Are Supermarkets getting too GREEDY

[kazwencol]

HI, i just joined this site today and after reading about a topic on supermarkets, i decided to have my say on the subject. Everything has just got so expensive. that i have found it alot cheaper to shop in the asian shops. when you but say fruit from a supermarket it is always under ripe and eventually never ripens and then ends up in the bin. Which i hate as i do not like to waste food. The other day i went to a asian shop to get 2 lamb chops and 1 red pepper and ( wait for it ) the chops cost 66p and they had all the fat trimmed off also. the red pepper was 30p. I know that mums dont have much time on there hands but shopping around realy does pay off.Markets are much cheaper too than supermarkets. I think the supermarkets make a huge profit out of us....

Last post this am - have been webbing since last one and found these sites:-

www.ipetitions.com

www.PetitionOnline.com The FAQ page on this is good

www.screendaily.com has an interesting bit about a petition to save the UK Film Council. After one day on facebook it had 11,357 signatures.

We are the thinking or thorny threesome!!

Hello Fifi and Kaz I go back and forwards between mid west France and Streatham more in france though! I think that S.M.'s are such an enormous subject that finding one issue to campaign about is going to be difficult.

I often sign on line petitions with a site called AVAAZ (they email me) it might be worth looking them up to see how it's done. I've a feeling it may take a lot of work!

Hi, Fifichef/ppeatfriut,
I think Jamie oliver would be a good person to get on board as he has done alot for schools and shown what goes into food. Sadly he also works for one of the main SMs so I do not think he would be able to but I am certainly going to try and e-mail him and see if I get a reply. Talk To You Guys later. KAZ

Hi K & P. Have had a reply from no.10 about petitions and they're saying that they plan to relaunch late in 2010. Have given me some very useful contact email addresses - one for if we want to take the petition there personally!!
ppeatfruit - I agree with you about finding the best one subject to attack - we won't pull the sympathisers if we don't have a clear issue.
Have a soft spot for Streatham - hubby proposed to me in the Blue Orchid there. Probably no longer in existence!
If we should need to meet up it seems that we aren't that spread out.
Will have a look at AVAAZ

It seems there are already some good camaigns going - one against the spread of SM's and one for aiming to stop them screwing the farmers. I think all the misleading labelling is an important issue - especially on their own fresh foods and ready meals - ie. where it comes from, method of production and being truthful about the ingredients.
What do you both think - what should we aim for??

PS. Forgot to say that I am a vague acquaintance of the chef Lesley Waters - of Ready Steady Cook fame and also Sir Alan Beith who was a liberal MP and is now in the house of Lords. They both kindly wrote recommendations for a cookbook which I had published this year. Lesley Waters might be a good bet?!

Hi Fifichef.
That is a tricky one as my issue is the prices and the how much they make against what the farmers/ suppliers get. I understand that we do need to focus on one issue but im not sure what that should be.
I stayed up till 1.00 this morning watching the Chiliean miners rescue so i do not have my thinking head on today. ttfn kaz

Yes, I was awake last night and saw 'live' the first one come up. I must say that it was very moving - I had a few tears. Also this morning I've been watching and saw the oldest one emerge.
I think that the whole position with SM's is that the government is not prepared to move in and legislate on anything connected with them - brown envelopes and greased palms come to mind. Like you I'm concerned about the way they manipulate the farmers and producers but I also hate the way that they are so devious with their labelling. Few people know where the meat comes from in their ready meals and how cheaply it is produced abroad - thus allowing the SM's to make huge profits from them. They must have a big concern that if they are truthful on the label, customers would avoid buying the product.
Looked at AVAAZ Ppeatfruit. Thought perhaps that it was a little more concerned with world affairs
As you have worked out by now I am very anti SM's in more ways than one. I don't buy any fresh food from them at all.

