Would anyone like to join me in this?

[swiperfox]

Having just watched Supermarket Secrets again and feeling absolutely sick at what they do to us, I am going to try, from this weekend coming, to buy as little as i possibly can from the supermarket from now on.

Who wants to join me?? I would like to do an 'experiment' and post exactly what i buy, what is available and the prices so that any of you interested can see the differences. I want to find out exactly how much we are being conned by being led to believe that it is cheaper to go the supermarket than the local butcher/baker/grocer and market. I also want to see if it makes a difference to dd (3.7)(behaviour/concentration etc) It would be good if a load of us could do it and post what we have bought, prices, what meals we made etc so that we can all give each other ideas for things to buy and meals to make. I would also like to try organic ranges as well and post the differences.

Anyone fancy it?

Had a nose when i was out today and the milk isn't much dearer so I will try and get that from now on, but cheese, that was loads more and just way out of our bugget, and the chickens.

Quuen of quotes - organic milk is £1.10 in Asda and Tesco

I think the key is not necessarily to go organic, but to find out where exactly your food is coming from. So if organic cheese is out of yuor price range, have a look in your local independent shops/farmers market for any locally produced cheese. The shopkeeper/farmer should be able to tell you where it's from and how they look after their animals, then you can make a decision.

Something I did notice today in Dewhursts was that the chickens had hockburns Are a butcher chain such as Dewhursts likely to be as bad as a supermarket?

Looks like it swiper . Try asking them where their chickens come from.

Not read this through properly, but I've been trying to do this for months (having read Shopped). I use Abel and Cole to deliver my veg, but there's not a huge selection.

We have no green grocer, anywhere. I have bought from a local farm shop, but their produce isn't as fresh as it could be, it's quite expensive and I suspect a proportion of it is bought in. And I've never managed to make it to the local farmers market...

Emily 05 I'm in north midlands, Abel & cole deliver in my region it says. It's just the cost ot the box delivery service seems a bit pricey to me. Will see what the farmers market has to offer and also found out there is another in close town every other week.

The chicken thing, we examined alot in Tesco and found a large quantity of hock burns. We did buy a free range one instead and have to say the smell when it was cooking took me back to when i was young. And yes it tasted of something too.

This is a great thread and something i always want to do - avoid supermarkets - but sway back there for fear of things being so much more expensive.

We have a very tight budget - this month it is 0 having to polish up the credit cards for food shopping.

But i just did a very quick comparison of Abel and Cole small organic veg box, and online shop prices for Sainsbury - hoping the price wouldn't be too different! but i'm quite shocked. Obviously Abel and Cole don't state weight so i've tried to compare with what i consider average. Here goes

Abel and Cole, veg box £16.50

Bananas, Broad beans, carrots, cucumber, lettuce green, oranges, tomatoes, washed potatoes, white onions.

Sainsbury's online.

Banana's 1.39
Broad beans, not found. Organic green beans 1.49
Carrots .84
Cucumber, organic not found. .58 for normal.
Lettuce 1.89
Oranges 1.29 - no organic
Tomatoes .97 - only cherry toms in organic
New washed potatoes 1.69
Onions - .96

Totals £11.10

Its not bad i suppose, you are paying for better quality and the delivery.
But for me on tight budget i really need to keep costs as low as possible.
I checked the Bigbarn link - thanks for that! - i don't have any local butchers, but do have a farm fruit and veg stall i will try out.

Will keep watch of this thread with interest.

can you tell me what hock burns look like

( I always buy free range I just want to feel smug)

little grazes on the bend of the legs.

Does that make sense? lol

Caused by the cramped conditions, speeded up growth of body, but not legs means there legs give way and rub on the ground.

iirc from supermarket secrets!

oh bloodyhellfire
I remember seeing those in supermarkets
how disgusting

tbh I never eat chicken myself, can't bear the thought of those tiny bony heads and nasty scaley feet, shudder, but I always buy free range for my kids. DH eats KFC.

LOL well i'm sure kfc ensure their chickens have been well kept

hock burns look like this though this photo is quite extreme.
i've seen loads of chicken with them in my local tesco last week. i looked yesterday and there were none. strange!

I've just done a Tesco price check against some of the things i bought yesterday.....

Grocer - 7.01 Tesco - 7.31 Sainsbury - 9.09 Morrison - mostly N/F (not found??)
Asda - 6.97

Apart from Sainsburys there's nothing in it. The fruit and veg looks, feels and tastes 1000 times better than the supermarket, so changing to a grocer is definately an affordable change for me.

