Hugh's War on Waste

[Deleted User]

It all comes back to that horribly over used word 'PERFECT' that is applied to all areas of life we humans are supposed to aspire to attaining, Christmas, appearance, home interiors.....it doesn't actually exist but still we're made to feel second class if we don't constantly strive to achieve it!

Pollycat

mumps wrote: »

I'm not sure what happened with any waste clothing but we used to have loads of odd shoes and slippers, don't know how so many ended up as odd pairs but we used to send them to the local orthopaedic hospital where they were used, I assume people maybe needed one shoe larger after ops or something.

A lot of stuff left over from the sale ends up in Oxfam shops.

Nonnadiluca wrote: »

What really annoyed me about the courgette thing was the way the veg that wasn't cosmetically perfect was labelled as 'ugly courgettes' and 'class 2' and for sale at the same price as those labelled 'class 1'. It was like an airline advertising 'first class, luxury' seats at the same price as 'economy, basic' seats, charging the same and then saying, 'Look, nobody wants to fly economy!'

I've not seen the 2nd programme yet but that's shocking!
It's an insult to people's intelligence.
I think they must assume that people watching are stupid.

Gigervamp wrote: »

Morrisons. I agree with everyone else, they deliberately used older veg, and to set it at the same price as the class 1 veg was ridiculous. It's like paying the same price as 1st class air travel, but traveling in economy. Of course the customer is going to choose the class 1 veg!

Then shame on them!

Not sure who specifically was involved from this in Morrisons but if I were their boss they'd get a massive dressing down and a couple of steps demotion for the way they've handled this - assuming that the directive to initially ignore HFW's requests for interviews & put those 2 dimwits on disply (I caught the last few minutes) didn't come from right at the top.

suki1964

We have to remember that supermarkets are a business and their business is to sell to us at a price we are willing to pay

It's not just veg, it's across the board. Look at dairy farming, look at how many dairy farms are going under because they are running at a loss because we want our milk at a certain price

Food has never been so cheap. Back when I worked for sainsbury my food bill for three of us was nearly half my weekly wage, today it's just a quarter

We know our cheap clothes are so cheap because of child and near slave labour, but we turn a blind eye because we want cheap throw away clothes ( I'm still reeling from seeing that clothes mountain)

Yes the supermarkets play their part, but at the end of the day they are doing their job, selling as much as they can at a price point they know consumers will pay

We consumers have to take responsibility. Most of us here posting have done so, we choose to shop locally, grow our own, only buy what's needed and refuse to waste anything, but we aren't joe blogs. I fear it's only those who are already on the path that sit up and get outraged, the man in the street will jump on the band wagon for five minutes, until it's time for the weekly shop and he wants a new outfit to go out in come the weekend

LaineyT

Agree entirely Lyn, it seems to have infected all areas of our daily life. Some faceless bods in a Marketing Agency decide how we should all look, feel and what we need to buy in order to achieve happiness. So they media place products that make all of us feel inadequate, such as using young girls to promote anti-ageing cream, beautiful houses that the vast majority of us can never dream of owning and yes this does work it's way down to the food we eat. They promote perfection at a scale we can afford i.e the food we eat, it's all just selling the dream and complete carp in my opinion.

alec_eiffel

We'd been considering changing our way of shopping as things were starting to feel a little bit expensive and swapping to some of the cheaper shops might be better. But a combination of the Dispatches show and Hugh this week has changed my mind again. We can buy from smaller, local companies and do our bit, tiny though that is.

fuddle

I have been both a dream and a nightmare for marketing executives. I do believe that it isn't the consumer alone that has created this evil, it's down to years of being marketed to, manipulated, whole careers born out of consumer thinking/psychology and selling tactics to take advantage of that. We have been sold to to the point of it manipulating our very being, I believe anyway.

It's very difficult to buck that trend but once you do, and you really look at your own behaviour and why, I just think there's no other feeling than annoyance - at yourself and at the society in which we are 'thriving' in.

The supermarket isn't just playing their part - they are dictating this and have been fr years... right down to me wanting 2 parsnips but in order to gain that ingredient I have to buy a bag.

Yes supermarkets are businesses. Very, very lucrative businesses who have monopolised the whole sector. I don't think it's the consumer who have demanded that 4 pints of milk should be sold at 88p, it's the supermarkets that dictated that in order to win business from competitors. Because supermarket competitors cannot compete with those lower prices they fold. That leaves the dairy farmers absolutely no option but to seek to supply elsewhere and what happens? The supermarket is the only viable option left.

Former_MSE_Andrea

Justamum wrote: »

I'll have to give that a go. I managed to grow some onions this year with only one loss from 30 onions sets planted.

We have a Bramley apple tree which we do nothing with and it grows so many apples I give up with them - I cook them and freeze them, but if I did them all I'd have no room for anything else!

Do you have a cider brewery near you?

I took my kids to a Big Pick apple picking thing at the weekend and was looking at the brewery's website later. If you take enough apples to them they give you free cider or apple juice in return. It might be worth seeing if there's something like that near you.

Justamum

The Morrisons men said that their customers demand 'perfect' fruit and veg. The only reason people are used to that is because of the supermarkets. THEY started demanding perfection so customers got used to buying it. When I was younger it came in all shapes and sizes and nobody cared as long as it tastes good.

That's another gripe I have - what's happened to the flavour these days? Cox apples for instance - I like a crisp, slightly under-ripe one with lots of green. The only ones I see on sale these days, even though they are 'fresh' are going yellow which to me is the sign of it 'going over'. I prefer to buy tasty English apples when in season, but they're very rarely found. Worcester Permain, Discovery, Russetts, all difficult to find. However the shops are always full of tasteless imported apples (even New Zealand Coxes aren't the same).

Justamum

LaineyT wrote: »

Agree entirely Lyn, it seems to have infected all areas of our daily life. Some faceless bods in a Marketing Agency decide how we should all look, feel and what we need to buy in order to achieve happiness. So they media place products that make all of us feel inadequate, such as using young girls to promote anti-ageing cream, beautiful houses that the vast majority of us can never dream of owning and yes this does work it's way down to the food we eat. They promote perfection at a scale we can afford i.e the food we eat, it's all just selling the dream and complete carp in my opinion.

And this encourages people to buy stuff on credit in order to achieve that dream. My DH was always comparing our rather simple way of life with the way other people he knew lived - holidays, lots of nice new things - and I'd tell him that they were probably in hock up their eyeballs. A case in point. A former friend of his was always buying stuff and living a nice life even though he didn't really earn more than my DH. His marriage broke up a few years ago due to various factors, and the wife re-married. DH is working with the new husband now, and he told DH that his wife had only just finished paying off the huge credit card bills that former hubby had run up. This is from about 5 years ago (and she earns good money so wouldn't have been paying off the minimum each month!) DH now realises what what I've been telling him is true - live frugally and debt-free and you're much happier.

So many people buying the 'must-haves' on plastic.

Justamum

MSE_Andrea wrote: »

Do you have a cider brewery near you?

You've just jogged a memory in my brain! :T There is an 'apple orphanage' not far away so I've contacted them to see if they want them. You take your apples to them and get juice in exchange - and they do make cider! I don't care if I get any juice in exchange for them or not, if they want them I'm happy to let them have them. It's such a shame to see them go to waste