[Tullywood Farm]

Hi there - yes I watched it - it was quite an eye opener what Smithfield have done to Poland and its small farmers.

They are actually saying that having the local community unemployed is not a problem, and can price you out of the meat market and devalue your pigs for fun.

This is the future they say, big producers undercutting in order to please their customers!

Their customers dictate to them their needs - their customers are not the end consumer - no - there the large corporate supermarkets like Wallmart, Asda, Tesco etc.  Pek Pork and Spam makers - killing 33,000 pigs PER DAY - For Gods sake it really does make the rare breeds that we keep pretty rare, when some of our bloodlines have only eight pigs left in the WHOLE WORLD.

It really means that to fight this as smallholders, we need to stop buying meat at supermarkets and in tins completely and also get our general public more aware to buy from local producers - if this mass produced cruelty to pigs and polluting way is to be stopped, the shelves of the supermarkets carrying the stuff have to remain full and product not wanted at all - we recorded it - if anyone can tell me how to get it off sky box onto computer I will make it available as a download from my website - what was you feelings on the programme?

[Muc]

Well said Tullywood.
From now on I will only buy pork products from ethical sources and this means in  canteens, school cafeterias etc. I intend being a right pain-in-the-neck when I eat out in restaurants as well.
My own summer-reared weaners usually last six months and then I fall back on shop-bought rubbish. Not any more. Any producers in my neck of the woods (near Galway, Ireland) offering freezer-quantities for sale?
Congratulations are definiteley due to Channel 4 and the programme-makers.
It might be worthwhile if we all sent our public representatives a message to the effect that they get some legislation going in this area.

[Hilarysmum]

Very well said, although could you not raise a couple more weaners for the freezer?

[Muc]

I suppose I could but I've enough on my plate at the moment
But checking on his/her location, I see that Tullywood is not a million miles from me.

[sausagesandcash]

If anyone didn't catch it, you can get it from 4od, just go to channel 4's website.

[donard]

I watched it, too - and was totally disgusted.   That kind of cruelty is totally unacceptable, and unnecessary.
How people can treat any animal like that is beyond me 

How can the likes of Smithfield do whatever they like, with complete impunity....

Surely there was enough evidence in that programme for prosecution/s - cruelty being one, endangering public health being another - and, what about the environment?

It's enough to make my blood boil.

Iredon

[Hilarysmum]

They get away with it because they are big (no tv so cant watch it) however if everyone who saw it told everyone they knew and all those people stopped buying from the source..... then one way or another changes would have to be made.  Most people will just turn off the telly and carry on buying.

[donard]

Hi Hilarysmum,

Yes, they get away with it because they're big. Here's the thing, though. Poland is a member of the EU. The EU has rather a lot of animal welfare laws, environmental protection laws etc. eg. A neighbour of mine lit a fire outside recently - it was a wood fire, and enclosed with blocks, intended for a home-built barbecue. The environment officer was at his door the following morning....

So, I decided to do a little research on our EU lawmakers, and I'm horrified!!!!

To cut a long story short, big companies like Smithfield pay lobbyists. These lobbyists go to the EU (I won't bore you with a description of the three bodies involved, you can find the info on any political discussion site, though NOT the names or qualifications of the ultimate lawmakers)

Said lobbyists come up with a reason for changing/amending the law - the usual excuse is a "level playing field" - now how you can "level" the different climatic conditions for, say, crops, is beyond me........

And here's the real stinger.....  over 90% of these "amendments" never go before the European parliament, or get voted on by our well-paid MEPs. 

So, basically, our laws are now controlled by the big corporations.... now that can't be good for any of us.

And if the Lisbon treaty is ratified, the entire European population will basically be reduced to being the serfs of the Multinational companies.

Seems to explain why these guys get to do whatever they like, then have the rest of us penalised for it 

Democracy? Yeah, right!

Donard

[sausagesandcash]

That's just one reason i'm voting no the Lisbon treaty (again). Does anyone else find it a bit bizarre that in a democracy  when you vote no, they can tell you that you voted the wrong way and make you vote again. I know what they'd call that sort of behaviour if it happened in Iran or Nth Korea.

