Hosta - All supermarkets are definitely not the same and that's the main reason I shop at Waitrose. I believe it is a good retailer offering excellent value for money. Not the cheapest - but the best value.
I think high standards of animal welfare are extremely important, and that exploiting farmers / suppliers by changing contracts ad hoc and by underpaying them for fruit, veg and other products is just plain wrong
I only buy meat which I believe to have been produced following the highest standards of animal welfare and am only interested in buying other food stuffs which I believe have been purchased from the producers through fair and reasonable contracts.
I realise there are people out there who don't really have enough money to spend a lot on food - but I don't think that is a good enough excuse for supporting supermarkets which sell discounted food because of exploitative contracts.
When money was tight I ate very little meat because I couldn't afford to buy free range UK produce. Fruit and veg were bought cheaply at the end of the day off the market. I learned how to make the most of any meat I did buy (e.g. 10 portions of food plus soup from one chicken) and had a good repertoire in egg dishes. I still refuse to eat bacon sarnies at my in-laws because they buy Danish bacon.
It is still possible to eat well but very cheaply without exploiting animals, farmers and other suppliers. Unfortunately too many people are too lazy to find out how or make the effort to do it.
I like the convenience of shopping at a supermarket and I believe that Waitrose does allow me to have that convenience and stay true to my principles. I would like to think that Booth's in the NW works in a similar way.
You will only find me in Asda, Tescos or Morrisons to buy cheap booze....
Heaven is ... sitting in the garden with a G&T and a cat while watching the sun go down
I didn't listen to that programme but we farm ... thankfully not dairy nowadays. It's wayyyyyyyyyyy toooooo much hard work! We had the good sense to get out of it more than 30 years ago. Thankfully we were never "just" dairy. We were mixed and arable and livestock.
I was also a director within a relevant organisation until 1991.
Frankly it irritates me off when some people slag off "farmers" and seek to demonise them. Farmers: the very people who are working extraordinarily hard and long hours merely to produce their food But I don't obsess about it because I know that those sort are just ignorant out of choice. Truth be told it's often that type who are partly responsible for the decline in British food production.
I ignored this thread because frankly thinking that Morrisons giving 10p to farmers for a bottle of milk is going to solve the problem or even that Morrisons are doing something exceptional or great just displays that ignorance is showing.
Waitrose, Marks & Spencer, Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and the Co-op - have schemes in place to ensure farmers are paid a price above the average cost of production for fresh milk. They've been in place for years. Asda used to have the best approach but that's because it started it's business life as a co-operative of Yorkshire farmers ASsociated DAiries which bore supermarkets ASquith and DAiries . Be aware though that it's not "just" supermarkets that buy milk.
Put simply it costs more in the UK to produce milk than dairy farmers are receiving.
Now you might well think that means it's "just" an unsustainable industry and let it crash but that would have serious implications. Not only just in terms of meaning we no longer produce any milk in the UK - or the EEC. But: On the environment. The landscape. Animal welfare. Food miles. etc.
Farmers don't actually sell milk to supermarkets. They sell to milk producers who in turn bottle it, make it into other stuff and including things like milk powder which then goes into other things and including into animal feed products. All these milk producers sell their stuff on and including but not solely to supermarkets. Also though to other producers and manufacturers globally who do additional things to it.
Bottled milk represents a small fraction of the market. Supermarkets are just part of a supply chain.
They're all competing in a global commodity market. Milk producers buy globally.
Price and cost of production are affected by such as: Availability. There isn't enough milk produced in the UK for us to be self-sufficient. Globally there's over production. The EU regulate how much milk can be produced and there's 50% less farmers in dairy now than there were 10 years ago. There are less than 10,000 dairy farms in the UK now. The EU have only just lifted some of the quota sanctions to try to help the industry. But it's a global market and it's not a "fair" competitive market.
Cost of production is hugely increased here because we are more tightly regulated. Have better standards of animal welfare. Better Traceability. Higher Health and Safety Standards. Higher minimum wage. Working time regulations. etc etc etc.
Farmers receive subsidy to ensure that the cost of food is such that it's affordable. It's also to encourage them to invest not only in capital equipment and things to produce food but also to d
I didn't listen to the programme but we farm ... thankfully not dairy now. It's wayy too much hard work! We had the good sense to get out of it more than 30 years ago because even then it was a thankless and exhausting job for little return. Thankfully we were never "just" dairy. We were mixed and arable and livestock.
I was also a director within a relevant organisation till 1991.
