Retired in Euskadi

Since the 2nd world war, the issue first became 'food security' & rightly so; then with the rise of supermarkets in the 70's it became 'cheap food' coupled with an increase in food production, thanks to the CAP. Then, by the early 1990's, when European farmers were producing more food than what the markets & the public could consume, the CAP switched subsidy payments for farmers to 'conserve the countryside'.

But the drive towards cheap food has never gone away in Britain. Despite what the media might say about the British public wanting welfare friendly etc, the majority of shoppers will shop by price & the supermarkets know it.
The food chain has become so complex that it's not surprising there are anomalies such as horse meat in burgers.
A simple pot of strawberry yoghurt can have an extremely complex chain of production, with the strawberries, gelatin, milk, plastic pot, foil top all coming from different countries.

We cannot turn the clock back; supermarkets are here to stay, since most of us, I guess, use them at various moments.
I think labelling needs to be drastically overhauled. Do we need to be informed in writing that a yoghurt pot is made from glass or plastic? Do they really think we're so stupid?

Food needs to be sold at a price that reflects its cost of production, not at loss leader prices such as what happens to milk.

Pocaloca

I really hope there's a massive consumer backlash against this adulterated goo. The public should vote with their wallet, and just stop buying it!

I know price is a factor, especially for families on low incomes. But is it really that much cheaper and easier to serve frozen lasagne than stick a few spuds in the oven, grate some cheese and open a can of beans?

jackytoo

There was an interesting article in this weeks Private Eye, pity it's not online. It was about a food standards charter for meat which most farmers in the UK are signed up to. 97 pages of regulations which states the birth and riht up to the death of an animal. Because of these standards UK farmers are losing out as they cannot compete with prices of stuff coming from the continent.

jackytoo

Exactly, they could make their own burgers too.

Pocaloca

Well, that's fine for people who have the time. Not sure a working mother of three would find that an easy option. Also, unless you can afford decent minced steak you are going to be using cheap supermarket mince which isn't much better than slurry (in England anyway), you pour half of it down the sink.

rugbymatt

Or not demand meat every night of the week? Its quite shocking how people feel its their right to eat meat whenever they want, gone are the days of chicken once a month and that chicken lasting 3 days. I know people who eat chicken 4 nights a week and throw what they don't eat.

Retired in Euskadi

British farmers have been losing out for years because of the policy of the supermarkets buying cheap.
The British poultry industry accepted the new "welfare" regulations increasing cage size years ago; as did our pig industry.
And the majority of European farmers? Many still haven't improved, but Mr Tesco couldn't give a monkeys how the food is produced or where it's from, just as long as it's cheap. And people like Andrew Opie of the British Retail Consortium will claim the supermarkets are doing their utmost.

rugbymatt

Sorry but that is ALL rubbish. I had this argument with someone recently, I made 100% meat burgers, no fillers, in 3 minutes, not including opening the bad of 500gms of beef mince that cost 2.50 from a butchers. My grandmother had 9 kids and I can promise you, she never had processed food in the house!

People are lazy and feckless

Pocaloca

But lazy feckless people still have to eat ...

Kids aren't taught how to cook at school any more, they are taught about food packaging and delivery. This HAS to change.

Then we get certain TV chefs producing stuff so complicated that if you try and do it yourself it is doomed to failure, so you decide you can't cook, and give up trying.

rugbymatt

Gove suggested compulsory home economics and the teachers, Labour and the Unions slam him for being out of touch. Damned if they do, damned if they don't.

agoreira

I think you are forgetting she is an expert on all things English! To suggest that all English mince is rubbish is as daft as saying all Spanish meat is great. Not sure where she used to buy all this crap mince, it obviously wasn't my local farm shop or my local butchers. The link I gave for the Spanish horse burgers shows how good the Spanish product is, high in fat, high in sulphides etc.

Pocaloca

Well, maybe Tescos "value" mince has improved since my student days when we lived on spag bol and chili con carne!? But I remember having to drain off loads of fat and grey liquid, sometimes you lost a third of the weight.

Not a lot of students could afford to buy meat at farm shops in the ´90s and, I suspect even less of them could nowadays, what with the price of beer etc.

rugbymatt

As I said, my butchers sell lean steak mince for 5 quid a kilo. How is that expensive? Its actually cheaper than Tescos value mince by weight!

Lynn R

There are probably lots of towns and villages in Britain that still have independent butchers' shops and farm shops, but there are also lots which sadly do not. The town where I was brought up and where my family still live is one, and the large village I lived in for over 25 years before moving here is another.

When I was growing up our town had at least 5 butchers' shops (and greengrocers, cheese and cooked meats shops, etc). There isn't a single independent shop selling any kind of food now (apart from takeaways, of which there is no shortage). They do, however, have a town centre branch of Morrisons and Aldi, and a cheap Spar type supermarket. As for farm shops, I don't think there's one within a 20 mile radius. We once had a thriving weekly open air market, but that went too.

It's a chicken and egg situation - did the supermarkets drive the independent shops out as they couldn't compete on price, or is it the consumers' fault for not continuing to use them once the supermarkets opened?

Whichever it was, a lot of consumers in Britain don't have the option to buy from the small independent shops unless they can travel quite a distance to do it.

decon.YA

There has always been working mothers of three who had time to cook in the past, of course organisation was they key.

Today too many sit on their arses on tinterweb for hours on end,
and then say they have no time.

My mother and mother in law would have kicked my wifes butt off the computer and told her to peel some spuds or descale a fish.