Organic milk 1 pint: Tesco - 37p - Normal Milk - 32p
Sainsbury - 39p - Normal Milk - 32p
Morrison - 37p - Normal Milk - 32p
Asda - N/F - Normal Milk - 32p

Organic Milk 4 pint: Tesco - 1.25 - Normal Milk - 1.11
Sainsbury - 1.30 - Normal Milk - 1.11
Morrison - 1.25 - Normal Milk - 1.11
Asda - 1.25 - Normal Milk - 1.11

Not a huge amount of difference, definately worth switching to organic!!

I tried to compare the meat but it was difficult because of the weights. Also all the stuff the was listed in the price checker was frozen, not fresh. From Dewhursts I managed to get 1.048kg of chinese chicken wings, 3 x 227g packets of cooked gammon (proper gammon, not the watery processed stuff), 0.418kg of garlic chicken breast, 0.620kg of extra lean angus burgers (6 burgers), 0.992kg of pork sausages (18 sausages) plus 15 large eggs all for 18.00 !!

Admittedly I would prefer to get meat from a more 'local' butcher or farmers market but it's a start. I actually came home with change as well because i wasn't wondering around the supermarket picking up junk that we don't need!!

Maybe Sainsbury wasn't the best comparison for me to use then

Swiper, I think large chain butchers would have similar chicken - problems as supermarkets, but they may be more likely to tell you how they were raised. Some on-line organics do deliver meat, could try that, I guess.

I was talking to DH about this last night, as we have a huge local supermarket which is fantastic for bread, organic stuff and gluten free, and we have thought about just using them for groceries instead of Tesco, then greengrocers for veg. I am veggie, so we don't buy much meat, only bits for DH and DDs occasionally.

I went to a farmers market today - it was PACKED! You literally could not move! I queued for 20 minutes for the chicken stall - well worth it though. I got 2 big whole chickens for £10.

flowerfairy - here is a link to a website that has a list of box schemes here

Swiperfox,have long used MN to vent my anger at the greed and mediocrity of the supermarkets.It repels me to drive past the local Tesco which they are rebuilding. Business carries on as normal in a huge f** off tent. Something so obscene about the cranes dangling over the site,roar of the generators,blinding spotlights 24/7.

Anyway,I digress......

Not on a budget per se,but like my money to go into pockets of local people. I can buy most of my stuff in our choice of (admittedly not great shops and by using mobile fishmongers and so on. Alos make a point of stopping at local farms and so on (live in North Wales) to buy stuff. Yesterday,I bought 4 spanking frsh crabs on the lleyn peninsula-£3 each.

Someone makes a point about shopping being less stressful with kids in real shops. Couldn't agree more. My kids really enjoy it. It is an adventure,not a dreary dispiriting trek around the aisles.

Wonder why any of you are buying things like organic chicken breasts,especially if counting the pennies?? COst a fortune-much better to buy a whole organic chicken. £7 or so,but it will feed a family for at least two meals.

If anyone is in Wales,I have some good websites.

www.organic.aber.ac.uk produce a brilliant booklet on where to buy local and/or organic produce throughout Wales.

www.whyorganic.org which speaks for itself.

www.fmiw.co.uk (Farmers' markets in Wales)

www.organic-holidays.com which also speaks for itself

www.bigbarn.co.uk (UK website for organic outlets)

I have started making my own muesli. Can't believe how much cheaper and tastier it is. I mix oats,wheatgerm,linseeds,fruit and nuts (all bought from healthfood shop.)

We only have this and porridge in our house (latter is incredibly cheap,very warming and for those who like this sort of thing,has a very low GI index.)

I hate the crap you can buy in supermarkets and shop at local farm, milk, eggs, chickens, rabbits, and next week trying guinea fowl. I go to a local butcher and I go to the market for all my fruit and veg. I would love to grow my own but have not enough time and not VG at it.
I did do a v, healthy week once as experiment and kids had no processed food at all and even though my kids have no problems, house was alot calmer and they seemed to concentrate more.

do you mean this one moondog

Ie!!!!!

Will try to have a look at your sites Moondog but I'm on dial up at the moment. I did look into organic veg boxes a while ago but there's nowhere locally that does them (Dimensions in B@@@@r do them but they're distributors so am no wiser as I still don't know where its coming from

Will try to have a look at your sites Moondog but I'm on dial up at the moment. I did look into organic veg boxes a while ago but there's nowhere locally that does them (Dimensions in B@@@@r do them but they're distributors so am no wiser as I still don't know where its coming from

The first website address gives you lots of details of places near you. When you have time,take a look.