Supermarket Secrets revealed?

N9eav

raeble wrote:

He's not the only one that has done that sort of thing. I've seen tv programs that have shown the conditions that some so called free range chickens are kept in and frankly they would have been better off in battery farms - at least in those farms they had room to move. QUOTE]

Maybe the laws have changed. But it used to be possible to label free range eggs as so if the birds had access to the outside. I.E The big barn full of chickens had a cat flap sized door, so that the chickens could go out if they wanted to.....Most did'nt.

squiggles

I didnt watch the tv programme as i didnt want to upset myself as being a veggie for 20 year (each to their own)im quite aware of what goes on and the cruelty involved just to provide food for humans.Ive always baught free range eggs,well to my knowledge i have and so the box tells me they are.

I have several times baught organic veg and found it tastes vile and binned it immedietly,i have also tried it from several shops and i dont like any of them.

anguk

I had a fact finding trip yesterday around butchers and organic shops, mainly to check out the quality and price. Unfortunately I was very disappointed with the fruit & veg, most of it was well past their best and the price was way beyond my budget. I've found out there's a small-holding not too far away so may have a trip there this week to see if their stuff is any better.

I did find one butchers that I liked with a proper old-fashioned butcher, unfortunately the free-range stuff was out of my league again but they do sell good quality local meat, and while they are dearer than the supermarket the prices weren't too bad. I bought some local farmhouse sausage (95% meat), OH said he'd never tasted such a nice sausage (ooer matron) and we've got stewing steak for dinner today.

I'm going to have a look at a farm about 2 miles away this week, they have a shop selling their own Aberdeen Angus beef, lamb & pork, and they're in the process of turning organic, again though price will dictate if I can buy any. They've also got a maize maze for the kids in the summer so it should be a nice afternoon out, weather permitting.

gritts

I think it strange when people have a bad impression of organic produce.

Sure I have eaten sub standard organic veg and I have also eaten sub standard non organic veg. I have eaten organic veg that tasted of nowt as well as non organic veg that tasted of nowt, etc, etc.

I should point out that organic veg may not look better than non organic veg. For one reason it is not covered in fungicides, pesticides, chlorines etc etc. Organic will go off quicker. Supermarkets are also fixated with making everything look perfect. Have you any idea how much veg goes to waste because for example a courgette is 1 cm too long for the plastic tray it sits in? (I don't, but I understand it's tonnes and tonnes). If you buy organic veg from a farmers market it may not be uniform and it may actually have EARTH on it!!!

I really do believe the organic fruit and veg I source from farmers markets or box delivery schemes does taste better. You have access to many different varieties of varying tastes for one thing. Most supermarkets will offer one variety of a particular veg and nothing else. Check out how many varietes of tomatoes there are and then consider how many varieties are on offer in your local supermarket. But hang on, they do offer other varieties at a premium....

.... I have always found it funny that they offer us, for example Tomatoes from the 'Finest' or 'Taste the Difference' ranges.

What does it taste different from? The crap tomatoes they offer us by the tonne on the next shelf????

chrislee765

anguk wrote:

I had a fact finding trip yesterday around butchers and organic shops, mainly to check out the quality and price. Unfortunately I was very disappointed with the fruit & veg, most of it was well past their best and the price was way beyond my budget. I've found out there's a small-holding not too far away so may have a trip there this week to see if their stuff is any better.

I did find one butchers that I liked with a proper old-fashioned butcher, unfortunately the free-range stuff was out of my league again but they do sell good quality local meat, and while they are dearer than the supermarket the prices weren't too bad. I bought some local farmhouse sausage (95% meat), OH said he'd never tasted such a nice sausage (ooer matron) and we've got stewing steak for dinner today.

I'm going to have a look at a farm about 2 miles away this week, they have a shop selling their own Aberdeen Angus beef, lamb & pork, and they're in the process of turning organic, again though price will dictate if I can buy any. They've also got a maize maze for the kids in the summer so it should be a nice afternoon out, weather permitting.

When you say out of your league.. how much more than supermarkets does it cost?
Chz

anguk

chrislee765 wrote:

When you say out of your league.. how much more than supermarkets does it cost?
Chz

The fruit & veg and the meat was about double the price of the stuff I normally buy. I don't know if I was just looking in expensive shops, so I'm still going to have a search around. In an ideal world I'd love to go organic but it's just not possible at the moment with our budget.

I've got no problems with my fruit & veg being mis-shapen or covered in muck but I would still like it to be fresh, the produce in the shop I went to yesterday looked and felt like it had been on the shelf for weeks.

competitionscafe

By the way, the butcher featured in the programme is Noel Chadwick - they are at 51 High Street; Standish; Wigan (for anyone who lives near there) but say that they will be offering mail order (online) ordering soon:
http://www.noelchadwick.co.uk/index.html

--

nabowla

I suspect that one of the problems stopping people from shopping at their local butchers or farmer's market is that they don't really understand food. It's easy to go into the supermarket and pick up a pack clearly labelled 'casserole meat' or 'bbq chicken'. Buying meat from a butcher requires a bit more knowledge - for example, you have to know the difference between braising, chuck, sirloin and rump steak. Of course you could ask the butcher but many people worry that they'll look stupid because they don't know what they want.

Then there's the fact that there are cheaper and more expensive cuts of meat. The supermarket BOGOF and other offers mask the real cost of meat. To a supermarket shopper, buying a cheap cut of meat is often about buying the 'Sainsburys basic' pack rather than the 'Taste the Difference' pack. I know I found it quite difficult when I first started shopping at my local butcher because I simply didn't understand the whole concept of cheap/expensive cuts of meat. Thankfully there's a very good chapter in Mrs Beaton that explained it all to me!

This sort of information was once taught in schools during home economics classes. Sadly schools no longer cover this sort of thing. Instead, we are asked to 'design an aircraft meal' with an emphasis on what can be stuffed into plastic bags, is cheap and will keep for a couple of days. There was no teaching about nutritional values or basic cooking techniques. Many of my friends left school totally unable to boil an egg, never mind anything else. I can cook a bit thanks to my Mum but I do feel that I have a lot to learn about food if I'm to make informed consumer choices. Until we all learn how to shop and cook properly it's hardly surprising that the 'consumer demand' ends up with the 'pile it high, sell it cheap' mentality of the supermarkets.

mah_jong

I am single to so am able to buy exactly what I need. I was never tempted by the huge bags in supermarkets of BOFOF fruit and veg anyway.

I bought from a wee market this week and eggs were local too. Yes they were over over a pound for 6 BUT huge ..fresh... and the colour of the yolks almost orange and the first was a double yolk.... and the best bit.. all from up the road.

So I think if we all took wee steps to buy local/organic to would surely help to change things. As well as being healthier for all.

Mah

Badgergal

Thanks to whoever suggested putting an organic box inside my block of flats but there is no communal door to my flats and I fear in Stockwell my box would not last long...!

I only eat fish for my own slightly illogical reasons but I do drink milk - how can we avoid buying the milk from cows who are milked to death? Is buying organic supermarket milk enough?