Eat british?

Nothing like it!! fresh off the land, we should all grow our own foods, (those we can anyway), some of the best days are spent in the garden browsing a fresh long lunch whilst working ,weeding etc. I agree completely with you Denise and we shouldn't be afraid of a little dirt either!

Unfortunately so many people do shop with their eyes and Supermarkets will only have on their shelves what sells well. I think its a matter of education, starting at school, having gardens or allotments connected with the school. Children, once introduced to growing things seem to revel in it. Some kids unbelievably have no idea that their food comes from the soil or from animals. If you live on fish fingers or burgers, I suppose there isn't a connection.

Sadly Mad is right... unless and until the majority of folk recognise that perfect shape isn't relevant then we are stuck with the supermarket selling perfect plums and strawberries from Spain that have little or no taste, and in the case of the plums are rock hard! There are solutions, if you live where there is a greengrocer, street market, farmers market, food market shop at those - and grow as much of your own food as you can, preferably organically as it is less harmful to the planet and better to eat. Effectively boycott your supermarket so far as fruit and veg. go tell them why! Write letters, join Garden Organic and the Soil Association push your local MP or MSP to ask questions. Push your local council to have allotments, our council has a policy of 'no allotments' - I've just become a community councillor - what this space...

And yes children definitely need to learn how to grow food and realise where food comes from. Mr Moonbulb helped with the local school garden club last term, so far this term the teachers have not got their acts together to start up again - grr! There is a lot the children could be doing right now including clearing out the beds from last summer.

I agree D! I used to go to one specific shop in Edinburgh to get my 'dirty veg'!!!

I have become what I call a locavor...I only eat what is grown locally, by me or a nearby farmer...it is healthier! I swear! :)

I totally agree with all the above ....my problem is that we have been held to ransom by one horrid small supermarket that has driven out all of the family owned businesses in this small town including all the greengrocers and bakers and butchers
I have done the DIY veg patch bit all my life but now I am not so able....and am dependant on the Farmers Market that comes into town once a month...and it is very limited and it doesn't do apples and pears...nor beans and peas even!
I am so grateful that I can manage the greenhouse at least..and make the most of my tomatoes and courgettes etc.

The Farmers Market that comes to my town has deteriorated quite badly and when i mentioned this i was told that the stalls are now so expensive (the local council run the Farmers Markets in this county and charge exorbitant prices per stall) that they can't afford to rent them.
I was appalled.
I'd always used this Market and was passionate about supporting local but that made my blood boil and i resent lining the councils coffers.

Now i use the 'farm gate' method and whenever i pass a farmer selling goods i 'always' buy from them, be it produce or plants.

Couldn't agree more Louise1....sadly up here in the bleak NE you very seldom find farm gate sales happening and I guess it is all to do with the weather!!!! Seriously though I found a new one starting up just at the weekend and promptly stopped and bought. We really must "support home industries" in whatever way we can....and the Markets seemed to start out with the right ideals but have become so expensive that only the Big Boys can take one on now.
Money IS the root of all evil right enough.

There are some locally owned shops and stalls around here so I suppose we're lucky. I still see people buying fresh food in supermarkets though. I think they are a waste of money even if cheaper - they either have no taste or they're sour and are hard .

We too no longer have a greengrocer in our local town, we do have a couple of farm shops but only open for part of the year. One option is to join a local box scheme so long as you don't mind not knowing exactly what veg. you will get.

When you live alone - that doesn't work quite so well MG..as you kinda get overloaded with stuff you can hardly cope with. I did try one for a while and must say I enjoyed the quality and flavour of course but even half a cabbage is a bit of a mouthful when you are cooking for one!!!!! LOL

Is there anyone you could talk in to sharing with you Alz? We used to belong to a box scheme but stopped when himself retired and we started growing more ourselves.

My friend Beryl and I share things. e g we buy one cauliflower and cut it in half - that way it doesn't waste. We do the same with eggs. - We buy them from a farm on the hill and have 3 each .... lol

Our local farm shop sells posh apple & ginger wines, fancy biscuits, expensive cooking oils, vinigars and spices, cakes, sweets, even pottery, but hardly any fruit veg and thats old and limp. We no longer have a bakery or greengrocer.
Its not the supermarkets who put these people out of buisness its the consumers who use these supermarkets. Did it myself as it is easier for busy working people to shop all in one shop on the way home.

Of course Drc26 is right that we shoppers are to blame for not using the smaller shops, however, with their massive buying power and sometimes bullying methods with producers, they have brought prices down to unrealistically low levels. Hard-up young families can't be blamed for wanting to buy cheap BUT I am appalled to see what is in the trolleys of many many of these young families. Utter rubbish, ie massive bags of crisps, fizzy drinks, ready meals etc. etc. So we come full circle back to education about nutrition, cooking and growing (where possible).
My daughter is a primary school teacher and is appalled by the level of food ignorance amongst her colleagues - so heaven help the children.

