Supermarket RANT!!

[madderbat]

How utterly disappointing - I've just spent 15mins composing a well thought out contribution to this debate - went to post and found I'd gone offline - logged on and my post is no-where to be seen.

Hi Hazel
This has happened to me before, much to my chagrin.
I have found that if you use the Back button on your screen (usually the arrow in the top toolbar) you can copy your posting, (highlight + Ctrl C), then sign on again and paste your posting (Ctrl V)
Aint it frustrating though !

[Hazel at the Hill]

....I have found that if you use the Back button on your screen (usually the arrow in the top toolbar) you can copy your posting, (highlight + Ctrl C), then sign on again and paste your posting (Ctrl V)

Many thanks for that MB - I'll remember for future ref. I might start to highligh/copy the reply before hitting the submit button, just in case.

[deb of the wych]

I buy most meat from waitrose as they sell herefordshire beef (next county along) and you can tell the difference even with mince the smell when you cook it is diffrent.
Have any of you noticed how many additives they put in dog food!! even the dog biscuits have loads of E numbers.
I had a trainer come to train our dog she explained that I ought to feed her only natural food as she was like an over active child who had had to many red smarties but the only dog biscuits I could find that didn't contain additives were Dennis whole grain mixer that has to be bought from a pet store.
It also stops them pooing so much as they can digest more of the natural ingredients.
sorry about going off on a different track but it annoys me that we not only fill our kids full of additives but also our pets.

deb

[wellie]

If I buy anything from a supermarket, I always take it from the back of the shelf, as that's where the produce with the longest use-by date is - but I take Sunbeam's original point. Other than that, I make all our meals from scratch, using produce from the garden as and when it's ready, using a different recipe every time, and stick it in the freezer. It saves us a fortune!
Soups, Pesto, Sundried Tomatoes, Flavoured Oils, Pasta Sauces, Root Veg Crumbles, Quiches, Ratatouille, Icecreams....
Then locally bred meat and poultry from our local butcher.

My rant is reserved for all the ruddy packaging !

[pigletwillie]

And I can vouch for how good the food is as well, having troughed there once or twice. Tis good having two foodies run the joint, it puts my attempts to shame.

[johnty greentoes]

Seems to me that our basic problem is that we all want cheap food. Like cheap = good. What we really need is affordable good quality food. Unfortunately the good quality bit rules out the afforable bit for many fellow citizens.

I live in the middle of a city, miles from a farmer's market (and I'll be blowed if I'm going to drive 40 miles in search of venison sausages! All that CO2) so my options for food are the usual supermarkets, and while I accept all the current furore around TESCO taking over the world, they do seem to have a pretty good organic meat selection. So I have to bite the bullet and pay twice the price - it really is the only option for the majority of pople. And why shouldn't it be - food is way too cheap and way too poor quality.

Isn't the old addage true - you get what you pay for.

In the meantime I'll encourage as many people as possible to dig their way out of this coundrum.

[Alice]

Hello Johnty, you're right. We do only get what we pay for, and if you buy rubbish - you get rubbish. And you only get out of any project what you put into it. I've been looking at your blog - thank you - and you're right there too. You just have to do the job a bit at a time and it will all come together - but not tomorrow. I'm sure it will all come good for you and give you a great deal of satisfaction - and great edibles. keep us up to date with progress.

[wellie]

LJ, most certainly will post up the Veg Crumble recipe (can't at the mo coz I'm Dog Sitting down near Bristol, so nowhere near my cookbook shelf! or Trousers, more's the pity....) but will post up a recipe or two from here maybe later this evening to keep me out of mischief (!)

Oooh, thanks for the compliment Piglet, it's a pleasure to fill such an appreciative and, may I say, handsomely proportioned tummy, and compliments will get you EVERYWHERE in my kitchen !

[sanman]

I try to avoid using supermarkets for meat preferring to use a good local butcher. However quality between butchers vary tremendously so you need to be careful. My dad was a butcher so I picked a lot up from him. The tip of using forerib for steak was one of them. But he was always bringing home the cheapest cuts of meat that my mother made wonderful meals from, shin beef, oxtail, ladder staves; all of which the best chefs now seem to be using and pushing up the price.

[Alison]

while I accept all the current furore around TESCO taking over the world, they do seem to have a pretty good organic meat selection.

Your Tesco may well have a good organic meat section, but ours is diabolical and I'm a bit dubious about the organic accreditation. It seems to be a Tesco own thing rather than something I definitely trust (don't trust anything that supermarkets tell me without checking it out further!!!!) like Soil Association. Fortunately, I have a couple of good local butchers near by as well as various farmers markets so not a problem for me, especially as I can pick up much nicer meat there at a much more realistic price and without ridiculous amounts of packaging. Win all around.

[johnty greentoes]

Thanls for the kind comments Alice. I will keep you informed on progress.

[valmarg]

Seems to me that our basic problem is that we all want cheap food. Like cheap = good. What we really need is affordable good quality food. Unfortunately the good quality bit rules out the afforable bit for many fellow citizens.

I live in the middle of a city, miles from a farmer's market (and I'll be blowed if I'm going to drive 40 miles in search of venison sausages! All that CO2) so my options for food are the usual supermarkets, and while I accept all the current furore around TESCO taking over the world, they do seem to have a pretty good organic meat selection. So I have to bite the bullet and pay twice the price - it really is the only option for the majority of pople. And why shouldn't it be - food is way too cheap and way too poor quality.

Isn't the old addage true - you get what you pay for.

In the meantime I'll encourage as many people as possible to dig their way out of this coundrum.

Sorry JG, but I certainly do not want the cheap, tasteless meat that the supermarkets provide.

Today we drove a 60+ mile round trip to Bakewell Farmers' Market, and then on to the Chatsworth Farm Shop. What we bought was local produce.

Your quote "you get what you pay for" is just not true. You get what you are prepared to pay for would be more appropriate. Aka, "I'm not paying that for that" syndrome.

If you want cheap, tasteless meat, then by all means go to a supermarket. If you want meat that has been humanely reared, butchered and hung for an appropriate period, then you have to go to a decent butcher.

If you ar not prepared to drive 40 miles to buy the decent produce, well, just keep on eating the crap!!

valmarg

[beefy]

Cheep
Fast
Good

Choose two and the other dosent work -ie good and fast = not cheep.

[Alison]

Today we drove a 60+ mile round trip to Bakewell Farmers' Market, and then on to the Chatsworth Farm Shop. What we bought was local produce.

Wouldn't call 60+ round trip particularly local!!!!

One of the things I now try to do is question whether you actually need something or is there a more local alternative that you can use. Also, if there's a shop / market you really love, make sure you tie it into visiting friends etc and don't just buy a single item so as to maximise the negative effect of the petrol.

[johnty greentoes]

Valmarg

My point is that it is just plain unrealistic to expect people living in the middle of my home city - Hull - to drive 40 miles to find tasy meat. It's OK for those of us who have cars and the wealth needed to use them. It's and OK solution for you and me - but not for the overwhelming majority.

What we need is access to quality without the drive. Surely bringing meat to the people is a lower-carbon option than thousands of us driving 40 miles for our sausages.