MillieF

Couldn't agree more, on the whole, left the UK and haven't looked back
for damned near 30 years...but..whilst I don't think Tescos might be the answer to my problems, nor do I think sodium saturated, sucrose enriched goodies with dodgy labelling is either. I'd just occasionally like to buy something instant that didn't taste like yuck...and decent yoghurt for that matter, or mayonnaise I don't have to make.

Yeah for Atlantic Canada though....the seafood and lobster makes up for all of the other shortcomings...I love the idea of stuffed lobster Greenhill, just not quite sure where to start stuffing

Dashie

No, that is not what I stated. That is one element of it. What I object to is things like round up ready soybeans which are impervious to round up weed killer, for example. And the ethics of companies like Monsanto who produce them, as well as the issues of honesty and transparency when it comes to what we buy and eat. If there's nothing wrong with GMOs then why have so many countries banned them? Why do do many insist on labeling, which effectively bans them because people won't buy it?

Shard

Ignorance? Caution?

The benefits of GMO (increased production, lower costs) outweigh the negligible risks - and we are talking virtually zero risk.

Almost Canadian

I understand and accept that you wish to pay extra for organic as you don't want anything sprayed upon your food. Unfortunately, many people cannot afford to do so. Of course, there is also the issue that, if everyone wanted to be able to have organic like you do, it wouldn't be possible due to lack of suitable land. Although, I have to admit, I don't know if this is actually the case.

I stated above that the intellectual property issue is a huge issue but, whether you wish to accept it or not, GM food is no different to farmers growing foodstuffs that they "genetically altered" by means other than "test tube science." I am confident that you will accept that there is broad scientific consensus that GM food is no more harmful than non GM food.

This debate reminds me of the MMR one. I suspect that, as usual, many people object without ever really considering the facts. I am confident that you have.

Each to their own and all that.

Oakvillian

This is oversimplifying things a bit.

Risks to human health of GMO foods, per se, are indeed negligible. But Dashie has touched on a couple of peripheral issues that are not so easy to dismiss.

First, engineering food crops to be resistant to herbicides and pesticides encourages the overuse of such herbicides and pesticides. It encourages large-scale monoculture, too - both these things (monoculture and overuse of chemical weedkillers/pesticides) are bad for the environment, in that they limit biodiversity, pollute watercourses, and end up poisoning great swathes of the Gulf of Mexico, for example.

Second, and I think this is actually much more insidious, is the IP licensing and enforcement by the big seed companies - AC mentions this above. Many (most?) varieties of GMO arable staples are engineered not only for resilience, but also for infertility. Farmers (especially those in poor and developing nations who could really do with the increased yields) cannot save seed from one year's crop to plant the next season. Fair enough, you might think, they're only protecting their investment. And while this isn't such a huge issue in the relatively affluent Western world, it is unconscionable to price susbsistence farmers and small growers in developing countries out of the market. They do not make enough money out of selling surplus grain to buy the seed stock for the next year, so either end up permanently in debt to the likes of Monsanto, or simply go out of business. This is, frankly, evil behaviour for a company that makes as much money as the seed manufacturers do. Despite repeated pleas from NGOs and international agencies to amend their commercial arrangements with farmers in sub-saharan Africa, for example, they repeatedly refuse to do so.

Dashie

Yes. Each to their own. I'm not sure when this changed from me trying to advise about Canadian food labeling in order to answer the OP's question about food differences in Canada to me somehow having to justify my own choices and budget.

Yes, I have done my own research and obviously got different results to you. I think you can generally find research backing up most things if you really want to, it's a matter of finding your comfort level which is different for everyone.

With regards to cost, a lot of organic food is overpriced in stores, I can rarely afford it. We save huge amounts of money buying directly from local farms, generally paying less than you would for standard meat etc.

Almost Canadian

I agree. In reality, it could be mitigated by governments having the balls to implement legislation that deals with it.

