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Posh's favourite snack being grown in UK

Edamame bean, Health new, Marie Claire

Victoria Beckham's favourite snack, edamame beans, are being grown in the UK for the very first time.

Loved by the health conscious, the Asian green soy bean can be hard to get hold of for consumption at home, and is often quite expensive when bought from restaurants like Nobu, Itsu or Wagamama, due to importers having to ship it into the UK from abroad.

Now, however, a farm in Kent has worked out how to grow the bean in UK soil, meaning fewer air miles and, hopefully, a lower price tag.

Low in calories but high in protein (they're apparently the only vegetable with all nine essential amino acids), dieters often use them as a way of staving off hunger and they make a great side dish with noodles or rice.

Joe Cottingham, the current UK Young Grower of the Year and the man responsible for growing edamame in Britain, says: 'Our farm in Kent is a great area to grow this type of crop, as its good quality soils and water makes it ideal. We have had to ensure the soil is warm enough for the seed to germinate so we carried out the trial in a protected environment where we could control water, nutrients and soil temperature.

'As the pods are now plump and bright green they are ripe for picking and will be at their maximum sweetness.'

Asda's development chef Simon Shaw, who commissioned Joe to grow the beans, says: 'For people wanting to buy the beans as part of their weekly shop, their options have been to buy the beans frozen or as part of a prepared snack.

'Our trial aims to give customers the choice of buying the beans fresh in their pods, allowing them to cook, season and serve the edamame beans just as they would enjoy in their favourite Japanese restaurant.'

Thursday 4 December 2008


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