are you losing faith in the food industry ?

seraphina

I do feel that local businesses have been slow to adapt. I work long hours during the week and am usually busy at the weekends and therefore don't have the opportunity to use local suppliers.

And if local businesses can't adapt to my working lifestyle, which is a *very* common one, then how can they survive? And do they deserve to?

On the continent it's not uncommon for businesses to open in the morning, close for a long lunch (from, say 1 until 3 or 4pm) and then reopen for business until 8 or 9pm. Why can't businesses do that here?

To illustrate my point, on my way to and from work, I drive past a local farm shop, a Tesco and a Waitrose. The supermarkets are the only ones open when I go past in the morning, or return in the evening.

I also go past an excellent local butcher, who opens from 8am until late. He's always busy...:rolleyes:

COOLTRIKERCHICK

if you look at it it says british standard... it does not say its british.....

so it could be imported to so called'british standard'

its play on words..... the next time your in the supermarket keep an eye out for this logo.....

its not saying its british..... its saying its british standard......

hope i make sense.......

fluffalo

This may sound a bit daft, but one thing that has really made a difference to me is a book called 'The Cookery Year' that I got in a charity shop. It is a really old fashioned book, but it tells you what is in season at any given time of the year. Before that, I never really thought about it. Thanks to the supermarkets we are used to getting everything we want, whenever we want it.

I signed up for a box scheme from a local farm, and get a fortnightly delivery. I do struggle this time of year with the root veg, but it makes getting the spring and summer veg so much more of a treat. And it has made me feel so much more in sync with the seasons, if that makes any sense!

ZTD

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote:

hope i make sense.......

Yes you do - it's not the meat that's british, it's the standard that's british.

COOLTRIKERCHICK

ZTD wrote:

Yes you do - it's not the meat that's british, it's the standard that's british.

yep you got it.. you find it alot on veg......

its basically saying that it meets our so called british standard that we expect our food to be.....lol...

as i was saying its an optical trick....as we only glimpse at the label... even though we are reading it.... and there is british written on there... only the british is actually registering.....in our minds.. as there is also the british flag colours around it........ very...VERY.. cleaver marketing....for fresh produce.......

the other one to look out for is farm assured.......even an intensive reared animals are from a farm

competitionscafe

fluffalo wrote:

This may sound a bit daft, but one thing that has really made a difference to me is a book called 'The Cookery Year' that I got in a charity shop. It is a really old fashioned book, but it tells you what is in season at any given time of the year. Before that, I never really thought about it.

The website Eat the Seasons : http://www.eattheseasons.co.uk/ is also useful for knowing what is in season (and therefore at it's best) - it has recipes too.

competitionscafe

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote:

its the same.. when you see the logo britsh standard....with the tractor......

http://www.foe.co.uk/pubsinfo/briefings/html/20020107104821.html
<"A survey by Which? magazine found that some people believed that the red tractor logo on a pack of chicken meat meant that the chickens were free-range. But the mark in fact applies to all systems of poultry production, including intensive broiler systems and battery-farmed eggs".>

Queenie

iceicebaby wrote:

Great thread.

Wholeheartedly agree with the comments made that kids are not taught basic cookery in school. I too grew up in the 80's and Home economics lessons really werent that useful. I left school not knowing how to cook. Its only as I have lived on my own I have taught myself and my cooking isnt brilliant now but I get by... .

Soooo, the question begs to be asked ... why didn't you learn at home growing up? Why lay the blame solely at the doorstep of your school?

My mother taught me how to shop, cook, clean, budget, sew, launder, iron etc., by example coupled with the very basic idea that everyone in the family mucks in together. She worked, was widowed with 5 children to bring up and still found "The Time" - yet, lets be honest here, eating isn't just for pleasure or a hobby, it's a necessity!!! Everybody does it - although the contents of their larder will vary according to health issues and personal preferences. So why aren't parents teaching their children to cook alongside them? Why aren't parents teaching their children what to look for when shopping and choosing produce? Yes, I do agree that school "Food Tech" is an absolute joke but surely, Food Tech should 'compliment' what the children should be learning at home, not take fully responsibility for it?

I enjoyed fabulous Home Ec. lessons and yes, it would be great to return to that way of teaching our children today - I can't see it happening, there are so many other things included in the curriculum now which didn't exist in the days when I was having H.E.

Supermarkets meet the demands of the majority of consumers who want cheap food and lots of variety plus a one-stop-shop-for-all experience - the opening hours reflect the need of the consumers to have flexibility in their shopping choices, mainly due to working demands/shift patterns etc.

The only way to change anything is to vote with your feet and your purse.

COOLTRIKERCHICK

hi.. queenie......it was my granparents that thought /inspired me with cooking and making the most of the garden......not my mother..

if you think about it......this was the generation that supermakrtkets started getting a lot bigger..... and the start of convenience foods etc.......

so apart from school and my gran........i cant remember learning much from my mother......this doesnt mean she bad or anything.. but she went with the flow of convenience foods......to this day they still buy ready meals etc.....as now she says its not worth cooking for 2.....

i think its a genration thing........as in schools they are more concerned that you can design packaging for these meals..... more than the meal itself........

even though i dont have any daughters.. i have 2 boys.....i am trying to now ean them into the kitchen to do things for themselves......

beer2006

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote:

hi.. queenie......it was my granparents that thought /inspired me with cooking and making the most of the garden......not my mother..

You should try being a boy and learning about this stuff :rolleyes:

I became interested in growing things when I was 13 and wanted to start, I wasn't given a place to grow them, even though we had space, it wasn't till I had my own house many many years later I could start.
Cooking at home, er no, I wasn't taught anything. But even men need to eat, its no wonder so many end up going back to their Mums for feeding after they leave.
I think at school I was taught to make a cake or something, I don't even like cake.....