Have you ever thought about where the food on your plate comes from? The world's food systems are global and complex with availability, quality and cost dependent on the social, environmental and economic conditions around the globe. Juicy strawberries enjoyed during the cold winter months in Europe are likely to be a result of tropical conditions in sunny Florida, while being able to pick up staples, such as rice or sugar, in your local supermarket is in part dependent upon stability in commodity markets elsewhere.
But how easy is it to find out the origin of what's on your plate? For European countries, new regulation coming in to force at the end of 2013 will make it compulsory for all manufacturers to include the origin of fresh meat on product labels. While in the US, law requires "Country of Origin Labeling" (COOL) on beef, pork, chicken and lamb as well as items such as fruits, vegetables and nuts. But with many food labels still giving no information on the country of source, we are still left wondering: where does our food come from?
Help us find out
Whether you're making a meal fit for a king, baking a tasty cake or digging into a handy pot noodle, we'd like you to show us pictures of the food you consume – alongside a caption explaining which countries the items come from.
The image could be of the raw ingredients that make up your meal (or the meal itself), a shot of your weekly grocery haul or a picture of what's in your cupboard – it's up to you! Remember to include the origin of the products in the description – or say if it's not clear.
Dan Gee photographed his dinner last night as an example (above). Where did all the ingredients come from for his pan roasted pork loin with crispy potato rosti, fresh apple, chilli and tarragon chutney and fried tomatoes? Here's his list:
- M&S table salt – packed in UK, origin unknown
- Sainsbury's pepper – fairtrade, packed in Portugal, origin unknown
- Bart fennel seed – produce of more than one country
- Colman's mustard powder – packed in Norwich, origin unknown
- Sweet pimenton de la vera – DOP, Spain
- Hot pimenton de la vera – DOP, Spain
- M&S English outdoor reared pork
- Sainsbury's English Maris Piper potatoes
- Home-grown tomatoes, north London. Two varieties, Costolluto and Cuor di bue. Grown from seed
- Home-grown apple, north London, unknown variety
- Red chilli – origin unknown, probably Sainsbury's
- Sainsbury's sunflower oil, origin unknown
- M&S tarragon, English
Now it's over to you. To take part via GuardianWitness, click on the blue 'contribute' button below – or download the GuardianWitness app to take and upload photos with your phone.
Closes Monday 21 October 2013 at noon
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