Sustainable Farming Made Fun & Win A Knorr Hamper Worth £50!

 

Sustainable is a word which usually prompts eye-rolls and much shuffling of feet, so when I heard about Knorr’s campaign to highlight awareness of their sustainable farms, I wasn’t so much excited by that as the thought of visiting their tomato farms in the agricultural capital of the Extremadura region of Spain, Badajoz.

We were whisked away on a fantastic trip direct to the heart of one of the key ingredients in Knorr’s new range, launching in the UK as we speak.

It’s a new range of recipe mixes, made with all-natural ingredients with the kind of stuff we all usually have in our cupboards but basically it takes the fuss and faff out of being a domestic goddess and creating fab meals, from scratch!

Anyway, it turns out, sustainability is actually quite sexy! First off, what does it actually mean?

Best said, I think, in the words of Forum For The Future, who are an independent, non-profit organisation, striving for change. We were fortunate enough to have Sally Uren from Forum on our visit, to enlighten us about what Knorr are doing to work towards a more sustainable future in their products.

Sustainable Farming Made Fun & Win A Knorr Hamper Worth £50!

 

I made a vlog of the trip to give you a fly-on-the-wall insight to what we got up to. Check it out!

So it was a whirlwind trip, first off a visit to the farms in the region which produce the majority of the worlds tomatoes. If you didn’t already know, I am obsessed with the humble tomato – I stick them in every dish possible – the more the merrier – so this was a real treat for me.

To pick straight from the ground, reddened to perfection, ripened by the blazing continental sun and to bite into one of those juicy bad boys, was a taste sensation.

Sustainable Farming Made Fun & Win A Knorr Hamper Worth £50!

 

We had a taste test, as these farmed ones never make it to the supermarket shelves. Instead, our option is the fatter, less red version we generally think of as the classic large Spanish tomato, but in fact these ones are picked before maturity in farms using different growing methods, they ripen in transit and on the shelves, thus producing an altogether different taste to those harvested much later in sustainable farms like these in the photograph above.

Sustainable Farming Made Fun & Win A Knorr Hamper Worth £50!

It was a no-brainer which tasted more succulent and tingled the tastebuds most!

Sadly for our supper though, these juicy lucy’s are only used for breaking down, not consumption as they are taken to the factories and made good for things like Passata, purees, and pastes.

So, farm tour done, we were whisked off for lunch in the beautiful Lugaris restaurant in the centre of Badajoz, where the food was to die for and the tapas just kept coming!

Sustainable Farming Made Fun & Win A Knorr Hamper Worth £50!

 

I was so busy eating my way through the mouthwatering mountain and chatting, I was a really bad blogger and forgot to take pics of the lunch – sorry guys! Must do better!!

Post lunch it was time to don our fresh whites and take a tour of the factory where it all happens. There are many stages of production and the doors were thrown open to us for all of these.

Sustainable Farming Made Fun & Win A Knorr Hamper Worth £50!

 

It was a fascinating process and I honestly could have just watched it all day, save for the searing heat!

I couldn’t resist taking pic after pic, so indulge me a little folks!

 

Sustainable Farming Made Fun & Win A Knorr Hamper Worth £50!

Sustainable Farming Made Fun & Win A Knorr Hamper Worth £50!

The quality control aspect alone was heartening as I have now seen, first hand, that what goes into Knorr’s flavoursome range of pots and packets is100% pure, with no nasties. I feel great using them in cooking for my family as I can rest assured it’s only the best ingredients.

The factory uses the most ecologically sound methods possible and you could your dinner off the equipment in there!

So once we had inspected every inch of the place, it was time to depart. We enjoyed some free time and then were whisked off once more to a rooftop venue in the city to enjoy a sumptuous feast by the twinkling nighlight.

Our last day on the trip was a culinary masterclass, with four of the chefs from Knorr’s 240-strong harem encouraging us to create something wonderful from the wealth of succulent local produce available. We were only too happy to oblige and set about in our teams, whizzing up a feast for us all to tuck into for lunch.

Sustainable Farming Made Fun & Win A Knorr Hamper Worth £50!

 

The inspirational ideas from the ecclectic European mix of participants made for a feast fit for the Spanish royal family as we created a mixed palette of delights.

Sustainable Farming Made Fun & Win A Knorr Hamper Worth £50!

Some of the finished Instagramable delights….

Sustainable Farming Made Fun & Win A Knorr Hamper Worth £50! Sustainable Farming Made Fun & Win A Knorr Hamper Worth £50!

 

So that, dear readers, was a small insight to the delights of my wonderful trip – thank you Knorr! – and those kindly people have also given me a bumper hamper of their Naturally Tasty goodies worth £50 to  host a comp for you all!

Simply enter via the Rafflecopter below and good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Have you ever wondered just what goes into the stuff on the shelves? Have you ever been to Badajoz? Let me know what dish has you craving!

SuperLucky Blog Giveaway Linky

SuperLucky Blog Giveaway Linky

 

Diary of an imperfect mum