Single hen

[bunee1]

That's not fair i REALLY fancy a pint of Ringwood tonight but i'm off booze till babys here in MAY, MAY ooo to long maybe a half will be ok

 

Ha Ha another spot of sensible parenting

[AnnieP]

I thought Guinness is good for you!

[bunee1]

Good point it's close enough

[AnnieP]

But he's a wimp!

[bunee1]

PS

bunee I'm sure a small half will be okay (in moderation), although I'm not a doctor or anything. (Oh! and congrats!)

 

Thanks Dan i take your word for that i'm of for a half ....

Oh and Rockys soooo much fitter than the other dude

[AnnieP]

Nooooo!

OK, you two can share Rocky, I'll have Drago

[Guest]

I've never watched a Rocky film all the way through - I really can't stand boxing - and the boxing is (obviously) more extreme in Rocky.. I just can't physically watch men smashing and pounding each others faces for hours on end...

 

I guess I must be a bit of a wuss....

 

Phil

[bunee1]

my other half is trying to wind me up ...we were talking about the rocky thing and he said i bet if we were to have a virtual fight between his fav forum http://www.crookedtongues.com/ trainer geeks and the Omlet gang they'd win.. it just made me laugh because it's ridiclus

[Guest]

*Ahem* just to get slightly back on topic.......

 

...you'd think they'd donate some wouldn't you.....or at least the food they inevitably chuck away everyday

 

Tesco used to give away the old veg to local farmers to feed the pigs. This was stopped when it was discovered that a minority of them were selling on the veg at Farmers Markets, passing them off as locally produced produce.....

 

Tesco cannot give away food past it's sell-by date to charity, becuase it isn't allowed - even the homeless have a right to be fed food that is within date, and suitable for human consumption (Incidentally, sandwiches were for a while donated to local chaities, on the condition they were distributed that night, technically still within their dates - the homeless were then selling them on to others and using the money for booze, drugs etc).

 

Nor do they give it away to the staff at the end of the night. Any fresh food that is on it's sell-by date that is still left, is disposed of at closing time, or 10pm, whichever is later. It gets recorded, bagged and thrown in a rubbish compactor.

 

I'm the first to slag Tesco off - I know from first-hand just how badly they treat their staff, and what their TRUE opinion is of the customers they have, but I really feel that I must stick up for them on that point.

[Lesley]

I've split some of the chat to another topic - Dan, you can rename the BMX topic

 

Back to Tesco............... well, not literally

Edited October 5, 2006 by Guest

[Lesley]

A very good point Shona - I knew you'd mentioned it before but couldn't remember all the points.

 

We're not supposed to feed anything to our pigs that has been in a domestic kitchen ( ) so I can see that Tesco are 'damned if they do and damned if they don't' over the waste food.

 

Very clever marketing by the supermarkets over the years has convinced us that we all like to shop in one vast store - and I suppose some people do. That was not so bad while the small independents still thrived, but now we are seeing the end result. A small backlash from customers may retain a more healthy balance.

[buffie]

We met a lovely chap on holiday who had been a sheep farmer until this may.

 

We arrived at his lavender farm and you could feel the presence of the livestock that no longer roamed the fields...he had to give it up and the last of his flock left in may! He was trying to use a credit card machine that he had never thought he'd need to use as he was a farmer, I ended up doing it for him. It was sad but when he said ''Tesco caused this, I just couldn't earn a living'' I felt

 

That's why I cannot abide them, small welfare minded farms are being squeezed out. I don't think I've told you but Lesley inspired me to think long and hard and we are both now eating meat from traceable source mostly organic but not if from a farm of local reputation (farmers market in higham ferrers). I also don't tell this to everyone for fear of what they may serve us, it's safer to say veggie. I have to support sheepdrove for the pets so I need to make sure these farms have reason to exist. I enjoy the meat we have and in the process we keep the farms in business. The same for local egg producers, not eating eggs forces them out of business. Cheap eggs would win in the end.

 

My belief system has altered dramatically since the hens and BHWT and this forum.

 

Thanks Lesley

 

BBx

[Lesley]

We met a lovely chap on holiday who had been a sheep farmer until this may.

 

We arrived at his lavender farm and you could feel the presence of the livestock that no longer roamed the fields...he had to give it up and the last of his flock left in may! He was trying to use a credit card machine that he had never thought he'd need to use as he was a farmer, I ended up doing it for him. It was sad but when he said ''Tesco caused this, I just couldn't earn a living'' I felt

 

That's why I cannot abide them, small welfare minded farms are being squeezed out.

 

I totally agree with this Buff and it's how I feel as well. I don't think we'll ever see the back of supermarkets and some people do like to use one stop shopping. I just hope that the way a lot of us now shop - using small independent shops will redress the balance so that we can have the best of both worlds. It is very wrong that big companies have the power to squeeze people out of the market completely. Lack of competition doesn't benefit anyone.

