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.

@MagicSummer

I buy all my meat from a local specialist farm shop and will stick to it. However, I don't know what all the fuss is about food from the USA - I have always had lovely steaks when over there. After all, can it be any worse than the cheap, stringy chicken used by KFC and the 'mince' used by Macdonalds?

Perhaps you should read the thread if you don’t know what all the fuss about - just to get a general inkling.

If you want to avoid eating poor quality food, you will need to buy from local producers, cook more yourself, eat less processed foods (less ingredients means less chance of nasties) and eat at restaurants that are transparent about their food suppliers.

This is a country where food banks and free school meals are needed. And where local producers cannot feed even half the population.

It was announced about 2-3 weeks ago
Think the British brothers who bought it own a chain of petrol stations
Can’t remember their name though!
@Faultymain5

*Aldi signed that pledge in 2015,

Also they state that they will buy Scottish produce for Scottish stores etc
No mention of England*

I'm in Scotland and I now only buy my meat from a local farm shop or in Aldi and only if it's labelled as Scottish. I'm going to do my best to protect the food-producers of my own country.

Asda has been bought by the Issa brothers.
www.globalcapital.com/article/b1np0zmm6bdqj2/issa-no-problem-asda-buyout-vaults-brothers-to-top-of-levfin-borrower-table

This is what the "winners" voted for.

Anyone who thinks Trump will give Britain a good deal is delusional. He literally wrote the book about making deals good for him and bad for the other person.

And whoever's in charge, Britain will be forced to be a rule taker as the price of any trade deal with a big economy. With democratic scrutiny of the deal being minimal.

The point of a FTA with The US is to save British producers and manufacturers.

A no deal Brexit would likely result in the EU putting tariffs, or onerous conditions on imports from Britain. Presumably the British government wants to find new markets for the stuff they won't be able sell to Europe. There's no reason the EU would stop selling to Britain, unless they were bring arseholes to their own producers. Your government might want to retaliate in that case.

There are plenty of food-exporting countries that can sell you what you need.

@AuldAlliance

If you want to avoid eating poor quality food, you will need to buy from local producers, cook more yourself, eat less processed foods (less ingredients means less chance of nasties) and eat at restaurants that are transparent about their food suppliers.

This is a country where food banks and free school meals are needed. And where local producers cannot feed even half the population.

Does that apply to everyone in Britain? No, it doesn't. The question was how to avoid US produced food. That was the answer. Anyway, you are all fixating on US food, plenty of issues in food coming from other countries already. Cheap for a reason...

Okay so I am American and grew up in the land of ‘shit food,’ as you call it. Meat is still labelled in America - yes, you need to check the packaging.

There is zero incentive for any US manufacturer to treat foreigners the same as US citizens. Anyone who thinks the UK will be getting the gold-plated US standards is a fucking idiot. Standards for export will be lower than domestic standards as a boost to US farms that struggle to reach US standards. Coupled with buyouts of UK farms going under (play your cards right US farmers, and you could win a free farm in Youkayshire) there will be plenty of scope to plaster cutesy pictures of chocolate box farms all over your offerings.

No disrespect to any Americans, but your experiences won't really match those of us in the UK. Same way your secret agents manage to not be subject to UK law.

@Florencex

So how can we avoid eating crap food from the US

Very easily. Read the packaging.

The op has TWICE now explained that the US often puts pressure on countries not to label ANY packaged food with country of origin as a requiremwnr of the trade deal with them . Especially at the beginning so they can get a foothold . Their food is often cheaper so lots of people will buy it and if we don't have any country of origin labelling , even people who can afford better won't know what to buy.

Origin of country labelling on food is an EU introduced requirement ( obviously another example of EU interference ). If the US makes it a condition of trade with them that we don't label any food ( regardless of where it come from) with country of origin.

Can you see this government fighting that if it means better tariffs if we do as they say?

All those who say check the label. Will you do that every time you eat out? Every takeaway you get? Every meal deal you buy? Every ready meal? Even if you do many won't. The standard of animal welfare is so shite in the US have a quick Google. Unless you are some sort of sadist you will find it horrific.

The weekly shop would take a week

@Toontown

All those who say check the label. Will you do that every time you eat out? Every takeaway you get? Every meal deal you buy? Every ready meal? Even if you do many won't. The standard of animal welfare is so shite in the US have a quick Google. Unless you are some sort of sadist you will find it horrific.

I never eat out, I only eat food cooked from scratch by myself, that's the only food I can trust

The point of a FTA with The US is to save British producers and manufacturers.

No, completely wrong. The point of a trade deal with the US is to save/help/grow US producers and manufacturers - from the US point of view.

