When you sit down on December 25th to enjoy your Christmas Dinner, consider the fact it’s taken a whopping forty two weeks to get from field to fork, or 295 days, seven hours and 12 minutes to be exact.
Morrisons questioned its farmers to discover how long it takes to produce the essential ingredients required for the most important meal of the year, and asked diners how long it takes to clear their festive plates. The supermarket discovered the average Brit polishes off turkey and all the trimmings - and a spot of Christmas pud - in just 30 minutes and 44 seconds, compared to Britain’s farmers ten month labour of love raising turkeys, potatoes, carrots, parsnips, sprouts and pigs in blankets for the big day. That’s a growth to consumption ratio of 13,836 seconds to one.
Morrisons research also revealed UK households spend the best part of a working day getting their ducks – or turkeys – in a row for the festive feast, with an average of three hours and 30 minutes spent shopping for the food and three hours and 42 minutes in the kitchen cooking the meal. This equates to 178 million hours spent by the nation preparing for the biggest dinner of the year.
The quickest Christmas dinner scoffers live in the East Midlands, clearing their plates in 25 minutes flat. They even finish their Christmas dinner before the rest of Britain begins, sitting down at 1.40pm compared to the national average of 2.25pm – finishing just in time to watch the Queen’s speech.
Morrisons fresh produce manager Adrian Ford said: “We don’t just grow food, we nurture it. Every sprout, spud and turkey destined for the Christmas table is cultivated with care over months and months to guarantee the most important meal of the year delivers on flavour and freshness. Christmas Dinner might be only half an hour long for most British families, but we make sure every minute – and every mouthful – counts.”
Published 06/12/2011
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Morrisons Growth to Consumption Shopping List
Product
Time taken from planting to harvest
Sprouts
Takes 295 days from seed planted on March 1st to harvest on December 20th
Potato
Planted in the first week of April, harvested in October and in-store 21st December
Carrots
Planted in April, grows for 7-8 months before being harvested in December, in store 48 hours later
Parsnips
Planted in April, grows for 7-8 months before being harvested in December, in store 48 hours later
Pigs in blankets
Piglet born on 30th May, raised for 6-7months, pigs in blankets in store in late December
Egg hatched in July and reared for over 18 weeks, fresh turkey in store the weekend before Christmas