Where do oranges come from?
Originally from the Far East, but they are now grown in Brazil, the United States, the Middle East, Asia (China predominantly), Indonesia, southern Europe and Central America. Oranges from the US and Brazil are grown mainly for the juice industry, while Spain, the fourth-largest grower, grows mainly for the fresh-fruit markets. Note that while fresh fruit is highly nutritious, juice concentrates produced for the orange drink markets have little nutritional value. Where should we buy oranges from? In theory, it is best to buy from the country nearest to you. This applies to Christmas satsumas and clementines, too, because the distance travelled is the shortest and therefore the least greedy on food miles. Britain imports a good proportion of citrus fruit from Spain, 90 per cent of which travels here via road freight. Buying Spanish oranges is also the better, although not ideal, choice in terms of ethical farming practice. After that it is better to choose oranges from other southern Eu