British food is for the most part the laughing stock of the civilised world

That's just not true. Go back a couple of decades, then yes. We have a really high standard of living when it comes to food these days - unless you're poor of course, and then of course things are sadly different. But there has been a huge shift in culture and many people expect good quality food, or have an interest in animal welfare and many food producers care deeply about what they're selling. There is no way our standards are as bad as the US. I linked to a YouTube video upthread - we just don't see super morbid obesity in anywhere near the same levels as the US does, even if we have an issue with obesity which needs addressing, and that is entirely down to food production and standards in my view. Things are pumped full of corn syrup and sugar and cheap, high calorie food is churned out in huge quantities. It is so simple to find all sorts of markers pointing to how shit the diet is in the US, but I do get that if you are wealthy you can still eat a good diet in the States.

I never eat out, I only eat food cooked from scratch by myself, that's the only food I can trust

Where do you get your food from?

I’m American living in the United States. I’ve always been impressed by the food in your stores. (Though I’ve mainly been to Tesco/M&S because that was what was near me where I’ve stayed.)

Most of our produce in the US doesn’t actually come from the US so hopefully that won’t be a huge import into the UK. What we get elsewhere is not good, in my opinion. Spoils quickly and lacks taste vs what we grow locally. I guess having been transported and or packaged (ugh).

www.nytimes.com/2018/03/13/dining/fruit-vegetables-imports.html

Our beef is fantastic (whole beef, not ground.). I’ve tried steak in the UK and also in France. It’s different enough that I just don’t eat beef there unless it’s in a stew. That’s the one thing I’d say could be a positive if you do end up with having our food imported.

Our mass produced chicken is truly terrible. Also milk and other dairy not good unless it’s local or organic. (And I don’t even trust our organic labeling 100%. My local grocery suddenly has their own brand that’s supposed to be all organic and I don’t trust it at all.).

One good thing though is you definitely can tell the difference by just looking at the food even without labels. Our cheese is... not really cheese in some cases. I read labels but also just rely on what it looks like.

I buy from local markets, farmers markets and produce stands whenever possible. Organic and/or local chicken. Locally made cheese or imported. Wisconsin does have good cheese, actually.

I do understand your concerns because the types of industrial farm companies that will most likely be exporting food are despicable.

On another note, I just learned that Bayer bought Monsanto in 2018 so it’s not all US food producers we have to worry about now. Or maybe being owned by a German company will bring positive changes.

I appreciate this thread because I would like to know more about my food sources and it’s gotten me thinking/reading.

@HermioneMakepeace

Also, meat is pumped full of hormones. Given the soaring rate of males transitioning to females, it does make you wonder if the oestrogen given to animals in huge quantities has something to do with it.

Absolute rubbish - although strangely relevant...... that doesn't happen here, but does in the US!

@20mum

Vegans can, with excellent intentions, cause destruction of the rainforest.

How do vegans cause destruction of rainforests?

Vegans and vegetarians make an ethical choice not to eat meat due to the inhumane treatment of animals within the meat industry and to reduce their environmental impact.

Nobody is forcing you to eat food with dodgy standards...just inform yourself, check the labels and research the suppliers. Or better still go vegetarian/vegan so you won't have to worry about meat standards in the US....

I was talking to a farmer just last week and she told me that many of these so called farm shops buy in their food, including meat, from mainstream suppliers- Danish bacon for example - the animals aren't raised on a small farm at all. They're simply selling supermarket food - repackaged if necessary.

One place has a few pigs in a barn next to the car park so the squeals can be heard whilst passing to go into the farm shop. The pigs are just for show though.

Posted on the wrong thread -
John Davidsons butchers (based in Aberdeenshire, Scotland) sell premium meat from the US - why would their US suppliers want to remove country of origin labels?

www.johndavidsons.com/product-search?keywords=us

@ssd

How many of the posters here who can afford to buy more expensive meat from local producers voted Conservative?

If you can’t afford to buy quality meat, then the choice is you either buy cheap meat that hasn’t been ethically raised, or you eat less meat and buy locally, or you choose a vegetarian diet. You can’t expect a farmer to raise an animal for you as cheaply as possible, it’s not going to happen, whilst you buy cheap meat you’re paying into a life of misery for that animal, is that fair?

Whilst you’re only selfishly considering just humans, what about the poor animals that spend years giving birth to their babies confined to tiny cages, chickens living on top of each other, bred to die in miserable conditions. This is all for humans need of cheap meat.

This whole discussion may be moot, as a US UK trade deal now looks quite unlikely.

Biden or Trump, no guarantee of a post-Brexit U.S.-UK trade deal

Apparently both sides have been tossing deal killers into the pot and Biden seems quite lukewarm about the whole thing.

@Requinblanc

Nobody is forcing you to eat food with dodgy standards...just inform yourself, check the labels and research the suppliers. Or better still go vegetarian/vegan so you won't have to worry about meat standards in the US....

Yet again, read the thread. You have no idea.