a month without supermarket - new challenge for 2011 starts at post 1013

carolbee

bought some flour and bread mix from our local windmill yesterday!

just made 3 med size loaves for £2.60 from the breadmix, the smell is wonderful - guess whats for lunch eh?

havn't used the flour as yet, that for later this week.

our local fish harbour has started a sustainable seafood delivery scheme, saw details of that yesterday at our farmers market, will investgate that next, this time next week will be eating a haddock sarnie!

kscour

Chickens again!

Local shop/butcher is selling them for £2.40/kg they aren't organic but they do taste rather delicious! Also as the butcher used to work for farm shop I wouldn't mind betting they come from the same place as the ones he was selling for 1.40/lb!

competitionscafe

For Cooltrickschick and others in Wales, today's Food Monthly mag (free inside Observer) has an ad from http://www.walesthetruetaste.com - looks like a useful site for info on Welsh food producers and the like. They also feature the gold award winners which include:

Meat:
Harmony herd: https://www.organicpork.co.uk
Dairy: Caws Cenarth: https://www.cawscenarth.co.uk
Butchers: Rob Rattray Butchers, Aberystwyth (no www?)
Chocolates: Heavenly: https://www.heavenlychoc.co.uk
Retailer: Llwynhelyg Farm Shop, Ceredigion. (no www?)
Flour/ mill: Bacheldre Watermill: https://www.Bacheldremill.co.uk

More at: http://www.walesthetruetaste.com

Hope this helps the Welsh people!

By the way, some chefs say that Welsh lamb is the best in the world!
(Although some English and Scottish farmers may disagree!)

mrsmortenharket

very difficult where I am to avoid the supermarkets. Was buying the juice for the kids lunch boxes today (EVERY flask etc Ever bought has leaked, grrr) so went to Co-Op as most ethical supermarket. The prices were astonishing. £1.18 for 3 carton juice pack. I had to go to Morrisons for the juice I'm afraid. I'd spend a little more but in Morrison 3 juice pack is 64p....

Def avoiding Tesco though & our local Morrisons is small. Doesn't have anything fancy in it like a butchers or the pie shop/fishmongers etc etc.

Lisa

hazzie123

Have decided to have me santa sausages tomorrow,tried to google them but got nowt,even on the butchers website came up with nothing.

Also most of the fruit I bought at the market yesterday is ready for the bin,already thrown 4 clemintines out as they had a fur coat on them.Although this is encouraging me and the kids to eat more fruit,but dont think they will have much vitamin goodness left in them?

Anyone else found this with their fruit?

sianb84

Hi, although I am unable to completely take part in this I have for the last few months been buying virtually all our fruit and veg from the market.

I have found the quality to be exellent and the bits that having been eaten within a week (i go every thursday) are mostly still looking ok. I have rarely had to throw any of it away.

I have also found using the market to be much cheaper and we get a wide variety of different things - depends what they are selling off cheap - for example a few weeks ago it was 2lbs banana and a bag of pears £1, I also got 10 clementines and 10 apples £1.

catznine

Just found a good fish supplier:j they drive down from grimsby to sell the fish they have caught direct to the customers. Our friends love the produce, last week they got a huge salmon fillet (which will last them ages) 2 skate wings, 2 large haddock and a huge bucket prawns delivered to the door for £20. I am awaiting the details and will post them when I have them.


Must admit we are eating so much better now!

Have now sourced :

Meat - Butchers in next village, Jimmys farm, Goodness Direct, Abel and Cole, Costco
Fish - Grimsby fishmongers who deliver, Martins fish, Costco
Flour, yeast & oats - local mill shop
Fruit and veg - local market, local fruit farm, Abel and Cole, Goodness direct
Eggs,milk, cheese, cream, yogurt - Abel and Cole, local fruit farm shop, costco, local market
Pet food - local mill shop
tinned goods - costco, small local co-op or aldi
personal hygiene products - local ind chemists, poundland, costco

Not a lot left now to tempt me into Mr T's!

Peem

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6396199.stm


Article about squeazing (good grief how do you spell that word!) profits from farmers.

Lot of this on the radio this morning. Think "Today" are speaking to a Sainsbury's boss and the head of the NFU any minute now (sorry to be vague but I was half asleep while the article was on earlier)

I think we have to balance moneysaving for us with paying for the value of what we buy.

COOLTRIKERCHICK

hazzie123..... cant wait to find out about the santa sausages........shame about the clementines.....:mad: ....i allways pick my own stuff on the market stall......if their allready packed in bags.... either go through them.... to check....... or if the full box is underneath... pick your own......or see if there is another fruit/veg stall......

thanks peem.. keep us informed with what they say.....

you are right...everyone has got to work to a budget.....and in some cases a supermarket has got to be used for some peeps.. for certain things......maybe i am lucky..... as the things i eat buy... i can get with out spending more than what i did in tescos....ok i am getting less items than if was shopping in tescos.....as there is no impulse buys.....but i feel we are getting tastier......better food......also... less than 15 years ago.. there were 2 banks......and other various shops in the place that i live.... now the bank are gone.... another post office (the one i use) might be under threat of compulsary closure at the end of the year.....the village is split into 2 top road bottom road..... so now the shops that are left are scattered around the place.....

i know there are peeps that dont like anti-supermarket groups..... but i think of my self as more pro..village life/independant trader supporter....

Lelc

I agree cooltrikerchick. I am spending less but I buy less too. This week I've only spent £30 on my shopping. Previously I would have spent £20-30 each and every trip to Ts (which some weeks was every day). But I also think that I had believed that big supermarkets must be cheaper as they buy in such quantities - but that's not necessarily the case. I costed the stuff from the butcher against that of Ts and in most cases the butcher was cheaper.

So for me now its the local butcher everytime (I say local but its actually 5 miles away). I shall be looking at fruit and veg today and trying the wholesalers at the back of where I work. My friend (who works at Ts by the way) assures me that it is much cheaper there than at Ts.

I'll let you know!