The alternative is to blame the clever bastards that worked out how to do it. Had they not sold their souls to the big corporations, everyone could benefit.

bats

Yep, that's the way to do it.

I would get a top sirloin roast and get it rolled and tied French style. Or shop in Costco as their sirloin is yum. Cook to medium or medium rare. Use cut carrots onions and parsnips to make a grid to stand the meat on. Keep the base of the meat dish covered with half inch of water. You can the zap everything to make gravy.

You can take a liitle of the risk out of gravy making by mixing the flour to a runny paste in cold water first. If you save some of the water the veggies have cooked in and mix it with a little of the Yorkshire batter then this improves the gravy. My mum used to rinse the mxing bowl out with the veggie water.

You can also just buy some Veloutine and add this to the meat and veg juices. It never goes lumpy and gives the gravy a nice colour.

Beat the eggs and milk together first, THEN add the flour, salt and white pepper when making yorkies.

Never parboil parsnips, too soggy.

Almost Canadian

It's BE thread drift is to be expected.

I very much doubt that, at least for beef, bison and elk.

I live in farmland and have many neighbours that throw this stuff at me. While I only moved to farmland relatively recently, I knew others that knew people from which I was able to obtain very good deals

I accept that it may be filled with things that others wouldn't accept, but I really don't want to live forever.

Dashie

Thread drifting, yes. However I suspect that your apparent insecurity about other people's food choices says a lot more about you than it does about me. I don't care what you eat, and don't knit pick at you for it or ask you to justify what you do/don't pay/do

I have no idea about bison and elk, not tried either.

We paid $3.20 per pound for an entire cow, cut wrapped and fast frozen, including everything from ground beef to prime rib roasts. It was an organic, grass fed cow, to clarify. It galls me to see corn fed beef going for so much more in the supermarket. The grass fed pig was the same all in I think. Insane amounts of meat, too much for one freezer so we shared with friends.

Why would I lie about it?

Oakvillian has reiterated some of the points I was trying to make, but much more eloquently. Also though, when I've talked to people from NZ and farmer relatives in the UK, they are pretty disgusted by farming here. Both from a GMO perspective (and everything that encompasses as per Oakvillian's post) and the idea of factory farming animals, force feeding them corn because it's cheap for example.

ETA: Yes, I know factory farming exists in other places too, but welfare standards are much higher on the whole, and corn feeding is nowhere near as abundant.

Paul_Shepherd

Totally agree with this....the only food I miss from the UK is the British Chinese....its unique to Britain...the special curry dish..the chow mein, the chop suey, even the Chinese "chips" oh and prawn crackers! A Chinese take out in the UK was never a cultured affair but it was always very tasty, probably all the MSG! LOL But i miss it all the same! And the average Chinese take out is a fair bit more expensive here too.

Paul_Shepherd

Talking of expensive foods...Cheese was mentioned earlier, and how extortionately expensive it is here, just to prove a point the last time I was in the UK I bought some "Canadian mature cheddar" from Sainsburys and bought it back.

It was actually cheaper to buy it in the UK than what i could buy it here for! The best thing was on the back of the Sainsburys pack it said packaged for Sainsburys in Campbellford, Ontario, Canada, which I beleive is the Empire cheese factory and is just down the road from where i now live.....but I can buy it cheaper in the UK 3500 miles away! ...Something is wrong somewhere!

Siouxie

Could I give a gentle reminder of Site Rule 1 - I have noticed a few comments getting somewhat personal... let's all play nicely now.



1. Personal Attacks

BritishExpats.com is an interactive site, and everyone who participates is "in it together", please treat others the way you wish to be treated. Personal attacks will not be tolerated. Challenge others' points of view and opinions, but do so respectfully and thoughtfully ... without insult or personal attack.

bats

Have you found decent Chinese takeout in the area cos we havent.

Siouxie

You can go to their factory and buy it there, might be cheaper than the stores.

http://www.empirecheese.ca/about-us/

I find 'Selection brand' extra old white chedder a pretty good substitute for English cheese.