 

I don't think I've told you but Lesley inspired me to think long and hard and we are both now eating meat from traceable source mostly organic but not if from a farm of local reputation (farmers market in higham ferrers). I also don't tell this to everyone for fear of what they may serve us, it's safer to say veggie. I have to support sheepdrove for the pets so I need to make sure these farms have reason to exist. I enjoy the meat we have and in the process we keep the farms in business. The same for local egg producers, not eating eggs forces them out of business. Cheap eggs would win in the end.

 

My belief system has altered dramatically since the hens and BHWT and this forum.

 

Thanks Lesley

 

BBx

 

- thanks Buff. I don't tell many people that I've started eating meat again either - mainly just people on the forum. I find it easier to stay veggie once I leave the house as well

[Sheilaz]

Well said, so far everyone.

We had a customer who had to jump through hoops to earn a pittance from them (prob. applies to some other big companies too, they can call the shots & do).

He delivered his goods to them in reusable boxes, imagining that on each regular delivery he could pick up the empties, and have a good system going.

Oh no, he was told exactly when he could collect the empties in a time slot, not at all related to the delivery times!

The selling to them was barely worth his while, yet it provided his main turnover. Where else could he sell? This is one example, the small suppliers to "Superstores" have their hands tied completely.

I keep thinking of Tom Archer Sausages

Buying small & local where we can may feel a drop in the ocean, but let's spread the word.

Oh, and the psychology of shopping is interesting, it's not just about being on a tight budget;

My son sells toys on market stalls. People will try & haggle 5p off 25p items when he has little room for a profit margin. They go away happy at having saved a few pence. Yet, in a big store, it's load the trolley & hand over a credit card. Rows of full shelves & a trolley make it so tempting without even thinking of the money, just have a look as people shop.

[Guest]

We absolutely refuse to shop in Tesco now - I used to do all my shopping there, but once I left and lost my Staff discount, I felt free to explore other shops.

 

Now we try and buy as much as we can from Farmers markets - so much more fun to take a drive on a Saturday to the nearest, with a list of menu ideas, and root around the stalls looking for the ingredients, chatting with the people working there, swapping chicken tips and getting out into the fresh air to do the weekly shop. The children love it (they nearly always end up with a free sample or two from the cake stalls!), and I can sit them down for a meal, happy with what I am feeding them.

 

People nowadays are hung up on convenience - they need to buy everything on a Saturday to do them the week, becuase they are too busy the rest of the week, either working or taking their children to every available club, or whatever else it is that people fill their time with.

 

Me? I prefer a quieter (and hopefully healthier and less stressful!) life.

[buffie]

Yes chooks I try to tie in my shop with a walk for daisie or to visit mum and dad. I pay chqs in and visit the organic shop, farmers markets twice monthly sat and a sunday ( again either on the way to a walk or pop in or meet my parents) and a veg box is delivered every thursday. Near christmas we go to the windsor farm shop with Mikey's mum and dad as he works for the queen He get's a discount and it's traditional to bring a couple of duchy bits home.

 

I've never tasted such good meat and veg and have to say I love a bacon sandwich!

BBx

[bunee1]

 

People nowadays are hung up on convenience - they need to buy everything on a Saturday to do them the week, becuase they are too busy the rest of the week, either working or taking their children to every available club, or whatever else it is that people fill their time with.

 

Me? I prefer a quieter (and hopefully healthier and less stressful!) life.

 

My goodness you are sooooo right i've just knocked two of my daughters "clubs" on the head because i've had enough of dashing left right and centre and then having to cram dinner homework and reading in when we're both too tired......i'm not sure why i went so mad with "clubs" i love peace and quiet

[Cate in NZ]

This is a very interesting topic, naturally we all have different opinions, we are dictated to by our lifestyles, budgets and availability of options where we live, and I like the sheer convenience of the supermarkets sometimes.... I can go there and buy absolutely everything from clothes to stationery, to wine and toilet cleaner, and I do precisely that maybe once every 3 weeks or so. But I just think that they;ve become too big and powerful now, pushing their suppliers to the edge, and actually now limiting choice for the consumer.

That said, they're quite clearly doing something right..... just looking at the profits and the statistics proves that they are immensely successful, consumers are voting with their feet and shopping in supermarkets in droves.

I find it all a bit depressing really, but then that's just me. Sorry

[spacedhopper]

Never met a poor farmer yet !!

 

And i work for one too !!

 

Agree with the main comments on ethics of supermarkets, but at the end of the day everybody selling and creating food are out to make profit.

 

Simple as.

[spacedhopper]

Never met a poor farmer yet !!

 

That's becasue they have all gone out of business.

 

vast majority dealt in cruelty anyway, always putting profit before animal welfare.

[Louise]

I sometimes have to visit farms for work and some are spotless and others well least said

 

Why can't they alll be nice