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What shops do we NEED in ED then? (Lounged)


Spangles30

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I am amused at the fact that whilst people refer to the apparent over-pricing of M&S food, they are also repeatedly calling for a propagation of the over-priced 'organic' food fraud and scaremongering! Ooooh, let's have an organic cafe, let's have an organic bakery, let's pay way over the odds to fall victim to a cynical marketing ploy.
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You dont "Need" any more shops


Unless you have exotic tastes like fresh truffles and have no option to but to go to harrods, I cannot see what is

"needed"


Edit - we need a bright shiny shop to sell bright shiny needles. , cso after I use mine once, I pjurposefully hoy them ober walls onto schools and nurseries


Oh, and a burned foil & crack pipe emporium would be great also.

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Food SHOULD be far more important than TV though I'm not sure I was saying TV is more important simply saying you can choose to shop where you want based on taste, budget and geography.


However, since we're on the subject, when I look around it seems that the vast majority of people (probably not on the EDF) don't seem to care about ingredients, source or preparation but instead prefer to watch mindless soaps and trashy reality TV. In fact it seems that our culture (and perhaps it's a class thing) care more about getting something quick and filling to sit in front of the TV with. Pot Noodles, Ready made meals, sandwiches and fatty take-aways are testament to that. Would love to know what % of the nations meals that constitutes versus people that are prepared to cook from fresh ingredients on a daily basis.


The recent growth of Culinary TV is going some way to change this but look at the reaction in some quarters to Jamies School Dinners. Europe does it much better than us and I think thats where our recent gastronomic renaissence comes from (plus pacific region) but look at our cousins, the most obese nation on the planet and practically wed to their TV remote controls.


People need better food education but it seems that the middle classes have the advantage there and the marketeers ride rampant on our TV screens peddling factory produced additive rich garbage to our kids.


More people should try to NOT buy fruit, veg, meat and fish (and cheese) from the supermarket (I know it's not always possible for a whole host of reasons) but instead use some of the excellent independent traders we're blessed with around this area. If Northcross road expanded to also become a french style food market with local farmers produce I think it would be fantastic.

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Domitianus Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I am amused at the fact that whilst people refer

> to the apparent over-pricing of M&S food, they are

> also repeatedly calling for a propagation of the

> over-priced 'organic' food fraud and

> scaremongering! Ooooh, let's have an organic

> cafe, let's have an organic bakery, let's pay way

> over the odds to fall victim to a cynical

> marketing ploy.


yeah, organic produce is middle class aspirational lifestyle food as much as M&$ is ... Everyone knows you're just paying more for the muck.

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I think the ?5 a loaf these orgaqnic cappies seem to charge at teh Puckham market smells slighty of racketeering.


I love bread with lunmps in. I am not so sure I want to pay what is pretty much an hours minimum wage for that lumpy bread.


Most organic farming is now profit driven as opposed to ethics driven.

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snorky Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I think the ?5 a loaf these orgaqnic cappies seem

> to charge at teh Puckham market smells slighty of

> racketeering.

>

> I love bread with lunmps in. I am not so sure I

> want to pay what is pretty much an hours minimum

> wage for that lumpy bread.

>

> Most organic farming is now profit driven as

> opposed to ethics driven.



That's if it can even be described as truly being organic. I nearly choked on my baby tomato the day I saw Jonathan Dimbleby (president or Chairman or whatever of the Soil Association) being interviewed and admitting that the Soil Association have a list of "approved" chemicals which farmers are free to use on their crops etc and still be allowed to claim organic status. As you may know the Soil Association is one of the main verifying bodies for organic status. In an instant the debate changed in front of my eyes from Chemical Users versus nice organic, manure shovelling, chemical abhoring types to an arguement between two types of Chemical Users as to which chemical were safe or appropriate to use. More a scientific ebate than a moral/ethical one really.


Also, I believe that up to half of the organic food in this country is actually imported from abroad so, since many of these organic fans are environmental freaks as well, I wonder how many of them are aware of the carbon footprints their organic lentils leave behind and the fac that what they believe they are giving with one hand they may well be taking away with the other.


Dr Brian Iddon, a Labour MP who debated this issue in Parliament said it beautifully and I have cut and pasted an eloquent quotation below:


?The Soil Association just does not tell it as it is. Much of the organic food now being sold in Britain is flown in from developing countries. I can?t support that because more land is required to produce the lower yields of organic crops and often in countries that have a difficulty feeding their own populations. There is also the issue of whether growers in developing countries are receiving a fair price for their produce.?


Organic farmers often point a finger at conventional farmers because they use synthetic pesticides and herbicides. But, organic farmers also use chemicals to control pests, and some of these are equally or more damaging to the environment than the newer pesticides applied by modern farming practices.?


Dr Iddon admits that organic food is becoming more popular but he points out that it is, on average, 63% more expensive than conventional food. Sales are promoted by a concern for the environment and because people have been led to believe that organic food is more nutritious and healthier than conventionally produced food.


?There is little or no evidence for the claims made by the organic industry?, said Dr Iddon.


The Food Standards Agency test all food, whether organic or conventional, to ensure that it is safe for us to eat. It is possible for organic food to carry traces of the chemicals used in its production.


?The pioneers of organic farming were idealists?, said Dr Iddon. ?They were anti-science and had an antagonism for market-driven capitalism. Ironically, their ideals have now been hijacked by the market economy.


We should not lose sight of the central message that a diet high in fresh fruit and vegetables, affordable and safely produced, and low in processed foods, with their high salt and sugar contents, is better for us all. Conventional farming practices can deliver all that?.

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oddly enough, Lidl vegetables are often organic, but rarely labelled as such - much is sourced from small farms in Silesia / Poland etc where chemicals are not used


they look filthy and go off pretty quickl, but thats what happens with "normal" vegetables anyway.


This is Snorkys money saving Tip of the Day

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