mumsnetters supermarket comments

[Fifichef]

I would like to start a campaign that would force supermarkets to be truthful about the fresh food they sell. Do you think it would be a good idea for Mumsnet to have somewhere where we could post our comments on the 'naughties' that we discover? Mumsnet seems to get successfully involved in getting noticed in many political issues so perhaps we could get together to improve food standards.

Agree with human faeces

Why is that such a shocker? Loads of the world use human faeces as fertiliser.

I am still curious which country is non recognisable...I cannot think of a single one which makes me wonder "pfff that CANT be a real place"

Poundland?

Agree with UNDERLINED human faeces. Why have you underlined that bit GetOrf you loon?

Legoland?

I don't have a problem with using human faeces as fertilizer.
I think it's a good use of something that would otherwise be a pollutant.

we should do that more often, IMO

I don't get why anyone would think that a supermarket - any supermarket - could be benevolent and doing its very best for its customers. Supermarkets only care about profits, and clever branding helps to up the profits.

Lochmuir is a fine example of this.

If anyone has a problem with this, don't shop at supermarkets. Asking for more (and frankly unnecessary) information will target the suppliers, who already get the shitty end of the stick from supermarkets.

Go to farmers markets, then you know exactly what you are buying, and exactly where it's come from.

As for prices of strawberries etc, the price only seems extortionate because they are so cheep to produce, and can be grown all year round.
Asparagus can grow all year round inPeru, unlike this country, when it available for two months maximum.
The supermarkets stll have to honour their contracts with the foreign growers, because there is a consumer need (or want) for these things all year round.

Any proper butcher (not a chain) will know where their meat comes from, ours can tell you which animal from which farm it's from.

My local farmer's market has a stall with bananas. There aren't many banana growers in Ireland. Lidl always has made up brand names, appropriate to product.

I watched part of this, and didn't think anything on it was particularly surprising (just seemed to be Jay Rayner trying to whip everyone up into a lather!). However, I do think it's outrageous that food producers don't have to label where something was produced as well as where it was packaged. I can't get particularly worked up about 20% of our cheddar coming from Ireland I'm afraid, but I would like it to be clearly labelled as such, so that I can make an informed choice, in the same way that I regularly do with fruit and veg.

farmers market are pricey and bit poncey.over described.no way would i do family shopping at farmers market

I think that food labelling is already fairly clear. For example re the "oakham" chicken, I don't think other than actually labelling it as "oakham" further claims have been made.

e.g. it doesn't make up a whole lie about "down on Oakham farm this little chicken was raised and clucked around the Oakham farmyard etc etc"

Most food labelling is very clear, if not one can always ask further if in the supermarket. Dh has a gluten free diet and ime food labelling has improved massively over recent years.

I always wondered why most pictures on packets have the phrase "serving suggestion only". That's because if you bought say a bag of frozen scampi, with a picture of peas, chips and tomatoes, you can't take it back and complain that there was only scampi in the bag and not the plate of other stuff with it!

I shop at asda ..I can't afford poncey organic farmers markets

With respect, have those of you who made derogatory comments about Farmers' Markets actually been to any?

I am a single parent on a relatively low income but would much prefer to spend my weekly fruit/veg budget there than give my money to the supermarkets, 'Special Offers' or not.

My son (just turned 3) & I go every Saturday morning & it's been great for him to build up a rapport with the various producers. He enjoys looking at/sampling all the things on offer & it's even inspired us both to start growing our own veg in the limited space we have. It's great to be able to ask questions about the foods on offer directly of those who have participated in producing it & when we are eating our meals at home it is extremely satisfying when my DS comments on where the various components of the dish come from.

As for price, if you are taking into consideration freshness/nutrient levels, quality, taste, seasonality as well as ecological & ethical considerations, FM food is actually (IMHO) better overall value compared to the 'bargains' available at the chain store supermarkets.

Often we are gifted things by stallholders as a simple gesture of human kindness (as opposed to an underhand marketing ploy) or given things at a reduced price because they'd rather not have to take them back with them or otherwise they have sometimes rounded down our total bill to the nearest pound or whatever. In return, we've taken tasters of things we've grown & baked for them, which brings the personal aspect back into trading, which given the sterile, robotic nature of transactions when supermarket shopping is a breath of fresh air.

Incidentally, I lived in the French West Indies for a couple of years & actually did my degree dissertation on the politics of food in the area & the implications on the population's health & wellbeing of disassociating themselves from the place they live in, not attaching sufficient importance to the origin of the food they eat & severing the link between themselves & those producing their food.

We are no different over here really, we are disempowering ourselves by buying into this mass marketing & the illusion that everything we decide we 'need' should be available to us at all times.

