Organic food in supermarkets

Quasar

Not worth watching, Edwardia. Virtually none of their momentous revelations are unknown to us food savvy people. It was a programme for those whose idea of haute cuisine is to stick a value ready meal in the microwave oven, and can't tell the difference between an apple and an orange.

I think TV nowadays is geared solely to appear to inform while presenting little substance. Meanwhile those at the lowest end of income and education, those who really need to be informed, are left thinking that Tesco value food is manna from heaven, instead of being encouraged to cook from scratch (which is cheaper anyway, as well as healthier).

Edwardia

I think the education system has to take some of the blame. Not all schools have kitchens anymore and cooking might be an elective rather than compulsory.

If your parents didn't learn how to cook, they are unlikely to be interested in good food and if they aren't then it's likely that their children won't be either. So unless they pick up some tips from school or relative, then they are unlikely to be interested in food.

My uncle's first wife was a terrible cook. Their eldest son liked spending time with his aunt (my mother) and she got him cooking and he ended up doing the cooking at home as a teenager.

Another influence is environment. In France, kids go to ecole maternelle from 2.5-6 years old and they may get a three course school lunch. French people seem far nore interested in food and there are other nationalities too who have big food cultures.

In the UK it seems like people are too lazy to learn languages and therefore we tend to look across the pond to the USA. I can't say that fast food places and Starbucks really contribute anything to our food knowledge.

Unrelated link to a post with offers on the Green Board
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4457203

Fire_Fox

Thanks for updating on the BBC, C4 and C5 programmes, guys, doesn't sound like they are worth watching. I wonder what demographic the target audience for these programmes is? Dispatches and Panorama were known as hard hitting once upon a time, maybe the producers can't cope with the fact they have been feeding their kids meat of dubious origins .... Or maybe they have been nobbled by their politician mates.

alfsmum

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Most recommendations worldwide are for two to three servings of fruit a day (max, if you are having the full nine a day, which you guys may well be). Serving sizes vary but UK it's just 80g so many whole fruits are one and a half to two servings. If he doesn't want cold salad could he perhaps take more veggie soup? Or switch to lower sugar fruits (not sure if you can source organic berries, rhubarb or grapefruit tho) given he is having some of the highest sugar produce available?

Oh dear, if the max recommendation is two to three servings of fruit per day, we are seriously overdoing it. That said, I'm mot too keen on sweet tasting fruit like pineapples and grapes (though I wouldn't say no if someone offered :rotfl:). I take 2 apples and 2 bananas to work most days plus another portion sometimes like satsumas as a quick snack. I'm trying hard to shift the fruit/veg intake more towards veg but fruit is easy grab and go food.....we eat loads of berries but not much in season at the moment.

alfsmum

[QUOTE=Edwardia;
]

Woman in front of me was staring at my stuff on conveyor all the time. Bugs me.. :mad:[/QUOTE]

Maybe she knows the woman who was behind me on one of my rare trips to the local Tesco yesterday. I'd only just started unloading my few items when she came up behind me and started pushing my trolley forwards with stuff still in it so that she could start putting her stuff on the belt. I made sure I packed my things very slowly.....

alfsmum

Edwardia wrote: »

frugal_shopper posted this online butcher up on another thread and I thought it might be useful http://fieldpower.webs.com/apps/webstore/

http://www.graigfarm.co.uk/
Think I did post this one up before and may have mentioned which processor bought it. Graig has teamed up with Tesco to offer a big range of products from sausages to joints. There's a 20% discount code on this website. Not currently on offer with Tesco and Tesco requires notice for orders ie you can't order for next day delivery. But who knows what kind of deal Tesco has struck so I suggest comparing prices. Wyke Farms sell their cheese online but Iceland has them on offer much cheaper.

frugal_shopper advocates not buying supermarket meat. I stopped buying organic beef mince months before Chevalgate because I wasn't happy with the quality. I have stopped buying organic diced beef from Sainsbury's, again because I was disappointed.

I wonder whether supermarkets are buying down to a price rather than up to a quality and maybe wanting shoppers to go for their Taste The Difference. Finest and Extra Special ranges for example.

I'm eating more wild fish and game, organic non supermarket poultry and non supermarket meat. The latter I'd like to find locally but won't round here.

Chevalgate makes me want to stick to organic but know where my food comes from and to an extent I can already but want to broaden that,

How about you ?

As a strict veggie since time almost immemorial, my meat buying is limited to lean protein for OH (who returned to being a carnivore after 25 years as a veggie because he thought he needed more protein when he got into running and keep fit) and stuff for DD16 who was brought up veggie but started eating meat at school and at friends' houses. Other DD is veggie.

I can't stand the smell of raw meat so tend to buy cooked organic high welfare chicken or turkey from Waitrose/Ocado. Not the cheapest way to do it!!! OH is happy to cook and 'dismember' a whole chicken when he has time but I won't buy it without knowing the provenance and welfare aspect.

I do consume a little dairy (milk, yoghourt) and DD likes cheese so again I will always choose organic high welfare, same with eggs, free range and organic. With all the questions regarding trust on what is really in products, I have to hope that by buying through Riverford, Abel and Cole and my local milkman, I'm getting what it says on the label/carton/bottle.

We're not made of money but we don't smoke or drink or have expensive hobbies (apart from a new pair of running shoes for OH every five minutes :rotfl:) so I think we deserve good quality additive free food as far as possible.

I like to know where my food comes from and what, if anything, it has been treated with. I can be an embarrassing 'label reader' when we are shopping....

I'm always impressed if staff doing in store promotions can tell me all the nitty gritty about the product. Came across two extremes at the weekend in Wholefoods; I was offered some soup samples but the girl didn't know if they were veggie/vegan and was trying to look for 'meat' in the ingredients. On the other hand, the girl promoting her company's snack bars could tell me about the contents of all three varieties, which ones were good before or after training and why. What the fat content was, whether it was 'good' fat etc. I passed I
on the soup but bought some bars.

Edwardia

Fire Fox, I'd say they were aimed at Daily Mail readers. Lots of sensationalism, very few facts. Must confess that I do look in on the Daily Mail website sometimes, to nose at actors coming out of Whole Foods or Trader Joe's with laden trolley. Do they not have delivery services in LA ??

alfsmum that must be a difficult situation for you to be in I was a veggie for 11 yrs but when I met OH he tempted me with cooked breakfasts !

Staff in Waitrose always very knowledgeable.

Will always remember opening of ASDA here (store itself is bright, airy, spacious) when asking one of the colleagues where the tzatziki was, she looked blank and asked what it was. She told me they didn't sell it (they do).

More recently, in Sainsbury's, till operator at checkout looked at at all the organic stuff and asked me to explain why I eat it. Whereas in ASDA it would be one of the engage the customer thangs, she seemed genuinely to want to know.

Not organic and don't know whether The Vegetarian Society approved stuff excludes additives. http://www.iceland.co.uk/veggie/

Edwardia

Aldi
http://www.aldi.co.uk/uk/html/product_range/10236.htm

Organic Faitrade bananas 1.39/kg

Lidl

http://www.lidl.co.uk/cps/rde/xchg/lidl_uk/hs.xsl/10728.htm

Organic Fairtrade bananas usally $1 per bunch.

ChopinonaBudget

Edwardia wrote: »

More recently, in Sainsbury's, till operator at checkout looked at at all the organic stuff and asked me to explain why I eat it. Whereas in ASDA it would be one of the engage the customer thangs, she seemed genuinely to want to know.

Either that or the Sainsburys' till worker was trained more effectively......

Edwardia

More on the organic eggs that aren't in another thread

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/59615455#Comment_59615455