51AVÊÓƵ

#GreatBritishPeaWeek is a fantastic chance to celebrate British farmers and the work they do to produce some of the nation's staple - and most favourite - foods.

Here are some facts about peas and the farmers who produce them.

• 35,000 hectares of peas grown in the UK each year, producing 160,000 tonnes of frozen peas.
• Most of freshly frozen garden peas and petits pois are frozen within two and a half hours of being picked, which locks in all the nutrients.
• Harvesting lasts around six-week weeks and farmers work 24 hours a day, seven days a week using viners to harvest, shell and transport the peas from field to frozen. A phenomenal two billion portions of peas are produced.
• The UK is 90 per cent self-sufficient in pea production. At present, there are 18 farmer groups which contain 700 British pea growers.
• Perfect pea growing environments include the east-facing seaboard and maritime climate.
• Clarence Birdseye invented the ‘plate froster' to preserve foods in the 1920s, and he froze peas for the first time ever.
• People in Britain eat nearly 9,000 peas per year on average.