Kas - found this this aft. New Supermarket Watchdod Announced on 3/10/10 and is to be called Groceries Code Adjudicator.
www.fdf.org.uk/news.aspx?article=5032

It seems that this gov. might be serious about making sure of good relations between suppliers and SM's so as you suggested I think we should concentrate on the huge profits they make at the suppliers and consumers' expense. We know for a fact that the dairy farmers aren't getting enough for their milk so do we presume that the same is happening throughout the fresh food business??

Hi Fifichef,I think that sounds like a good idea. I have been so impatient to put something on Facebook just to get some feed back realy, but thought I should wait till we know what angle we are going with. I am at the moment watching that food programe on channel 4 (what goes into your basket)
I havent been in a SM since i started this thread and have no plans to go back to the so called " every little helps" SM. I did however send an e-mail to jamie oliver but got the normal reply from them just to acknowledge my e-mail.
I was very moved to see the miners coming out too and it kinda restores my faith a little with the world. Kaz

Sorry Fifichef, forgot to say that I will check out that website too and i looked at AVAAZ but couldnt realy find what i was looking for on it,but i will check out the one you mentioned. Did you say your from the Dreset/devon area and do you ever get to london at all. Talk to you soon. kaz

Hi Kaz - I'm still here!! I've been checking a few things out on the web. I think you should put something on facebook to feel things out. I've since discovered that those 2 sites I gave you for petitions are not much good as they are both based in a America. If we're going to use one we might have to wait for the No.10. If not we at least need to find a British one. I wonder if it's possible to demand that the farmers and producers get a minimum percentage amount of the selling price. Allowing for more than that as well. A minimum could be set so that the SM's can't demand that the

supplier pays the cost of special offers etc.
I also find it unbelievable that they have
to pay for shelf space. Perhaps alot of these scams help to keep the price down to the customers but I for one would rather not be a part of it!
Kaz - I think you should go ahead with your facebook post - see what happens.

Hi Fifi, Well No 10 it is then, I will start a group on Facebook now and see how we get on.Its a pity about the other wesites but not much use if they are in the USA. That is a good idea what you suggested but i wonder if that would then let the SMs put more prices up for the customer but we can look at that further down the line.
I was up till 3.am watching the last of the chilean miners coming up and it was more emotional this time round so much emotion in one week I CANT COPE.
Anyway I see that Jamie Oliver is on a live web chat here at 9.00 am tomorrow but i cannot be here to do it but i think it would be a good idea to sound him out if anyone on here feels inclined to do so. Gotta go now so chat later. TTFN KAZ

If I can I'll try and get on the web chat tomorrow - hoping I can pluck up the courage!
The 'chile rescue' has been so uplifting these last few days and I can't blame you for staying up to watch it -I was falling asleep in front of the TV by 10pm so there's no hope for me.
Incase we lose this link you can get me at
[email protected].

Hi fifichef, Ive seen a question board for Jamie oliver that is already up and running here now, so we could post something up there but Im not sure what to say ( Star struck me thinks ) No seriously I think that you may be better at wording it than me but not sure if you are on line tonight. If you are let me know what you think about posting a question or going on webcam.
Are we likely to loose this thread then as i didnt know that there would be a time limit.

Hi Fifichef,

I have posted a message to Jamie Oliver but not sure wether he will answer as there are soooo many on there and I think the questions on live-web will be answered first. If you feel like doing live-webcam then thats all good but if you dont feel like it then no worries. I will check back in tomorrow and see how things are going. Have posted something on facebook but not sure ive done it correctly. My friend who is good at that sort of thing is sick so no imput from him yet but have started a group on there so who knows maybe Twitter next. bye for now. Kaz

Sorry Kaz - I didn't manage to get online this morning - had to go out urgently. I saw the long list of questions for Jamie yesterday evening and shouldn't think that be will beable to answer many of them. Sorry I didn't get back to you yesterday evening to help with the wording - I'm not normally a late bird. How do I look it up on Facebook?

