I don't want shit food from the US

[flashbac]

So word has it BJ is waiting to see who wins US election. Trump = no deal with EU. Biden = half arsed attempt at EU deal.
I think Trump might win because too many people are so gullible and brainwashed.
So how can we avoid eating crap food from the US? Thus far EU standards have protected us from dangerous additives, excessive phalates in packaging, the list is long.

If I can my long term plan over the next four years is to move to the EU. Maybe. Not sure if I would be able to do my job there.

Would a future Labour government be able to reverse some of this?

Or maybe this is just a cover for yet another tiresome anti-American thread?

It's an anti- growth hormone, six different types of antibiotics pumped into cows at once, cancer causing pesticides, IQ lowering pesticides thread.

@joanwinifred

Unless a small local milk round, then someone like milk and more is muller owned anyway I believe....

Milk is a bit of a problem really... the 2 biggest milk buyers (arla and muller) are both EU owned, so long term how's that going to work?

Day to day I'm unconcerned on a personal level, we rear our own beef which I barter with a local pork farmer, and drink our own milk.

Eating out, I will either go somewhere which prides itself on local seasonal produce or eat veggie.

It's a complete disaster waiting to happen and if standards fall so will prices and therefore most likely animal welfare which is already far too low imo

It’s also laughable that there’s creasing awareness of the adverse impact of humans on the environment when the govt are entertaining the idea of having our imported from across an ocean.
Food miles is a big factor in helping the environment.

I’ve written to my MP who has replied agreeing. However I do not feel reassured.

We are heading in a direction that will take choice away as economically many will not have many options.

@Ifailed

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if this forced people to shop locally again?

How would it do that? Unless you knew that your local green grocer grew all their veg, you wouldn't have any idea where it came from as it would be illegal to label it with Country of Origin. Likewise the butcher, the baker and (probably) the candlestick maker.

This is my fear. You can shop local all you like, but there's no guarantee you know where the produce is coming from.

The reason China won't accept US pork is ractopamine. Have a google and then tell me if you fancy consuming that.

There's a reason why the well-off in the US spend huge amounts of money shopping at Wholefood Market and similar. It's an attempt to avoid the slew of hormones, antibiotics, pesticides and contaminents that are present in the cheaper foodstuffs.

@Yohoheaveho

If trump gets in again the USA will collapse and no-one will be buying their stuff

Do you mean riots etc?

They will still export food.

If you have one near you, then buy from a local farm shop or your local butcher, greengrocer or baker or your local weekly market/farmers markets. They buy their produce from local farms, or grow/make it themselves, so you can literally trace it back to the source if you want to.

It doesn't have to be organic to be good quality, so doesn't have to be expensive.

If you live in a city with nothing like it near you, you can buy veg and meat boxes online. I have clients who sell both and they have done a roaring trade since lockdown when supermarkets were selling out.

More villages are opening Community Shops that sell local produce, especially since CV started, and if we all support local businesses then it helps to keep them going.

(I live in a rural area, so am surrounded by it, but I do realise that not everyone has access to buy it fresh from the suppliers).

@Puzzledandpissedoff

I realise some folks' experience of the USA begins and ends with the theme parks, but do people really think junk food is all they produce?

Yes it's there, just as it is in the UK, but even the shortest visit to a decent store (as opposed to a fast food outlet) shows the choice is vast and there's rather more to it than the famed chlorinated chicken, sugary bread and vividly coloured sodas

Or maybe this is just a cover for yet another tiresome anti-American thread?

No, of course it’s not all they produce, but the majority of food heading our way will be the bad stuff - especially as many will be poorer and will need to buy more cheaply. We are a captive market ripe for exploitation.

We won’t be getting the good stuff from America.
It will be high volume, mass produced with high profit margins.

I suppose a trade deal with America will bring over things that we can no longer get from Europe? What do we get from Europe? I suppose continental cheeses, meats? Wine?

The UK imports 50-80% of its food, depending on how you define that (50% excludes food that has been processed in the UK, even if all the ingredients came from elsewhere).
30% of food is imported from the EU. Some of that is dairy products; a huge amount is veg.

Cheese: 20% EU
Beef: 20% EU
Tomatoes: 55% EU
Broccoli:  55% EU

83% of the lettuces the UK imports enter the country via Dover, as do 67% of tomatoes and 77% of strawberries. A worrying proportion of the UK's veg comes from 2 countries, Spain and the Netherlands.

The UK has no leverage in any negotiations with the US and will have to take what deal it can in order to feed its population. The US knows that. Whoever becomes POTUS has the UK over a barrel. And the Brexit talks haven't exactly showcased Johnson et al's negotiating 'skills'...