It irritates me off when some slag off "farmers", seeking to demonise them. Farmers: the very people who are working extraordinarily hard & long hours merely to produce food I know that those sort are just ignorant out of choice.
I ignored this thread because Morrisons giving 10p for a bottle of milk isn't going to solve the problem. Neither are Morrisons doing something good. Thinking that means ignorance is showing.
Waitrose, M & S, Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda & the Co-op - have schemes in place to ensure farmers are paid a price above the average cost of production for fresh milk. They've been in place for years. Asda had the best approach but that's because it started it's business life as a co-operative of Yorkshire farmers ASsociated DAiries which bore supermarkets ASquith and DAiries . Be aware though that it's not "just" supermarkets that buy milk.
Put simply it costs more in the UK to produce milk than dairy farmers are receiving.
Some might well think that it's "just" an unsustainable industry and let it crash but that has serious implications. Not only in terms of meaning we no longer produce milk in the UK - or the EEC. But: On the environment. The landscape. Animal welfare. Food miles. etc.
Farmers don't actually sell milk to supermarkets. They sell to milk producers who in turn bottle it, make it into other stuff and including things like milk powder which then goes into other things and including animal feed products. All these milk producers sell their stuff on and including but not solely to supermarkets. It goes to producers and manufacturers globally who do additional things to it.
Bottled milk represents a small fraction of the market. Supermarkets are just part of a supply chain.
They're all competing in a global commodity market. Milk producers buy globally.
Price & cost of production are affected by such as: Availability. There isn't enough milk produced in the UK for us to be self-sufficient. Globally there's over production. The EU regulate how much milk can be produced and there's 50% less farmers in dairy now than there were 10 years ago. There are less than 10,000 dairy farms in the UK now. The EU have only just lifted some of the quota sanctions to try to help the industry. But it's a global market and it's not a "fair" competitive market.
Cost of production is hugely increased here because we are more tightly regulated. Have better standards of animal welfare. Better Traceability. Higher Health and Safety Standards. Higher minimum wage. Working time regulations. etc etc etc.
Farmers receive subsidy to ensure that the cost of food is such that it's affordable. It's also to encourage them to invest not only in capital equipment and things to produce food but also to do things like not use pesticides. Have set aside. Have land management schemes. The public want affordable food. They want pretty countryside. They want good standards of anima
I didn't listen to the programme but we farm ... thankfully not dairy now. It's wayy too much hard work! We had the good sense to get out of it more than 30 years ago because even then it was a thankless and exhausting job for little return. Thankfully we were never "just" dairy. We were mixed and arable and livestock.
I was also a director within a relevant organisation till 1991.
It irritates me off when some slag off "farmers", seeking to demonise them. Farmers: the very people who are working extraordinarily hard & long hours merely to produce food I know that those sort are just ignorant out of choice.
I ignored this thread because Morrisons giving 10p for a bottle of milk isn't going to solve the problem. Neither are Morrisons doing something good. Thinking that means ignorance is showing.
Waitrose, M & S, Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda & the Co-op - have schemes in place to ensure farmers are paid a price above the average cost of production for fresh milk. They've been in place for years. Asda had the best approach but that's because it started it's business life as a co-operative of Yorkshire farmers ASsociated DAiries which bore supermarkets ASquith and DAiries . Be aware though that it's not "just" supermarkets that buy milk.
Put simply it costs more in the UK to produce milk than dairy farmers are receiving.
Some might well think that it's "just" an unsustainable industry and let it crash but that has serious implications. Not only in terms of meaning we no longer produce milk in the UK - or the EEC. But: On the environment. The landscape. Animal welfare. Food miles. etc.
Farmers don't actually sell milk to supermarkets. They sell to milk producers who in turn bottle it, make it into other stuff and including things like milk powder which then goes into other things and including animal feed products. All these milk producers sell their stuff on and including but not solely to supermarkets. It goes to producers and manufacturers globally who do additional things to it.
Bottled milk represents a small fraction of the market. Supermarkets are just part of a supply chain.
They're all competing in a global commodity market. Milk producers buy globally.
Price & cost of production are affected by such as: Availability. There isn't enough milk produced in the UK for us to be self-sufficient. Globally there's over production. The EU regulate how much milk can be produced and there's 50% less farmers in dairy now than there were 10 years ago. There are less than 10,000 dairy farms in the UK now. The EU have only just lifted some of the quota sanctions to try to help the industry. But it's a global market and it's not a "fair" competitive market.
