Supermarket Secrets revealed?

calleyw

I try and buy my fruit and veg from a greengrocers. More produce likely to me local also it will fresher by about 2/3 days than the produce in the supermarket.

Tune in to radio 4 on a friday afternoon and there is a show called veg talk it is by two men who use to work in fruit and veg market in London.

Always an interesting listen. They have a news letter that is on-line. Last friday I caught it. It was at 3pm. And it was all about making ice creams and sorbets.

There is a listen again feature. So enjoy.

Yours

Calley

calleyw

N9eav wrote:

You don't have to buy the stuff in supermarkets?

No but if you work all week 9-5 how do you get to butchers. That means racing around town on a saturday.

supermarkets are there for ease.

And a lot of butchers seem to shut at about 3pm. And even some green grocers are not open until 5pm. Hardly practical for most people.


Yours

Calley

Loadsabob

N9eav wrote:

My Bro in law produces crops for supermarkets.
If you see Cornish new potatoes, Cornish Cauli or savoys, I can tell you they will be fantastic.

Which supermarkets does he supply? I always buy Cornish when they have it in our Tesco (which is rare, so I more often have to buy at the local shops), but I know very often they take it half way around the country to be washed and packed before bringing it back to the county...not so good for food miles. Still, I'd love to think I was buying something that supports someone who's related to one of us!

It's good that they take the whole crop, but I dread to think of the waste
when they chuck out the imperfect veg. :mad:

I'm a big grouch with supermarkets.

Loadsabob

calleyw wrote:

No but if you work all week 9-5 how do you get to butchers. That means racing around town on a saturday.

I have this problem too, Calley, and it drives me mad. I'd happily boycot supermarkets forever if I didn't work 8:45 to 5:15, a 25 minute bus-ride away from town. So I can't go to town in my lunch hour. The farmer's market is on a Tuesday morning, so that's just a myth to me. I buy at our greengrocers and healthfood shop when I can, but neither open on a Sunday (and good for them, I wouldn't expect them to), so I can only shop there if I go into town on a Saturday...which is the one day where the public transport system allows us to go out for the day and actually get home, too!

So...a bit stuck. I do what I can, and I'd say about 1/3 of my shopping is now outside of supermarkets, and if I CAN be in town on a Saturday, I make the most of that. I resent the other 2/3...but I am really stuck. Yes, I COULD make every Saturday about food shopping, but I have to weigh up actually doing something with my weekends, too...

(insert narrow-eyed, frowny smilie)

Hermia

N9eav wrote:

You don't have to buy the stuff in supermarkets?

But, where else can you buy food? There are no greengrocers or butchers in my town or the surrounding towns. We have a Greggs bakery, but the bread is just like supermarket bread. The only non-Supermarket foodshops are places like Londis. We don't have a farmer's market either. My friend gets an Organic box delivered once a week, but it costs a fortune.

calleyw

Hermia wrote:

But, where else can you buy food? There are no greengrocers or butchers in my town or the surrounding towns. We have a Greggs bakery, but the bread is just like supermarket bread. The only non-Supermarket foodshops are places like Londis. We don't have a farmer's market either. My friend gets an Organic box delivered once a week, but it costs a fortune.

And the reason you have no butchers or greengrocers is because *drum roll* of the supermarkets.

Gone are the days of going to your local highstreet and finding a butchers or greengrocers and hardware store.

I do try and sorce as much as possible local but after 5pm forget it. No one is open. no wonder people fall back to supermarkets.

Yours

calley

nearlyrich

I spend most Saturdays food shopping, the reason I do it is so I can use the butcher, the fishmonger and the greengrocer at the market. I don't like cooking with frozen meat etc so I have to bite the bullet and join the crush. The butcher has said he will vac seal some packs of meat for us, chops, steak etc so it freezes better (no freezer burn). We are going to try that in September when both kids are away at uni and we can then spend our weekends doing what we want.:beer:

Downsizing__for_sanity

nabowla wrote:

Definitely sounds like something to watch.

I really don't want to buy bagged salads due to the pesticide issue but I can't afford the organic stuff that's sold in the supermarkets. QUOTE]

Regarding the bagged salads...

I bought a bag of salad from T*sco to go with our Easter roast - as I emptied the bag I found a moth 2 inches long! I got a bit of a shock I can tell you!

Took it back (the moth and the salad obviously), got a gift voucher and a nice letter of apology from Head Office. Interestingly, they said it was probably because they're trying to reduce the pesticides on veg as much as possible! (and the moth was certainly very ALIVE!)

DFS

Debt_Free_Chick

calleyw wrote:

No but if you work all week 9-5 how do you get to butchers. That means racing around town on a saturday.

supermarkets are there for ease.

And a lot of butchers seem to shut at about 3pm. And even some green grocers are not open until 5pm. Hardly practical for most people.


Yours

Calley

I only go to the supermarket once every three months - simply to stock up on dry goods (e.g. flour), tinned goods (e.g. tinned toms) and household stuff (cleaning, bin bags etc).

I then buy meat at the local butcher, which is open at 7.30 am on Saturday and veg at the farm shop, which is open from 8.00 am. I'm done by 9.00 am and the whole weekend is my own. I also don't have to "pop to the supermarket" during the week.

I actually spend less time shopping this way.

It may not suit everyone, but if you really want to change your shopping habits, you can. You just have to want the end result badly enough.

We can all justify shopping in the supermarket - I did it for years before I "woke up" to what I really wanted

Debt_Free_Chick

Downsizing__for_sanity wrote:

nabowla wrote:

Definitely sounds like something to watch.

I really don't want to buy bagged salads due to the pesticide issue but I can't afford the organic stuff that's sold in the supermarkets. QUOTE]

Regarding the bagged salads...

I bought a bag of salad from T*sco to go with our Easter roast - as I emptied the bag I found a moth 2 inches long! I got a bit of a shock I can tell you!

Took it back (the moth and the salad obviously), got a gift voucher and a nice letter of apology from Head Office. Interestingly, they said it was probably because they're trying to reduce the pesticides on veg as much as possible! (and the moth was certainly very ALIVE!)

DFS

LOL! What a load of old tosh!

Bagged salad is washed. The moth "fell in" the bag during the packing process. Think about it ..... the moth didn't sit on the salad during the picking, transportation, washing, sorting & washing process. They're having you on