3 sources of food.

[jansman]

Meat was the last thing to come off ration. When I was an apprentice the Butcher I worked for still had old ration coupons and stuff knocking about. Being in the meat trade still, I never cease to be amazed where the stuff comes from. We put tonnes ( literally) of meat products into restaurants.

Today we have sent out chicken from Poland, beef from Brazil, pork from Spain and Belgium, Lamb from Australia, Rump and sirloin steaks from Australia and bacon from Holland. The only thing UK was mince beef, and we buy cases of trim in for that. Shocking.

And never believe the labels you see in the supermarket, a lot of meat lands in the UK and is legally allowed to be re labelled as UK produced.

Look at the prices the dairy farmers are getting - and going broke on - you can see that we are very food insecure should there be a real crisis.

[Brambles]

The wholesale company I work for doesn't have a scrap of British meat in the butchery, (your company probably sells to mine J) Sausages are British made, but I doubt it is British Pork. Most of the fresh fruit and veg is from abroad too.
I often look at what is sold there and think to myself how reliant we have become on imports.

I, on the other hand, have been harvesting enough from the allotment to keep us ticking along since the end of May. In nearly 3 months all I have bought is onions and the odd bit of salad. *smug*

[Decaff]

Today we have sent out chicken from Poland, beef from Brazil, pork from Spain and Belgium, Lamb from Australia, Rump and sirloin steaks from Australia and bacon from Holland. The only thing UK was mince beef, and we buy cases of trim in for that. Shocking.

I find that truly sad, we produce meat in this country so why do we import so much!!

And never believe the labels you see in the supermarket, a lot of meat lands in the UK and is legally allowed to be re labelled as UK produced.

that is shocking, if it wasn't born reared and slaughtered in UK it shouldn't be allowed to be called UK produce.
Look at the prices the dairy farmers are getting - and going broke on - you can see that we are very food insecure should there be a real crisis.

We live in sad times where our food is concerned.

[Hamradioop]

when I was in the meat Trade we sold Argentinian Rump steak and frozen Chinese Rabbit along with New Zealand lamb, the rest was UK sourced from a local Abattoir. Alf Meades in our case. Mind you that was back in 1972-74. I worked for David Greig's supermarkets who trained me and the Reading Co-operative society.

[jansman]

The main reason we import so much foreign meat is simple. PRICE. Next time you eat out in a posh restaurant, remember this; " if it is cheap enough, it is good enough" and that came from the head chef of a Michelin star restaurant in the Leicestershire countryside.

It is a symptom of what I call the the 'Internet- isation' of the world. Everyone INSTANTLY compares prices online at every turn. The Race To The Bottom.

[mickleclarck]

Great source. I should follow your tips you have share above. Thanks for the helpful topic.

[junmist]

Ugg don't get me started on imported food takes me ages to find uk food Fruit and Veg for me is the worse try finding a uk apple that is not a cox if you don't grow them runner beans are from Kenya. Meat I'm fine with if I go to the butchers I ask them where it came from and only buy supermarket meat if it has a red tractor on it as well as the county of origin.

[jansman]

Anyhow, back on topic. After this cup of tea, I am processing my second food source. Runner beans ( salted) tomatoes ( chopped and frozen) and shallots for pickling. We have a proper walk- in pantry here, which I have restocked this morning from our 'bunker' as we call it. It is an insulated brick outbuilding, where we keep the freezers and tinned and dry foodstuffs. I keep a clipboard on the back of the door to make a note of what to replace. That is the first source of food sorted.

[Decaff]

Anyhow, back on topic. After this cup of tea, I am processing my second food source. Runner beans ( salted) tomatoes ( chopped and frozen) and shallots for pickling. We have a proper walk- in pantry here, which I have restocked this morning from our 'bunker' as we call it. It is an insulated brick outbuilding, where we keep the freezers and tinned and dry foodstuffs. I keep a clipboard on the back of the door to make a note of what to replace. That is the first source of food sorted.

Oh I have pantry envy my wish list for a house is open fires or wood burner, pantry, cellar, garden that has room to grow veg, an attic... Ooohhhh I hope my wish happens one day not being greedy a two up/ down would be great!

Have you ever water bathed tomatoes in jars??

[featherstick]

We import a lot, but we also export a lot. For every pound of camembert that comes in, a pound of cheddar goes out. Great if you like camembert.

Simon Fairlie, a well-regarded writer and thinker on ecology and sustainability, and editor of The Land magazine, has done a very interesting if somewhat debated piece of work entitled Could Britain Feed Itself?

http://www.thelandmagazine.org.uk/artic ... eed-itself

His conclusion is that a permaculture system with animals could feed Britain, but the changes in land use and ownership would need to be so sweeping as to be almost impossible. The Land is a very interesting read.