Cost of production is hugely increased here because we are more tightly regulated. Have better standards of animal welfare. Better Traceability. Higher Health and Safety Standards. Higher minimum wage. Working time regulations. etc etc etc.
Farmers receive subsidy to ensure that the cost of food is such that it's affordable. It's also to encourage them to invest not only in capital equipment and things to produce food but also to do things like not use pesticides. Have set aside. Have land management schemes. The public want affordable food. They want pretty countryside. They want good standards of animal welfare. They want workers reasonably rewarded for the work that's done. Subsidy is the price that's paid.
We support the rural economy by shopping locally and we support British farming and farm workers and the economy by only ever buying British produced meat and by buying as much British produced food products as possible.
Please don't try to tell me that farmers don't work hard and are all rich.
I had a lovely walk with the dogs this morning along the set aside and through the stubble fields. Those fields were cut on Thursday from 4am to 11pm. The fields next to where I walked are all laying flat because it pee'd down with rain yesterday. So that means it will be a while before they can cut those and there'll be a lower yield and they'll have to spend more getting it dried or else sell it at a lower cost.
And you know what... they're always moaning and complaining about the weather!
Well duhhhh never mind the disingenuous hypocisy. Just look at this forum and read about those who are merely trying to garden for leisure and pleasure and doing it for a hobby. Complaining about weeds on lawns and insects and caterpillars on their plants and birds eating their vegetables and a bit of cat crap in the flower border.
I moaned about not being able to mow the lawn the other week because of a shower on the day I had free. Believe me my partner is bitching and moaning about the fact he's not been able to produce any hay whatsoever this year. It's all had to be baled and wrapped for haylage.
I support British Farmers and I'd happily and willingly pay more for British milk and for other products made from British milk. But I do want to know what I'm buying and where it's come from and I want to be assured that it's British farmed and British manufactured and that in itself is more or less impossible in a lot of supermarkets nowadays.
Edited to add:
Holy heck! What happened to that posting... seems to have triplicated and messed up! Regrettably the edit facility isn't on the previous posts and so I can't delete them... sorry
Posts
I might be biased, but Waitrose are noted for their good relationships with their farm suppliers, and also the animal welfare on those farms.
Not sure the same can be said of Tesco.
Not all supermarkets are the same.
Hosta - All supermarkets are definitely not the same and that's the main reason I shop at Waitrose. I believe it is a good retailer offering excellent value for money. Not the cheapest - but the best value.
I think high standards of animal welfare are extremely important, and that exploiting farmers / suppliers by changing contracts ad hoc and by underpaying them for fruit, veg and other products is just plain wrong
I only buy meat which I believe to have been produced following the highest standards of animal welfare and am only interested in buying other food stuffs which I believe have been purchased from the producers through fair and reasonable contracts.
I realise there are people out there who don't really have enough money to spend a lot on food - but I don't think that is a good enough excuse for supporting supermarkets which sell discounted food because of exploitative contracts.
When money was tight I ate very little meat because I couldn't afford to buy free range UK produce. Fruit and veg were bought cheaply at the end of the day off the market. I learned how to make the most of any meat I did buy (e.g. 10 portions of food plus soup from one chicken) and had a good repertoire in egg dishes. I still refuse to eat bacon sarnies at my in-laws because they buy Danish bacon.
It is still possible to eat well but very cheaply without exploiting animals, farmers and other suppliers. Unfortunately too many people are too lazy to find out how or make the effort to do it.
I like the convenience of shopping at a supermarket and I believe that Waitrose does allow me to have that convenience and stay true to my principles. I would like to think that Booth's in the NW works in a similar way.
You will only find me in Asda, Tescos or Morrisons to buy cheap booze....
I didn't listen to that programme but we farm ... thankfully not dairy nowadays. It's wayyyyyyyyyyy toooooo much hard work! We had the good sense to get out of it more than 30 years ago. Thankfully we were never "just" dairy. We were mixed and arable and livestock.
I was also a director within a relevant organisation until 1991.
Frankly it irritates me off when some people slag off "farmers" and seek to demonise them. Farmers: the very people who are working extraordinarily hard and long hours merely to produce their food But I don't obsess about it because I know that those sort are just ignorant out of choice. Truth be told it's often that type who are partly responsible for the decline in British food production.
I ignored this thread because frankly thinking that Morrisons giving 10p to farmers for a bottle of milk is going to solve the problem or even that Morrisons are doing something exceptional or great just displays that ignorance is showing.
