[Fleecewife]

Having been shielding all pandemic and not wanting to dive back into the maelstrom of delta, I still get my groceries click and collect, from Sainsbury's and Tesco (I know, I know)
I'm doing my Sainsbury's order now and found a section called 'British Produce'.  Oh lovely thought I, that sounds good'.  GOOD?  There are 7 items proudly displayed - seven: 4 tomatoes, Bramley apples and 2 lots of spuds.  And that's it  .


They do have other British produce I think and hope but surely after Brexit we should be eating our own excellent home grown produce most of the time?

[arobwk]

I'm thinking they just cannot guarantee it's British even if the vast majority is;  hence their limited "British" (or UK) listings ont' web-site.
It's an interesting point though with all these trade-deals being done by the UK Gov'.  Since the UK has one of the very highest (maybe the actual highest) commercial animal husbandry/food production standards (meat and veg') in the world, I wonder how the other nations will establish/will be made to establish their compliant husbandry/food credentials in order to freely trade !?

[Fleecewife]

Will they, or will the British Gov accept their standards for the sake of trade?

[arobwk]

We shall have to wait see, especially with regards to EU's re-approval of animal protein/by-products for pig and chicken feed supplements !! 
 

[Fleecewife]

We shall have to wait see, especially with regards to EU's re-approval of animal protein/by-products for pig and chicken feed supplements !!

 

[Perris]

Don't panic Fleecewife! The latest stats are a couple of years old, but in 2019, 55% of food consumed in the UK was produced in the UK
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/food-statistics-pocketbook/food-statistics-in-your-pocket-global-and-uk-supply
What one supermarket gets labelled as such at the start of a new marketing scheme is not representative!

[macgro7]

surely after Brexit we should be eating our own excellent home grown produce most of the time?

UK is not on any countries wmbargo list 

We still can and do import almost all the same products as before - the difference is a lot of paperwork involved and increased shipping costs.

[Backinwellies]

Meat labelled British only means packaged in Britain ...... can have been reared anywhere....  beware what a label means!

[SallyintNorth]

Will they, or will the British Gov accept their standards for the sake of trade?

As I understand it, we already know the answer to that from the Australian trade deal.  Yes that music you hear is the sound of British farmers being sold down the river 

[Rosemary]

Will they, or will the British Gov accept their standards for the sake of trade?

As I understand it, we already know the answer to that from the Australian trade deal.  Yes that music you hear is the sound of British farmers being sold down the river 

Wow, who could havepredicted that? I buy Scottish.

[Fleecewife]

Having just ponderously typed out a reply with one finger, with a sleeping puppy in the other arm, it then vanished  . So, to try again.


Did any of you see the emergency food parcels which were handed out to people who were shielding or unable to leave their houses at the beginning of the pandemic? I remember there being pre-sliced white bread, baked beans, sweet biscuits, no veg, tinned meat? not sure, but basically not suitable for older and unwell people suffering from constipation, diabetes and cancers, ie those who were told to shield for the sake of their lives.  It looked inedible to me.  My point is however, that we couldn't just wander into any shop of our choice and pick and choose what we wanted to eat, food local to us, wholemeal bread, fruit and vegetables - we couldn't leave our homes  .  So many of us who were shielding were delighted when supermarkets such as Tesco, Sainsbury's and Morrisons scaled up their Click and Collect schemes and prioritised those who were shielding for deliveries and collection slots. I was in the wonderful position of having the facilities to grow my own food - vegetables, eggs and meat - but sadly not bread flour and yeast, which became very hard to source. So those supermarkets became lifesavers. 
However, we are now a year and more on and we might as well still be in the worst of the emergency, going by the short use-by dates, out of date and unavailable food sent, or not sent. (I have complained to Sainsbury's head office and been flannelled with 'we are so sorry you are disappointed. It won't happen again'. Well, it's still happening.
We now have the Delta variant causing a third wave but the proposed lifting of all restrictions.  That means to me and most of those still shielding (we've been told we no longer need to!  Oh no?) that we still have to use click and collect, so if produce local to us is unavailable when we order it then it's a case of 'tough, you'll have what we send and be grateful'.  Again though I am in the lucky position of being able to grow a lot of my own food, but I feel doubly concerned for those who don't have that option, for whatever reason. We need to be in our best possible state of health to fight the Covid-19 virus, in addition to being vaccinated, so what we eat is vitally (in the true meaning of the word) important.
 
Please spare a thought for those who would love to 'buy Scottish' but simply don't have that luxury.

