Self-righteous cretins

[supawooly]

I'll bet this preachy halfwit hasn't even begun to consider economies of scale in terms of the amount of mileage he's doing (quite possibly in a massive Range Rover, he sounds like that sort of c***) to pick up his family's food from all around Fife.

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7152009.stm

[brispie]

I'd just read that and thought how brilliant it was.

Wherever possible I always try to buy local, or UK at least.

[fgrfc_dan]

You would.

[brispie]

I was going to say that I'm a self-righteous cretin, but I'm not. You lot who buy food from the other side of the world on a regular basis are in fact the idiots.

[supawooly]

Which is worse then Bris?

Curly kale being hauled up the M1 once in a big lorry for 500 miles to a local supermarket or 50 20-mile trips on local roads in personal cars to pick it up from local farms?

[fgrfc_dan]

Why are we the idiots? You're the one not living in the real world. Food from the other side of the world is cheaper and easier to produce, and the UK simply can't produce enough food to feed its population without imports. Either we import food or you remove half the population - which would you prefer?

[jerichoharris]

I'd prefer to remove half the population. The sifting process certainly needn't be particularly painful.

[supawooly]

That's actually quite a tricky question Dan.

I'm happy for the removal of at least half the people I know. As long as I get to pick which ones.

[brispie]

I know of very few people (other than those already living close by) who go to their local farms. Most urban areas have farmers markets now, if you're in town anyway, why not go to the farmers market? You also forget to factor in all those people driving 3 miles to the supermarket and back.

It's not cheaper and easier if you own an allotment. We've lost thousands of allotments in the last 50 years or so because people don't support them. Free exercise, dirt cheap food. We've created the situation where we aren't self sufficient.

Anyway, I'm not a complete nazi on this, some things still have to come from overseas.

[CaptainSambuca]

bris - you can eat local food and still be an idiot

dan - kick out all the illegals and there'll be swans aplenty for us all

[brispie]

I know , I know. And I am most of the time. But Daley wanted some anger.

[Wizaard]

I'm going onto the Blackpool diet and from now on will eat only candy floss from locally sourced candy floss plants and donkeyburgers.

Thinking about it, that's probably what they are serving at the ground. Donkey sheds are just round the back of the kop. Very locally sourced.

[mrduckington]

This country produces about 40% of its own food, most of it through intensive energy hungry methods, if we follow the logic of Mr Pie then we would only produce food in a more, er, Soil Association friendly fashion, and we didn't import food then the total population supportable would be about 5 million.

I'm as fat as butchers dog so I'd probably get through the famine, it's you skinny c**** that will be the first to go.

[michelotti]

I'm with Brispy on this one. I reckon it would be a whole lot more environmentally friendly if the government encouraged stores to source the majority of their meat and Vegetables from say within a 50 mile radius. That way instead of lots of self righteous cretins travelling about picking local food up, it can be sourced centrally. That would also encourage farmers to grow more seasonal crops as well.

[Fenton]

we get a nice organic veg box delivered every week but we also get a fruit box delivered at the same time

Not sure that the clementines, grapefruit & kiwis are locally grown though

[brispie]

I had an argument on here with Mik a while back. He balmed big business for our environmental woes. Whilst I agree that they take a lot of stick, the fact that we as individuals go around encouraging supermarkets to import from abroad means that we are just as culpable.

Last year, during the asparagus season I couldn't find British asparagus in several local supermarkets when I knew that several farms within a few miles were advertising it for sale on boards outside their farms.

Shocking really.

[Fenton]

why didn't you just go and buy it from the local farm then?

Did you tell the local supermarket that you were disgusted with their behaviour and you weren't going to support their capitalist ways anymore

[michelotti]

Like the supermarkets give a shit a few people source produce locally......Like the supermarkets give a shit a few people complain. The only people the supermarkets will listen to is the Government

[JohnnyNeptune]

the simple way around all this is to grow your own veg

yum yum yum

i had carrots, broad beans, potatoes, sugar snap peas & cucumbers, lettuce, rocket & all manner of herbs last year

[brispie]

Sith is right.

Mich - Supermarkets will listen if people don't buy their imported asparagus, yet local farmers report that they can't keep up with demand.

Fenners - I didn't drive round checking up, I just checked up when I was in there.