Waitrose, Marks & Spencer, Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and the Co-op - have schemes in place to ensure farmers are paid a price above the average cost of production for fresh milk. They've been in place for years. Asda used to have the best approach but that's because it started it's business life as a co-operative of Yorkshire farmers ASsociated DAiries which bore supermarkets ASquith and DAiries . Be aware though that it's not "just" supermarkets that buy milk.
Put simply it costs more in the UK to produce milk than dairy farmers are receiving.
Now you might well think that means it's "just" an unsustainable industry and let it crash but that would have serious implications. Not only just in terms of meaning we no longer produce any milk in the UK - or the EEC. But: On the environment. The landscape. Animal welfare. Food miles. etc.
Farmers don't actually sell milk to supermarkets. They sell to milk producers who in turn bottle it, make it into other stuff and including things like milk powder which then goes into other things and including into animal feed products. All these milk producers sell their stuff on and including but not solely to supermarkets. Also though to other producers and manufacturers globally who do additional things to it.
Bottled milk represents a small fraction of the market. Supermarkets are just part of a supply chain.
They're all competing in a global commodity market. Milk producers buy globally.
Price and cost of production are affected by such as: Availability. There isn't enough milk produced in the UK for us to be self-sufficient. Globally there's over production. The EU regulate how much milk can be produced and there's 50% less farmers in dairy now than there were 10 years ago. There are less than 10,000 dairy farms in the UK now. The EU have only just lifted some of the quota sanctions to try to help the industry. But it's a global market and it's not a "fair" competitive market.
Cost of production is hugely increased here because we are more tightly regulated. Have better standards of animal welfare. Better Traceability. Higher Health and Safety Standards. Higher minimum wage. Working time regulations. etc etc etc.
Farmers receive subsidy to ensure that the cost of food is such that it's affordable. It's also to encourage them to invest not only in capital equipment and things to produce food but also to d
I didn't listen to the programme but we farm ... thankfully not dairy now. It's wayy too much hard work! We had the good sense to get out of it more than 30 years ago because even then it was a thankless and exhausting job for little return. Thankfully we were never "just" dairy. We were mixed and arable and livestock.
I was also a director within a relevant organisation till 1991.
It irritates me off when some slag off "farmers", seeking to demonise them. Farmers: the very people who are working extraordinarily hard & long hours merely to produce food I know that those sort are just ignorant out of choice.
I ignored this thread because Morrisons giving 10p for a bottle of milk isn't going to solve the problem. Neither are Morrisons doing something good. Thinking that means ignorance is showing.
Waitrose, M & S, Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda & the Co-op - have schemes in place to ensure farmers are paid a price above the average cost of production for fresh milk. They've been in place for years. Asda had the best approach but that's because it started it's business life as a co-operative of Yorkshire farmers ASsociated DAiries which bore supermarkets ASquith and DAiries . Be aware though that it's not "just" supermarkets that buy milk.
Put simply it costs more in the UK to produce milk than dairy farmers are receiving.
Some might well think that it's "just" an unsustainable industry and let it crash but that has serious implications. Not only in terms of meaning we no longer produce milk in the UK - or the EEC. But: On the environment. The landscape. Animal welfare. Food miles. etc.
Farmers don't actually sell milk to supermarkets. They sell to milk producers who in turn bottle it, make it into other stuff and including things like milk powder which then goes into other things and including animal feed products. All these milk producers sell their stuff on and including but not solely to supermarkets. It goes to producers and manufacturers globally who do additional things to it.
Bottled milk represents a small fraction of the market. Supermarkets are just part of a supply chain.
They're all competing in a global commodity market. Milk producers buy globally.
Price & cost of production are affected by such as: Availability. There isn't enough milk produced in the UK for us to be self-sufficient. Globally there's over production. The EU regulate how much milk can be produced and there's 50% less farmers in dairy now than there were 10 years ago. There are less than 10,000 dairy farms in the UK now. The EU have only just lifted some of the quota sanctions to try to help the industry. But it's a global market and it's not a "fair" competitive market.
Cost of production is hugely increased here because we are more tightly regulated. Have better standards of animal welfare. Better Traceability. Higher Health and Safety Standards. Higher minimum wage. Working time regulations. etc etc etc.