[arobwk]

Maybe if the Nationalists and the Greens and the Welfare activists all got together to insist that the price of goods reflected things like the carbon implications of "food miles" (including shipping from Scotland to the Far East for processing and back again), the use of toxic substances (in the soil preparation, growth, harvesting and shelf life preservation), and the unnatural conditions in which things are produced (food lot cattle, caged livestock, live transport over extended distances etc).  Maybe then people would see the value of locally reared, ethically raised produce?  It would have to involve taxing anything that was "negative" for sustainability... but then again few of us would be able to afford to eat given that it's all about price and profit these days.

There’s no arguing with S.D’s comments. 
And not withstanding differences in food production methods/standards across the planet together with different labour rates, I remain totally bemused as to how fresh or frozen food (latter being meat in particular) can be transferred up to half-way across the planet and still be sold (it is feared, or actually) cheaper than, or at the same price, as local produce.

[Did I already mention, elsewhere, that I told Lidl off recently for offering a “ready meal” that contained chicken from Brazil ?!]

[I believe I also mentioned elsewhere that UK Planning needs to start thinking about allowing more "glass-house" developments that can produce more of our modern favorite food ingredients in the UK.
It will be a shame if a very much greater proportion of our rolling hills, moors and pastures might be covered under glass, but we do need to get real if the ever hungrier world population persists, whether or not little Britainers regenerate, on average, beyond 2 kids per couple.]

[Fleecewife]

During the second world war, Americans bred a tomato which would ripen in northern climes ie within the arctic circle, so that American servicemen could have fresh produce when stationed up there.  It's called something like Arctic Cherry and is still available as seed.
If that could be done then why would we need to have major glasshouse developments all over the country now? Heating glasshouses and the chemicals needed to grow tomatoes out of season in the UK apparently uses just as much fossil fuels and produces just as much greenhouse gasses as growing them elsewhere and importing them here, perhaps even storing them.  Given most imports are already stored here for months at a time, perhaps those facilities could be used to store British-grown summer crops grown outdoors for use in winter, all within the UK.

[macgro7]

Maybe if the Nationalists and the Greens and the Welfare activists all got together to insist that the price of goods reflected things like the carbon implications of "food miles" (including shipping from Scotland to the Far East for processing and back again), the use of toxic substances (in the soil preparation, growth, harvesting and shelf life preservation), and the unnatural conditions in which things are produced (food lot cattle, caged livestock, live transport over extended distances etc).  Maybe then people would see the value of locally reared, ethically raised produce?  It would have to involve taxing anything that was "negative" for sustainability... but then again few of us would be able to afford to eat given that it's all about price and profit these days.

There’s no arguing with S.D’s comments. 
And not withstanding differences in food production methods/standards across the planet together with different labour rates, I remain totally bemused as to how fresh or frozen food (latter being meat in particular) can be transferred up to half-way across the planet and still be sold (it is feared, or actually) cheaper than, or at the same price, as local produce.

[Did I already mention, elsewhere, that I told Lidl off recently for offering a “ready meal” that contained chicken from Brazil ?!]

[I believe I also mentioned elsewhere that UK Planning needs to start thinking about allowing more "glass-house" developments that can produce more of our modern favorite food ingredients in the UK.
It will be a shame if a very much greater proportion of our rolling hills, moors and pastures might be covered under glass, but we do need to get real if the ever hungrier world population persists, whether or not little Britainers regenerate, on average, beyond 2 kids per couple.]

McDonald's are so proud and announce everywhere that they use British (and Irish) beef, but their chicken comes from Brazil...

The worst thing is they throw away a skip full of food EVERY NIGHT. And that's in EVERY RESTAURANT.

Most chicken in Aldi is from Poland.
Tbh the best option in this country is to eat lamb - but only buy British lamb of course. Some some reason I spoke to people who have been indoctrinated to believe that New Zealand lamb is better quality - why would it be? It pretty much the same quality as the British one but it's not imported from the other side of the world.

[Anke]

During the second world war, Americans bred a tomato which would ripen in northern climes ie within the arctic circle, so that American servicemen could have fresh produce when stationed up there.  It's called something like Arctic Cherry and is still available as seed.
If that could be done then why would we need to have major glasshouse developments all over the country now? Heating glasshouses and the chemicals needed to grow tomatoes out of season in the UK apparently uses just as much fossil fuels and produces just as much greenhouse gasses as growing them elsewhere and importing them here, perhaps even storing them.  Given most imports are already stored here for months at a time, perhaps those facilities could be used to store British-grown summer crops grown outdoors for use in winter, all within the UK.

Well here in the Scottish Borders you can now get locally grown tomatoes - a nearby dairy farm (the last one in this area) is using their    to heat a huge polytunnel... available in our local greengrocer and nice! (But I have my own ones starting to ripen in my own polytunnel now).


Anyone on here following Richard Perkins of Ridgedale farm? I find him very inspirational, though never want to run m yown business, ever....