are you losing faith in the food industry ?

JoeyG

I'm interested in this too... is there a nationwide list of local farm shops / suppliers? I'd like to find ones local to me

COOLTRIKERCHICK

Cazzdevil wrote:

It's not just meat we're talking about though surely? I don't eat much meat myself so I can't really comment on the whole "British is best" thing, but the state of British diets in general seems quite poor.

The new food labelling system that's been introduced seems like a good idea in principle, but surely it just highlights the fact that a lot of Brits don't know what's good for them and what isn't...

Am I wrong? I'm very interested in this discussion

hi no ..not just meat... but the food industry in general.....raw foods.. as in meats... fruit veg..... convenience foods.... additives that hasnt been checked etc..... scams.....cover ups... basically anything within the food industry that has made you question the way that it is....and you dont feel confident in buying things....

as did you know that chickens ...breasts etc.. have water added to increase the weight.. but also in that water there is a mixture which will help the chicken retain more water up to 50% more.. as the norm.. is 15% in this mixture there is a pork by-product used to help the retention.... so you think you are buying pure chicken... but there is pork in there as well...

Snow_Angel

I don't eat meat for several reasons :
1) because I can't guarantee where it's come from and what's in it.
2) because I feel healthier and think I have a better chance of ensuring the veg I buy is better for me (I get veg from local organic farm - although I have to admit not always due to convenience)
3) I can get a completely balanced diet with what i eat anyway - quorn, tofu, pulses and green veg
4) as a student I truly cannot afford to buy british organic meat - if it was cheaper i could, but i'm not willing to eat rubbish from the supermarket so therefore I choose not to eat it at all.

I do eat fish, but I try to buy it from the fishermen as they come into the harbour in the mornings .... I'm just lucky that I live so close to the sea.

I do like to think I support british farming and even though I don't eat meat, I love browsing at our local farmers market and try to converse with the retailers there.

Cazzdevil

I didn't know that CTC, that's quite scary actually since I don't eat red meat so I'll have to have a re-think about where I get my chicken (usually the local butchers but will do some investigation as to where it comes from).

TKP_3

I only buy British meat, and only from my butcher. I have to trust him when he tells me it is British only (although he says if any meat if from outside UK), and I have to trust him when he tells me it is non intensive readed meat (if that's the term). I have no choice, because I can't follow him around to see where he buys the meat
I buy free range eggs from a local farm, but again I must trust them as I do not do spot checks to make sure the chicken are treated well all the time
My fruit and veg is labelled with the coutry of origin (at the farm shop). Is it really from the UK? I must trust them again - no choice.
Basically, I try my best to buy free range, local or at least UK for everything (even buy English butter), but I don't lose sleep over the possibility that any or all of my purchases are a lie.

Gingernutmeg

I saw a post on here that said that we need more food inspectors ... as someone whose parents own a small village bakery, I would say that that isn't necessarily the problem. We are regularly inspected, and have to adhere to very stringent standards (and we do very well too!) but the supermarkets just don't need to bother. I've spoken to numerous EHOs about this, and they agree that supermarkets just go on breaking rules because they can afford to pay the relatively small fines ... small producers, like my parents, just can't do this - they have to rely on a smaller customer base, for one thing, and the cash just isn't there to pay fines.

Part of the problem too is that supermarkets wouldn't sell this cheap rubbish if there wasn't a demand for it ... Lots of people no longer know what food should actually cost - in the eyes of most people, a 19p loaf is the same as a £1 loaf, and the small producer who's making the £1 loaf is obviously making a massive profit and 'ripping the consumers off'. Ditto a £3 chicken ... There is little or no education about food in this country, so many people just have no idea about the rubbish that they eat just because it's 'cheap'.

From seeing the situation from a business perspective, I have little hope that there's much of a future for small independent food traders in most of the UK. Not only are they being taxed out of the market, there just isn't the support from most of the general public. It really is a case of not knowing what we've lost until it's gone.

VickyM_2

JoeyG wrote:

I'm interested in this too... is there a nationwide list of local farm shops / suppliers? I'd like to find ones local to me

try this

http://www.bigbarn.co.uk/

as a good starting point

Debt_Free_Chick

I may be going slightly OT here, but I recall a comment made recently that struck a chord with me.

It was on the excellent "Food Programme" on Radio 4. It was about an Ox festival in Italy, but a discussion with Anna del Conte followed.

She made the point that in Britain, good food has historically been associated with class - or, at least, a certain standard of living; that only "the well off" ate well. Whereas, in Italy, eating well is something that every Italian does.

Now before some of you feel insulted, I think she has a point. Asda certainly used to target customers on a tight budget and marketed quite a lot of poor quality, processed food as "cheap" - turkey twizzlers and the like spring to mind.

In general, we have so little respect for our food. We seem to buy on price, with no regard for quality. We're afraid to handle raw meat/poultry & fish and want to buy it in some "semi-sterile" state. Certainly we won't do what the French do - many still buy live chickens in the market and slaughter them at home when they want them! I can't see the average British food shopper doing this (although I do, regularly).

Too much rubbish written about food and too much slagging off (in the press) of our own food producers. There are unscrupulous operators in every walk of life, but small food producers are amongst some of the most dedicated & professional people I've met.

I'd trust a local food producer I've met in person, rather than some anonymous mass production plant 100s of miles away that supplies the supermarkets with "cheap food".

Horasio

I have done for years - it scares me:eek:

Three quarters of an average supermarket stocks food that is vile and toxic. I like choice but hate the way they b*stardise food that needn't be with E numbers. It tastes rank too.

It takes me ages to shop as I read the labels - I am a fussy purist.

Quasar

I've always avoided ready made, highly processed food anyway. I'm not vegetarian but I eat very little meat and when I do I buy organic. Ditto for eggs.

We can't outsmart nature, and all the intensive farming, high processing etc, does take its toll on our health both physical and mental. I believe we have to try and steer clear of these massive profit seeking corporations and support smaller shops generally.