Sorry for the super-long post but I feel very passionately about local food!

with respect right back,yep been to plenty farmers markets.and they were over priced and poncy.so indeedthis is a factual observation.there is one regularly close to me, stroll through at weekend.like to look but dont buy- too pricey

I watched the Food prog last night and can't bring myself to get worked up about these examples of "poor" labelling.

It isn't a con, it's marketing.

If something says "packed in the UK" and has a union jack on it it's pretty bloody obvious that it isn't Uk produce - it would be stated if it were. Why do people get so worked up about this?

As someone pointed out earlier, I am no more offended by made up brands like Oakham chicken than I am by Mars Bars or Uncle Bens rice.

I'm afraid people need to start using common sense rather than campaigning to get yet more bloody information that we don't actually need.

There is a farmers market every Thursday in my town ..I walk through it, laugh at the prices and go to Iceland

Scottishmummy: If you're talking about the expensive 'posh nosh' bespoke jam & chutney/handmade pasta etc. stalls I would agree they could justifiably be described as poncey, but what about the actual farmers i.e. fresh fruit/veg growers?
I live in quite an affluent area in North London & while they could quite easily raise their prices in keeping with the locality (as I suspect lots of the stallholders may do) without many people there raising an eyebrow (thus excluding the likes of me who does not have a neverending supply of cash), they nevertheless choose not to because they believe everyone should be able to access fresh, British-grown food all year round regardless of budget. "Farmerladies" as my DS lovingly calls the 2 women who run my favoured farm stall apparently even accept the government issue Healthy Start vouchers! ;)

Usualsuspect: You may not be laughing when you realise what crap quality the Iceland food you're feeding your little ones with is! I think 'false economy' is the phrase that springs to mind...

clamber down off your soap box,imo farmers markets are over priced and poncy. and i dont need to have a dialogue with a man abiut carrots, i am more compelled by price

market economics.supermarket offers produce at price and circumstance i tolerate

ruddy faced man selling over priced carrots and other assorted veg doesn't do it for me. might be all the rage with affluent noth london chatteratti.but nah i'll pass

i dont need to feel personally connected about shopping or share a one world vision of fair trade.

put simply good price and buy one get one free does it every time

If it looks ok and the price is right, it goes right in my asda trolley thank you very much.

I would like to thank you all for the replies to my original comment. There seems to be a 50/50 division between them and ofcourse the few silly comments inbetween. I know that alot of mums are on really tight budgets and have to take care in what they buy but that doesn't mean that they have to get rubbish. It is a pitty that they don't seem that concerned about feeding their kids decent food. I must say that I find farmer's markets expensive. I know that they spend more on growing produce and the rearing of animals but they don't have to deal with any middlemen. It's a case of straight from production to sale - no expense inbetween - wholesaler or retail costs such as a shop with huge overheads. I don't think their produce should cost any more than it does in the shops.
The main concern for me is feeding my children good food. It doesn't have to be expensive.

i would like to know which country my food comes from. i'm less interested to know where its packaged.

if you all emailed the supermarket asking for this info, maybe that would help

You weren't talking about 'feeding kids decent food' originally, you seemed to be suggesting that we were being deceived in a wholesale fashion by untruths and 'naughties'. That's rather different

I find that if you really don't want to be subjected to marketing snake-oil or sold downright rubbish then it helps to avoid things in packets as far as possible. A head of good old Lincolnshire broccoli is very healthy and there are no misleading photographs or alluring names because there is no packaging on which to display then. Any foodstuff emblazoned with a health-claim... leave it on the shelf because it's almost certain to be anything but healthy. Make things like cakes yourself and then you cannot be duped into thinking they have been hand-crafted by Mr Kipling himself... and they won't contain Scrabble boards of peculiar ingredients either. Similarly dodge the overpriced ready-meal with the totally unrealistic 'pack-shot' on the front that never looks like the amorphous goo inside....

This, I find, is a very cheap & healthy way to eat. But, on the other hand, if people want to take advantage of convenience foods to save time/money and are not all that worried about precisely where the meat in the meat pie originated or that the salmon isn't from a loch after all... then I don't think that's the end of the world and I don't think looking-down-the-nose superior attitudes are in order either.

I agree with the op. Supermarkets are shit. Aberdeen Angus beef labelled to look Scottish, actually reared In Argentina, food labelled British when it was only packaged here. Battery eggs in boxes with pictures of lush green farms on. 'fresh fruit and veg' picked a year ago and stored in a non oxygen environment to preserve it. Supermarkets dont tell people that they are driving dairy farmers out of business by selling milk at a loss to encourage people through the doors, do they. Consumers who are ignorant, stupid or plain can't be bothered are being led by the nose by supermarkets who tell them what to eat and when to eat it.