Hi Fifi, well i did post a question but it didnt get answered( oh well ) I have posted it under the same heading as here but no sure that everyone can veiw it. So I am going to have to get my friend to look at it as i need it to be out there, not just on my home page. Im not great at computors realy. No worries about this morning not sure i could have done it myself. Talk to you soon Kaz

kaz I'm not that good on here either, i've another thought, what about Hugh F. W.? (thinking of his campaign against factory farming). it was good but so many people "forget."

Fifi you sound like you are a bit of a celeb yourself! I've been trying varying ways to make ouselves independent of S.M.s e.g. i boil up used lemons to make cleaning fluid which is also good at killing green fly!

The french treat their producers which much more admiration.

I could bang on all day about food but "been there done that", till I'm sick of my own voice.

Another thing the french produce is of very high quality and not sure if they have gone down the "value" market or the buy one get free either.

The farmers wont be treated like us british roll over and have our bellies tickled. I admire they way they have co-oped to together and is the reason why the supermarkets do not control the country.

Personally, its gone too far now and can see nothing changing. The british are used to crap, tastless, cheap as chips food and the government will always argue that this helps poverty. There are always consequences of cheap food. I read a horrendous book from the USA on this. The EU isnt great for GB food either, god only knows the conditions of chickens/eggs imported from Poland. I hardly think they have to abide to the stringent rules and endless paperwork us brit farmers have to do.

If britsh farmers get paid better then the EU imported produce can still fill the shelves as everyone would be up in arms over the price of a chicken!

Too late the damage has been done IMO.

Sorry - am a bit tied up with a busy weekend but will get back as soon as I can.

Thanks for getting back bacon, a depressing post but Hugh F. W.'s programme seemed to change SOME people's minds. I so agree with 'there are always consequences of cheap food'. The sad thing is that there is no real competition when Poland can sell such cheap produce.

Hi to all and a happy new week! - the sun's out here and it can get as cold as it likes but if we have grey skies with cold and wet - that's when I go into hibernation.
This is going to be a fairly long blurb so I hope it doesn't get you all yawning!
In the weekend papers I found a couple of good quotes. One was from the comedian Alexander Armstrong saying "I hate commercialism when it's dressed up as sactimony' The 2nd one from Tesco in answer to protesters about the building of a supermarket at Tattershall in Lincolnshire
"We're hoping to bring something special to Tattershall. We believe we've developed a plan which will provide the produce people want, complement the existing scenery, bring new jobs and boost trade in Tattershall"
Sanctimonious - yes!! Tesco - 'where very little helps'

Bacon - never were truer words spoken. I agree with everything you say but really we should not give up. The French are much more educated about food - that's why I love going there on holiday. Part of the reason why we became diconnected from food is when cookery stopped in schools - Maggie Thatcher is owed a 'thankyou' for that. I like your bit - British are used to crap, tasteless and cheap food. As long as it's cheap they haven't a toss where it's come from. Meat from afar - Thailand, Taiwan- (my suggestions I would like to add) all wrapped up in their ready meals. As long as it's cheap they'll eat it. I believe in France that all school children get free lunches. Good food cooked from fresh ingredients. This would be good here - paid for out of SM's vast profits. When I first saw you on here I must say that I sensed you might be something to do with or have connections with the land.

Ppeatfruit - your idea about Hugh F W is a good one. I am a bit of a hypocrite really because I do buy my 'dry goods' from the supermarket over the net. I never buy fresh food from the SM's. Luckily I have good local shops for that at the mo.

Kas - next move I will try to contact Hugh FW
Odd bod as he is - I'm a bit of a fan and he lives in Dorset as I do. Have you had any response on Facebook?

Hi ALL,
Sorry i have not had a chance to get on here all weekend as its been very busy here, but im back now. I have done the wrong thing on facebook but will get that sorted out hopefully today with any luck. Good Idea about FW Huge and good luck with that Fifi.
Your right about Maggie Thatcher we used to have a saying years ago " Maggie Thatcher the milk snatcher" When she stopped the milk in our schools for kids. Going to go now but will be back on-line this evening if any of you are still up and about.TTFN KAZ THanks Fifi,Ppea,Bacon for your feedback