch bonnet chillies, acorn squash. Next year the shop will get supplies from organic growers Stonelynk from down the road in Fairlight. 

“Some people want fancy lettuces, their radicchios and lollo rossos and oak leaf, because they’re trying to do something really colourful,” says Mike. “Then you’ve got Mr Jones who wants a simple iceberg lettuce because he wants a bit in his sandwich or burger. We try to keep a little bit of something for everyone. It gives people a choice from the supermarkets: it’s fresh and it’s daily and it’s part of the community.”

This display takes Mike 1 ½ hours to put up every day; it’s all about getting produce at the right height and right place to catch the eye. Everything is then put carefully back in the chiller at the end of the day.

Prices are competitive. It’s a myth that supermarkets are always cheaper than small shops. Six Granny Smith apples are currently around 25p each in a bag of six in Tesco and Sainsbury’s and 20p at Good on Greens. And you can buy a single one of anything you want, not a plastic bagful.

Owner Mike Stanbridge

WAR ON PLASTIC

A big focus for Mike in his revamped shop is to get rid of as much plastic as possible, a move also done by Old Town greengrocers Hill & Coulter. Supermarkets argue that plastic saves waste, but this is down to bulk buying and long-supply chains that require extra shelf-life. He keeps his stock flowing and only keeps goods in plastic when strictly necessary, for example some salads.

The shopper plays their part. “For many years when you went into a shop it was just ‘I’ll have a bag, I’ll have a bag, I’ll have a bag’ – me included,” says Mike. “But if you make people think about it, there’s a change – and there has to be a change.”

Sturdy paper bags are on sale at Good on Greens for 20p if needed and Mike has ordered easy-to-carry crates that can contain the produce in the kitchen and then be re-used for shopping. 

Cutting down on waste has long been a priority. Canny shoppers and preservers can go to the shop to buy cheap grade-two produce for smoothies, jams and chutneys. Trimmings from cabbages, slightly damaged apples and other unsellable but edible goods go to a local pig farmer. 

Future plans include selling pulses, nuts and dry goods from free-flow dispensers, again avoiding plastic, and recipe cards to give ideas for the likes of butternut squash and cavolo nero. 

INDY SHOPS FOR COMMUNITY

Mike lives in St Leonards and came to the area nearly 25 years ago and has been in sales all his life. He began driving for Carrolls in 2016 and soon began managing their store. For the first three months he stood outside and made a point of saying “Hello” to everyone. At first it was met with silence – people are wary of change – but persistence and friendliness paid off. 

A steady stream of shoppers now arrives, each with their own needs. As we stand talking, one woman orders a box of fruit to be delivered to her mother’s care home. Mike offers a French customer a choice of red or green chicory. Another man gets what he needs for supper – he comes in three or four times a week. Gill from Clyde Vale tells me she’s delighted about the plastics policy. She used to return plastic wrapping to the managers in protest when she shopped in a supermarket. Many customers are glad the shop now takes card payment not just cash.

Another line of custom comes from owners of animals big and small. Seeds and feed are sold for birds and small pets while horse owners come in for parsnips, turnips and ‘horsey apples’. One regular gets two extra-large bunches of flat leaf parsley every week. “Her equine vet told her you couldn’t give anything better for the horse’s blood,” says Mike. The herbs are now kept fresh in containers of water, not plastic bags. 

Mike will deliver locally for £1, which helps older people in this hilly area, and he delivers Christmas veg boxes for free (see below). The local Sandown Primary School gets its fruit from the shop. 

 “If you want to become part of a small community, you have to show that you’re there to help them and support them,” says Mike. “And if you show people you’re willing and honest and give a good service, they will give back to you.”

CHRISTMAS BOXES

Fruit and veg are heavy, especially when you’re feeding a family and friends. A delivery, or picking up a ready-packed box, is one way to take the hassle out of Christmas holiday food shopping, as well as supporting a local business.

Demand for Mike’s Christmas veg and fruit boxes has grown from 19 when they started three years ago to more than 100 this year. You can pick up an order form from the shop and he will deliver free-of-charge up until 23rd December, with shop pick-ups until 24th December. 

•  Good on Greens, 466 Old London Road, Ore. Telephone 01424 437065; email GoodonGreens@yahoo.com. Open 6am to 6pm daily, closed Sunday.

By Hattie Ellis 

Seasonality, thrift, provenance and the best flavours all come together in preserving. A craft that once seemed a touch old-fashioned is now bang on trend.

Home-preserving brings out the hunter-gatherer – not just in hedgerows but also in shops.  I was delighted to find Mike in Carrolls Greengrocers in Ore, a man happy to help those in search of a bargain. In late summer, £13.50 got two full trays of ‘grade two’ produce: perfectly ripe and tasty fruit and veg with the odd bruise or visual flaw. 

A couple of kitchen sessions later, a shelf was satisfyingly laden with sweet-and-sour pineapple chutney, tomato and pepper spicy chutney, peach melba coulis, toffee apple curd and bottled plums.

Homemade jams are full of fruit and not bulked out with sugar. Chutneys are no longer murky over-vinegared sludges full of wizened sultanas – recipes now often pre-salt the main ingredients to get rid of some of the water for a quicker cook and fresher flavour. The produce might then be cooked with a tangy paste of garlic, ginger and spices, along with vinegar and sugar, to make vibrant-tasting and beautiful potfuls.

Some useful tips:
• No need for a jam pan, a large pan will do for small batches and two or three pots. Just make sure it isn’t more than half full. Jams bubble up; chutneys reduce down, but both contain hot sugar.
• A wide-necked funnel (sold by the excellent Chef’s Ware in Queen’s Road) is a handy bit of kit. It saves mess and loss as you pour or ladle your preserves into the pots, especially whole fruit jams, marmalades and chutneys.
• Jars can be reused but try to keep separate lids for sweet and vinegary preserves. Modern twist-on lids form a good seal and are better than plastic lids, for example from old coffee jars, which won’t have the same good seal and risk spoilage.
• Don’t use a wax disc to cover the preserve – these date back to the days of cellophane and a lack of an air-tight seal.
• Play around with different types of sugar, honey and different vinegars to add special layers of flavour.

How to sterilise jars

Sterilise jars and lids by washing and then drying them, open-side up, in a 120°Fan/140°C oven, or put them through the dishwasher (set at minimum 60°C) shortly before they are needed.

Fill sterilised jars right to the brim when both jar and preserve are hot and seal immediately with a twist-on lid. As it cools, the air contracts and forms a vacuum which keeps the preserve. 

Setting point

To get the best spreadable texture, jam must reach setting point through a chemical reaction between the sugar with the pectin and acid in your ingredients. Pectin is the natural gel-like substance in the cell walls of fruits and is higher in some than others (cooking apples, damsons, quinces and redcurrants are high; strawberries and pears are low – a decent preserves cookbook will give a chart showing pectin and acid). Recipes add citrus juice and pectin-rich fruits to low-pectin and low-acid fruits such as strawberries to help them set.

A digital or jam thermometer shows setting point (generally 103°C-104°C) but this is strangely less fail-proof than knowing from experience what the bubbles look like when the jam is ready and, crucially, using the gel test. Chill a saucer in the freezer and drop on some jam. Leave for a minute and then push it with your finger. You want a light wrinkle, not a thick ridge. 

Jam will continue to set in the pot for a couple of days. If it’s still runny, then you can reboil it and retest for setting point.