I agree Mad, I look in other folks trollies and wonder what on earth they are thinking of and how they can afford or justify the junk they buy. We were really tight for cash when I was a child but the quality and quantity of our meals was never a problem as mum knew how to make the most of anything.

I also look at products like a dish of cooked mashed potatoes ready to microwave or some other veg. and think wtf? BUT the supermarket would not sell it if people were not buying it!

There are now two generations who have no idea how to cook and seem to have no desire to learn. Yet they will sit and watch celeb. chefs on TV till the cows come home. I made sure our son knew how to cook, in fact he became a military chef and has made sure both his sons can cook properly.

Okay Mr MB has just kicked my soap box out from under me :-) As you can tell I am passionate about food!

i like to buy my fresh fruit and veg at the carboot sale from local growers, it taste so much better and still got the muck on to prove its just come out the ground, lovely :o)

I agree Sanbaz they do taste better when there fresh and dirty. I also think our immune system works better if we ingested a bit of dirt as we were growing up. But modern insectersides and waxing rather put paid to that.

yes your right a bit of dirt never hurt anyone, even women having babies and over do it with the keep everything clean thing, just over the top,we all need certain germs to keep our immune going as you say

I agree Drc & Sanbaz

An old Granny's saying..."You eat a peck o' dirt afore you die"
Pity the young mums of today don't listen to their Grans etc.a bit more.....our lifestyles were far more basic but sometimes that was in their favour. Like everything else in this OTT mad world - food nowadays has to be positively sanitized!!!

No wonder it is tasteless and odourless... I remember our GP when I was a child telling the next door neighbour her child would never be healthy unless she stopped mollycoddling her and allowed her to play in the garden and get dirty!

I shudder to think how many worms and bugs our son ate as a child and he tells me his two were just as bad... They are all alive and as fit as fiddles!

My granny's favourite saying was "Clean meat never fattened the pig!" She used to tell me to keep my home clean enough to be healthy & dirty enough to be happy!

Thanks Drc, enjoyed this blog. Supermarkets dont pay their suppliers for up to 90 days, with items such as fruit and veg, they are usually sold within a day, so supermarkets make their profit through the interest they make in the bank duringthe 90 day period. In other words they could sell the products for what they pay for them. Sorry I've probably explained this really badly. Because the food then, is so cheap it is tempting for cash strapped families in these times. I must confess that the reason we grow as much as possible ourselves is because the fruit & veg is so tastless from supermarkets

Hi Spindle I agree 100% with what you are saying!

Yes Spindle I find so much food today has no real flavour and of course supermarkets have their loss leaders such as milk and chicken - very cheap to get us in. There has to be something wrong in a world where all chickens weigh exactly the same how can you have 30 chickens in the chiller all weighing 3.27 Kgs?

lol.... Probably shouldnt confess that my brother-in-law is a chicken 'grower' for one of the large factories. He is actually called a 'grower' and has to 'thin' his young chicks at one stage. Its a bit odd that the chicken farmers use gardening terms dont you think? But WHY is the fruit and veg on the continent so good? The tomatos in French supermarkets are absolutely gorgeous - so juicy, like peaches....and the taste!!

I agree with everything MG has said too. I'm certainly no great chef, but buying fresh veg is, and always has been cheaper than buying tinned or frozen. And certainly better for you than the processed dried types of food. How hard is it to boil spuds afterall. I was amazed to learn that in these recessional times McDonalds profits are up! I take my kids to McDonalds as a 'treat' although over the last year or so, have found that treats are becoming harder to find the money for, so havent been as much.

The last time I "basted the beast"....ie. cooked the Xmas meal - I went all out to source everything home grown or definitely organic..including the turkey of course. I have never seen so many clean plates - nor had so many compliments - especially from the younger members...even the tiny wee ones - who kept asking for more....talk about Oliver Twists!
OK...it did cost more - but I think...and all the other cooks present agreed - it had been worth it.
There is no doubt in my mind that supermarket foods are tasteless...especially the chicken (sorry Spindle - no disrespect to your Uncle!!) ...luckily I don't eat red meat and live on fish (local caught) and veg. I just wish I had more local growers. So many of us here are almost beholden to the "Supermarket trap" as we call it...and it isn't even a half decent one at that with almost no organic choices. The nearest one that does have an organic section - is 15 miles away.....and as an OAP - you don't use that amount of diesel for a few vegs and your daily pinta!!