Recent comments from former civil servants suggest that if Biden wins he might focus on a trade deal with the EU first, because it would be far more lucrative. And that, due to his Irish ancestry (he's fond of quoting Yeats...), the UK gvmt's riding roughshod over the GFA and international law more generally in passing its recent legislation has left him particularly unimpressed.

If Trump wins, his 'negotiating' tactics are well known.

refs:
www.businessinsider.fr/us/no-deal-brexit-percentage-british-food-imported-shortages-2019-1?op=1
www.york.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/2020/research/vulnerability-uk-food-supply-covid/
publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201719/ldselect/ldeucom/129/129.pdf

We are a captive market ripe for exploitation.

Yes this is what the “reclaiming of our sovereignty looks like”, God help us.

Meanwhile the architects of Brexit will be able to afford not to eat this shit. They belong behind bars as far as I am concerned, not least for gaslighting us for the past four years and further back.

but even the shortest visit to a decent store (as opposed to a fast food outlet) shows the choice is vast and there's rather more to it than the famed chlorinated chicken, sugary bread and vividly coloured sodas

Just checked Walmart's on-line offering for whole chicken. There's only two to choose from, both from US suppliers so both chlorinated.

@Puzzledandpissedoff

I realise some folks' experience of the USA begins and ends with the theme parks, but do people really think junk food is all they produce?

Yes it's there, just as it is in the UK, but even the shortest visit to a decent store (as opposed to a fast food outlet) shows the choice is vast and there's rather more to it than the famed chlorinated chicken, sugary bread and vividly coloured sodas

Or maybe this is just a cover for yet another tiresome anti-American thread?

It wouldn't be MN without an occasional borderline hysterical anti-American thread, now would it?

A basic principle of economics is that buyer and seller have to agree on the transaction. As @Puzzledandpissedoff correctly points out, organically produced foods are huge in the US. There are some stores, like Whole Foods, that don't sell anything but organic foods. If that's what the British public wants, that's what your merchants will import.

I'm also a bit mystified by the idea that the US can somehow unilaterally impose terms in a trade deal with the UK. It's never worked that way before. That's why trade deals take so long to negotiate and are so difficult to get consensus on.

So don’t buy it. Buy local.

It's an anti- growth hormone, six different types of antibiotics pumped into cows at once, cancer causing pesticides, IQ lowering pesticides thread

I'm not convinced, frankly, but for those sufficiently concerned the answer's the same as it would be anywhere, and that's to research what you're buying

While they're at it they could also research UK farming practices - except they might find that it's really not the rural idyll some like to paint, with happy animals gambolling across verdant pastures.
They might even remember just where it was that BSE originated ...

The USA is thousands of miles away, so the cost of transporting many things will be prohibitive. We are not suddenly going to find that the fresh milk or the cucumbers in the supermarket have been flown across the Atlantic.

The perilous financial state of many EU countries means that they will be desperate to continue selling food to us, deal or no deal.

@MintyMabel

So don’t buy it. Buy local.

Local may not exist Farmers will go out of business

This is going to cause long term problems for health.

Just in time for the US to assist with our nation’s sick. You’ve got to hand it to the powers that be. Positioning themselves just right.

It’s a bit like a drug czar saying we need to keep marijuana as an illegal drug whilst their spouse is MD of cannabis farm owning company. PositionIng itself just right for when it’s legal within the UK perchance?

Sometimes it’s not paranoia, we’re just living our lives but they have plans.

That's why trade deals take so long to negotiate and are so difficult to get consensus on.
There has rarely been a trade deal where one partner suddenly has to replace 50% of its food imports.

The EU economy does not rely upon the UK for its exports, (while the UK relies on the EU for its imports).
EU exporters will take a hit, of course, but they have other markets they can export to, incl within the EU. Ones hat don't involve highly complex customs procedures and the cost and hassle of having to park for days on end due to delays at ports.

The US know there is strong opposition so might insist on us removing country of origin labels

They actually have no control over this. Supermarkets can do what they like. If the customer demands it, the supermarkets will do it. The US cannot control the behaviour of consumers or supermarkets.

that, not hat.

@Faultymain5
They do have plans
It’s frightening.

Most of the nation are sleepwalking into this. Whilst the powers that be look after themselves.

So you’d rather have shit food from the UK? English meat is full of antibiotics and bleach and all sorts of disgusting things.

@Baaaahhhhh

The US know there is strong opposition so might insist on us removing country of origin labels

They actually have no control over this. Supermarkets can do what they like. If the customer demands it, the supermarkets will do it. The US cannot control the behaviour of consumers or supermarkets.

Any trade deal with USA is likely to insist that country of origin is removed though