The documentary clearly showed how the industrialisation of farming has devestating consequences for the environment and for small farmers. To me it means that the prized 'fast buck' is placed well above animal welfare, and feed quality. I think that the more programmes like this and Jamie Olivers 'Saving our bacon' get aired the more people will be educated to the dross that they are eating. I would also love to see a law passed where every product must be labeled with a picture of the animals being reared....now that'd open a lot of eyes!

Regards,

Morgan

[donard]

I'll be voting "No" , too.
I have a horrible feeling they'll get it accepted this time, though. Unless the French and German politicians decide to threaten us again...... that could prove helpful again LOL.

Donard

[Muc]

I'm a 'no' as well. I think it's unfair that people in so many European countries don't have a vote at all.

[Malc]

A vote? Now that would be nice.

I saw the film and was disgusted, but far from surprised. Our "free" market economics benefit nobody but the mega-corporations in the long run. Try walking along any high street in the UK to see just how many small businesses are still there.

As far as animal welfare is concerned, we can only keep pushing the message and producing our free range pork. I never have trouble selling the stuff so there's a real desire for good quality, humanely-produced meat out there.

[donard]

I think pushing the message to the man in the street is pointless, unless the produce is freely available on the supermarket shelves, alongside the mass- produced rubbish.

The other possibility is REAL farmers markets - charging affordable prices. That's one thing that has been abused by traders, who have nothing to do with producing the stuff, and are just selling mass- produced products at hugely inflated prices.

I have bought food at farmers markets in the past, supposedly locally produced, only to find it was imported or mass produced. When challenged the following week, the stallholder in question tried telling me that the vegetables in question were "out of season, and not available locally right now".

You should have seen his face when I told him I was raised on a farm, and knew perfectly well when local produce was in season - and what it should taste like.

A complaint to the market manager didn't help, either. He said they needed the money from the stallholders to pay rent. It's a shame, because I'd love to buy locally produced food, and I can't....and I'm right in the middle of a farming community.

Donard

[Hilarysmum]

Supermarkets did not just appear out of thin air, they evolved because with busy lives its so much simpler to shop in one shop, then we work longer hours to afford all the luxuries they tell us are necessities, then they sting us for premium food which is not even as good quality as what was once bought as normal food, make us feel guilty for not utilising their premium products and then b;00 dy well mislabel their premium food so we think we are getting rare breed, free range etc. etc.  and pay even more for food that frankly the producer was paid less for than the packing merchant.

So we the consumer need to stand up and be counted.  Dont know how just feel its time we fought back.  Perhaps some eco hero may emerge on here whom we may all follow.  Because until the majority say no big business will rule the world, and dictate what and how and where we the normal people should live in it. 

Not being offered the chance to vote on the Lisbon Treaty I hope everyone who can will use their vote!!

Rant over for now.

[donard]

No eco-hero needed, Hilarysmum - just a couple of people who are willing to co-operate.

Say, 3-4 people who live in the same area, producing different items. Say, pork, potatoes, fresh veg. fruit, and/or food products made from a selection of said products.  If these people drew up an agreement (doesn't have to be hugely complicated, just the terms of the arrangement, witnessed, to safeguard everyones interests ) to sell one anothers products at a market (or 2, depending on the area), then that would cut down the transportation cost and workload for all of them... Ok, i wouldn't work for all of us, but there are bound to be some people on this forum who could make it work!!

I can't think of any reason why a thread couldn't be started asking for names , locations, and produce available  for anyone interested.
From that, it has to be possible to work out who can produce what, and ideas on where to sell - whether markets, car boot sales, or whatever.

I've had lots of people express interest in pork as soon as they heard I had pigs, especially bacon "like it used to taste".
I can't see why things would be different anywhere else?? People just don't know where to buy decent food - my solution is to produce my own, but remember the biggest companies all started small.............. (Then they got greedy, which I hope wouldn't happen in this case)
 
It seems to me to be the only way of fighting back.

Donard