Farmers receive subsidy to ensure that the cost of food is such that it's affordable. It's also to encourage them to invest not only in capital equipment and things to produce food but also to do things like not use pesticides. Have set aside. Have land management schemes. The public want affordable food. They want pretty countryside. They want good standards of anima
I didn't listen to the programme but we farm ... thankfully not dairy now. It's wayy too much hard work! We had the good sense to get out of it more than 30 years ago because even then it was a thankless and exhausting job for little return. Thankfully we were never "just" dairy. We were mixed and arable and livestock.
I was also a director within a relevant organisation till 1991.
It irritates me off when some slag off "farmers", seeking to demonise them. Farmers: the very people who are working extraordinarily hard & long hours merely to produce food I know that those sort are just ignorant out of choice.
I ignored this thread because Morrisons giving 10p for a bottle of milk isn't going to solve the problem. Neither are Morrisons doing something good. Thinking that means ignorance is showing.
Waitrose, M & S, Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda & the Co-op - have schemes in place to ensure farmers are paid a price above the average cost of production for fresh milk. They've been in place for years. Asda had the best approach but that's because it started it's business life as a co-operative of Yorkshire farmers ASsociated DAiries which bore supermarkets ASquith and DAiries . Be aware though that it's not "just" supermarkets that buy milk.
Put simply it costs more in the UK to produce milk than dairy farmers are receiving.
Some might well think that it's "just" an unsustainable industry and let it crash but that has serious implications. Not only in terms of meaning we no longer produce milk in the UK - or the EEC. But: On the environment. The landscape. Animal welfare. Food miles. etc.
Farmers don't actually sell milk to supermarkets. They sell to milk producers who in turn bottle it, make it into other stuff and including things like milk powder which then goes into other things and including animal feed products. All these milk producers sell their stuff on and including but not solely to supermarkets. It goes to producers and manufacturers globally who do additional things to it.
Bottled milk represents a small fraction of the market. Supermarkets are just part of a supply chain.
They're all competing in a global commodity market. Milk producers buy globally.
Price & cost of production are affected by such as: Availability. There isn't enough milk produced in the UK for us to be self-sufficient. Globally there's over production. The EU regulate how much milk can be produced and there's 50% less farmers in dairy now than there were 10 years ago. There are less than 10,000 dairy farms in the UK now. The EU have only just lifted some of the quota sanctions to try to help the industry. But it's a global market and it's not a "fair" competitive market.
Cost of production is hugely increased here because we are more tightly regulated. Have better standards of animal welfare. Better Traceability. Higher Health and Safety Standards. Higher minimum wage. Working time regulations. etc etc etc.
Farmers receive subsidy to ensure that the cost of food is such that it's affordable. It's also to encourage them to invest not only in capital equipment and things to produce food but also to do things like not use pesticides. Have set aside. Have land management schemes. The public want affordable food. They want pretty countryside. They want good standards of animal welfare. They want workers reasonably rewarded for the work that's done. Subsidy is the price that's paid.
We support the rural economy by shopping locally and we support British farming and farm workers and the economy by only ever buying British produced meat and by buying as much British produced food products as possible.
Please don't try to tell me that farmers don't work hard and are all rich.
I had a lovely walk with the dogs this morning along the set aside and through the stubble fields. Those fields were cut on Thursday from 4am to 11pm. The fields next to where I walked are all laying flat because it pee'd down with rain yesterday. So that means it will be a while before they can cut those and there'll be a lower yield and they'll have to spend more getting it dried or else sell it at a lower cost.
And you know what... they're always moaning and complaining about the weather!
Well duhhhh never mind the disingenuous hypocisy. Just look at this forum and read about those who are merely trying to garden for leisure and pleasure and doing it for a hobby. Complaining about weeds on lawns and insects and caterpillars on their plants and birds eating their vegetables and a bit of cat crap in the flower border.
I moaned about not being able to mow the lawn the other week because of a shower on the day I had free. Believe me my partner is bitching and moaning about the fact he's not been able to produce any hay whatsoever this year. It's all had to be baled and wrapped for haylage.
I support British Farmers and I'd happily and willingly pay more for British milk and for other products made from British milk. But I do want to know what I'm buying and where it's come from and I want to be assured that it's British farmed and British manufactured and that in itself is more or less impossible in a lot of supermarkets nowadays.
Edited to add:
Holy heck! What happened to that posting... seems to have triplicated and messed up! Regrettably the edit facility isn't on the previous posts and so I can't delete them... sorry
Northern Lass, I think it appeared 3 times, because it was worth reading 3 times!
When you don't even know who's in the team
S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
I was on a topic close to my heart and on a roll but I didn't mean that to happen!
Totally agree
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.