[mrduckington]

It's the government that listens to the supermarkets, not the other way round, ohhhhh and mr sith, did your back garden provide all your vegetable needs for the entire year?

Just askin', like.

[brispie]

From our allotment this year:

potatoes, sweetcorn, several different types of lettuce, broad beans, runner beans, peas, courgettes, pumpkin, cabbage, cauliflower, sprouts, onions, garlic, blackberries, strawberries.

We had a poor year.

A standard allotment should be able to provide enough fruit and veg all year round. However, I'd occasionally get other stuff otherwise it might get a bit dull.

[michelotti]

"It's the government that listens to the supermarkets, not the other way round"

Yes I know, and it's a fucking disgrace!

[mrduckington]

Well then Mr Sith, I'll take that as a 'no' then.

At the height the last siege around 10% of the UK food consumption was grown in allotments/back gardens/public parks, which of course means that your solution would mean everyone eating 1 day in every 10, assuming that supply is even through the year. Oh yeah, and the population has risen in the last 65 years, so it's a bit less than that now.

A tad more research puts UK food self-sufficiency at about 60%, which means of course that we all do eat everything that is grown locally but still need to import enough for 24 million people every single year.

The idea that we can all eat food that is sourced within 50 miles away is the most absolute complete and utter bollocks you are ever likely to be fed by the BBC or Guardian. It is disingenuous fucking shit of the first order designed to make middle class morons even more insufferably smug than usual just because they choose to pay 50% over the odds to buy potatoes from Borough market.

I'd hazard a guess that 'local' food in a UK context would mean anywhere within about 5,000 miles, far enough at least to cover the North American bread basket that has fed us for the last 200 years.

As for those c**** at the Soil Association.......well I challenge any of you to mount any sort of cogent defence.

[Catfish]

I don't want to, but I agree with who I presume to be Snock. Where is everyone in, say, Central London meant to get an allotment? Don't wish to be patronising, but have you any idea how many people are packed in there? It's OK out in the suburbs where people's gardens are big enough- I remember asking my dad once how much space you'd need to live on if you grew all your own stuff. He's ace at the ol' veg growing and grows loads. He reckoned if he dug up his lawn, planted half with potatoes and the rest for various veg, his garden was about the right size. I'm no good at estimating, but while it's not huge it's certainly bigger than anyone's in Brixton. Especially when you consider that once houses are converted into flats any garden space is at least halved... then you factor in high-rises.

However, I don't think Brispy should be dismissed, because he is right too (if idealistic). We could make more of an effort to consume food that has a lower environmental impact. Saying 'well, it's impossible to do it all locally so I'm not going to give a stuff' is a bit like saying 'well, I've got too much work to do at the moment, so I'm just not going to do any of it'. Which I also do.

[michelotti]

A bit of local coordination wouldn't go amiss though would it?
ie:- The supermarket down the road is selling meat reared and slaughtered hundreds of miles away, whilst there's a supermarket hundreds of miles away selling meat reared and slaughtered within a few miles of my house! and just down the road there's a butcher struggling to keep up with ever increasing overheads and ever decreasing customers due to supermarket conveniency, whilst those that can afford the time to travel and pay over the odds seek out farm shops. It's a fucking mess! that's what it is, a fucking mess!

[brispie]

I can't remember which company it was, but they were catching seafood in this country, then sending it to China to be prepared and then returned here to be sold. How fucking crazy is that?

I don't think I'm being idealistic to ask everyone to use their brains every now and then.

[denby]

MMMMM LOCALLY GROWN BRAAAAAAAAIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNSSSSSSSSSSSSS

[michelotti]

And here's a recipe for you Denbers

Soak the brains in cold water until well bleached.
Put them in a stewpan with a tablespoon of vinegar, a small onion, sliced, a blade of mace, 2 or 3 cloves, salt and pepper, a 1/2 glass of white wine, and sufficient water to cover.
Let them simmer half an hour, and take them out to cool and drain.
When quite cold, slice the brain in rather thin slices, dip them in egg and seasoned bread crumbs, and saute in butter or nice drippings.
Serve as an entree garnished with parsley, or as a border to boiled rice or some delicate vegetable.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mmmmmmmm Luvvverly

[brispie]

I love faggots