Am I evil?

[baldowrie]

that's no rumour!

Happens in the canning factories too

[ina]

Wonder if they are going to be so picky this year, with a large part of the harvest ruined already... Peas will be in short supply this year, unless they get imported! Even tatties might be short; lots rotting away in the fields.

[Stonehead]

Wonder if they are going to be so picky this year, with a large part of the harvest ruined already... Peas will be in short supply this year, unless they get imported! Even tatties might be short; lots rotting away in the fields.

And don't forget that some contracts have penalty clauses - if the farmer can't deliver, he has to pay a penalty to supermarket. So, lose your crop because of bad weather AND pay the supermarket for not meeting their order...

[Wombat]

Wonder if they are going to be so picky this year, with a large part of the harvest ruined already... Peas will be in short supply this year, unless they get imported! Even tatties might be short; lots rotting away in the fields.

And don't forget that some contracts have penalty clauses - if the farmer can't deliver, he has to pay a penalty to supermarket. So, lose your crop because of bad weather AND pay the supermarket for not meeting their order...

Ya gotta love a system like that!

Nev

[Millymollymandy]

It's shocking! But what is even more shocking, is to discover that Marks and Spencer's food comes from FIELDS!!! OMG I think I need to go and lie down.

[ina]

My friend told me yesterday that for the first time farmers' losses were mentioned on the news in connection with the floods. So far, it had only been buildings and other possessions that were mentioned. All of a sudden they seem to realise that food supply may be threatened...

Maybe that'll make people wake up a bit to this culture where 30 or 40 or whatever %age of food is thrown out in Britain? It is to be hoped!

[Millymollymandy]

All of a sudden they seem to realise that food supply may be threatened...

I think it will just lead to more panic buying......

I watched an interview with a farmer who had lost a 40 acre field of spuds.

[baldowrie]

But what is even more shocking, is to discover that Marks and Spencer's food comes from FIELDS!!!

allegedly!

[Thomzo]

Wonder if they are going to be so picky this year, with a large part of the harvest ruined already... Peas will be in short supply this year, unless they get imported! Even tatties might be short; lots rotting away in the fields.

Oh they'll just import. Don't you worry. Add to the food miles and make the greenhouse effect worse. Vicious circle. The problem is that most of the population don't even think about where their food comes from or the damage to the environment, just as long as they can have their frozen peas to go with their ready meals.

Zoe

[Stonehead]

Oh they'll just import. Don't you worry. Add to the food miles and make the greenhouse effect worse. Vicious circle. The problem is that most of the population don't even think about where their food comes from or the damage to the environment, just as long as they can have their frozen peas to go with their ready meals.

It won't be that easy this time. Western Europe has had floods too, while Eastern Europe has had drought and heatwaves. Crop yields are down all through Europe this year.

On top of that, farmgate prices were already rising even before the the wet weather hit.

So, even if Britain imports more (and already 40% of the country's food is imported by some accounts), it's not going to hold prices down. We should also keep in mind that food takes up just 9% of household income - 40 years ago it was 22%.

Hmm, that could make things grim, couldn't it. If food prices went up to say 12-15% of household income; interest rates went a little higher and fuel prices climbed; then there would have to be a crunch...

[Cassiepod]

It's hard to believe but buying good quality and local stuff is cheaper than the supermarket but it's a lifestyle thing too. Unless I'm organised and have a meals planned out for the week I get home I'm tired I pop into our local supermarket and grab a packet of fresh pasta and sauce and get and 'instant' meal at home. (costs a frotune by the way and we can't afford to carry on being lazy!)

All the supermarkets are evil full stop. When I read tescos' my brain does the mental substitution for 'large supermarkets' (maybe this could become the auto substitution?). However there was a telly programme a few weeks back suggesteingTescos weren't the worst environmentally (I think they were third best).

As for the special offers they are so tempting when you see them and then you remember how little the farmers get and it's night on impossible to buy them any more. I'm lucky we both work in well paid jobs that give us huge financial freedom to pick and choose where when and how we shop, we don't have kids to feed day in day out ,otherwise it would be a lot tougher to avoid the evil ones.

[Hippyhedgewitch]

OK, I know I'm new to the site so I'm sorry if I'm rehashing what's been said lots before. I personally dislike pretty much all the major supermarket chains for the squeeze that they put on local farmers.
The stuff I do have to get from anywhere like that I buy from the Co-Op.
Back to the original point of this thread, I'm loving that idea!

[Thurston Garden]

What ever happened to the poll results? Did I miss them?

[ina]

Which poll?

[Thurston Garden]

I said I would so here it is:
Selfsufficientish.com Supermarket Survey
http://www.pheos-online.co.uk/ss/

It was knocked together in a hour and bit so be gentle with it!

I'll repost it as a new topic as well. The result could be interesting.

This one.....