HUGH'S programe

[beefy]

On seeing and reading the above post it may look as if Im having a go at Alison .

I can asure you Alison that Im not .

I'm a farmers son who has raised animals for food for this country all my life .We may not meet the Soil Association standards but I can assure you that every animal we rear has the best quaility of life that we can give it. It's a subject that I get very passionate about .Many others in the farming industry feel the same.Others will when faced with a profit try /do anything to make a pound at the expense of anything or onyone around them. For these people I have no sympathy - they should be hounded from the industry as they give the rest a bad name.

[Rockhag]

I'm veggie so I'll get a nice nut cutlet instead. :P

[Alison]

So can anyone explain to me why the Soil Association are trying to prevent organic produce that is imported to the UK from abroad being classed as organic.

Agree it's not logical but seem to remember hearing something on the news that said they've dropped that, not sure if I imagined it tho.

On seeing and reading the above post it may look as if Im having a go at Alison .

I can asure you Alison that Im not .

I'm a farmers son who has raised animals for food for this country all my life .We may not meet the Soil Association standards but I can assure you that every animal we rear has the best quaility of life that we can give it. It's a subject that I get very passionate about .Many others in the farming industry feel the same.Others will when faced with a profit try /do anything to make a pound at the expense of anything or onyone around them. For these people I have no sympathy - they should be hounded from the industry as they give the rest a bad name.

No worries, Beefy, probably looked like I was having a go at you too . The point I was trying to make (probably badly) was that some of your original points, whilst important issues, wouldn't be possible to cover in a short series on the TV. Unfortunately, for TV you have to simplify things, especially when it seems that a huge percentage of the population is not well informed. Seeing as you're from farming stock, you'll know infinitely more than most folks so you have an advantage over much of the audience. Make it too complicated and you'll lose people - not trying to knock the general publics intelligence here, but one thing the progs showed was that people don't know much.

I agree with your point about there being crooks out there and you have to able to trust your suppliers which is why I spend time and effort visiting the source of my food so I can eat with a clear conscience.

[andrewo]

I won't even tell you about intensive pig farming, many of you would never eat pork again. We have become complacent since the 50s about where our meat comes from. Many eat meat everyday (on average 2 servings of meat in cooked or pre cooked forms), compared to their counterparts of 30 years ago that is a shocking rise of 70% more meat consumed in its many forms from ready meals to slaughterhouse meat. How many times a week do you eat meat? Now, do you know how your pork and beef are produced? In the 50s most meat was organic, so were eggs. Now, most meat is produced in a factory line, most animals are raised on concrete and never see outside.

There are plans in the EU line to produce cows a third bigger then they are now both to raise the production of milk and meat. The same is being trialed for pigs and chickens, well we all know that we eat our American cousin chicken, or frankenstein.

We need to overhaul how we use meat, that it should be a treat. As a child what was your favourite meal? You can tell by the answer what generation you are and how the consumption of meat has grown. When I was a kid, I love grilled cheese, we had meat on Sunday, leftovers on Monday, fish once a week etc. Potatoes and veg were a staple of my diet, meat wasn't.

I believe we should know where our meat comes from, and that we should realise that meat is not central to our diet, it is part of it.

I once talked with a few scientist friends of mine about the rise in disease and cancers in correlation to the rise of the supermarkets, cheap meat and convenience food (I am in no way blaming the supermarkets for cancer. I believe it merely part of a modern life problem). I was not alone in these worries and many think tanks, scientific groups were also looking at this and the rise in obesity.

[Waffler]

At the current time, it seems that
10.00% are buying 2 for£5
26.00% are buying 2 for£5 but will be changing
50.00% buy freerange chicken
20.00% buy organic chicken
0.00% not bothered by what they eat
Anybody see anything wrong with those figures??
Hey! Who am I to judge? I'm no mathematician!

[Flummery]

It's called a rounding error!

[Two_Sheds]

If we go down the free range /organic route there is not enough land in England to supply the nation with food

There could be, if we eat less but better meat. You could, for instance, eat vegetarian food half the week, meat the rest. It takes far fewer resources to produce food for people to eat, than to give that food to animals for the people to eat.
Some people could even rear their own meat ... a chicken in the back yard (just don't call it Chuffy )

I am afraid of a supermarket backlash - ie, importing cheap chicken, or creating food scares to shut down free range farms (bird flu, foot and mouth, bluetongue)

[Two_Sheds]

I've never, ever seen things like pre made nuggets or Kievs made with free range meat

Why would you want to eat this processed stuff anyway?
have you not seen Jamie's assault on chicken nuggets? Mechanically reclaimed meat? Gross.

[Two_Sheds]

Re, the poll.
You need a box for "vegetarian, but bought free range to make a point". That would be the self-righteous cyclist right here

[Snadger]

We need to overhaul how we use meat, that it should be a treat. As a child what was your favourite meal? You can tell by the answer what generation you are and how the consumption of meat has grown. When I was a kid, I love grilled cheese, we had meat on Sunday, leftovers on Monday, fish once a week etc. Potatoes and veg were a staple of my diet, meat wasn't.
.

I seem to recall being brought up on doorstep slices of bread and jam! At that time cut bread was starting to take over but my dad insisted it was pap and would only eat uncut fresh bread. I used to think it must have bean because we were poor that we didn't have the new fangled cut bread!
I can also remember eating a lot of greens and swede.

Funnily enough tho, I can't remember eating meat, apart from Sundays!

[Two_Sheds]

I remember a lot of sugar sandwiches. Fried crinkly chips, mince padded out with baked beans. Corned beef hash. ~Cheese and potato pie, mmm.

OH is trying to lose weight, well I'm trying to lose it off him so I am stuffing all his meals with loads of lentils, beans and veg. It ekes out the meat no end.

[Snadger]

At the current time, it seems that
10.00% are buying 2 for£5
26.00% are buying 2 for£5 but will be changing
50.00% buy freerange chicken
20.00% buy organic chicken
0.00% not bothered by what they eat
Anybody see anything wrong with those figures??
Hey! Who am I to judge? I'm no mathematician!

It's all to do with inflation!

[bluemoon]

We are not vegetarian, but always buy our meat from the farmer who produced it, and try to make it organic whenever possible. It's expensive, which means we eat less of it, but with lovely home grown veg as an accompaniment, a little less meat on the plate is no hardship.

[sewer rat]

I am afraid of a supermarket backlash - ie, importing cheap chicken, or creating food scares to shut down free range farms (bird flu, foot and mouth, bluetongue)

I don't really think we can blame the supermarkets for bird flu, foot and mouth (though we can blame the Government for that one ) or bluetongue.

[Grandpadragon]

[QUOTE=Two_Sheds;162463]I remember a lot of sugar sandwiches. Fried crinkly chips, mince padded out with baked beans. Corned beef hash. ~Cheese and potato pie, mmm. [QUOTE]

Just got Granny to buy Corned beef to make hash tomorrow havent had it for ages lovely with hot beetroot, drool, drool