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?

That may be because of the way super,arlets deal with their produce suppliers (Farmers). They will say they want a certain quantity of something at a certain price. SO the farmer grows what they want and then the supermarket can change their mind literally at the last second and not take it. There is no contract at all. So the farmer is stuck and needs to find an alternative source for thier produce and quickly. Often it is already labeled/packaged with the supermarkets name on it ready for them. Supermarkets really do treat farmers appalingly.

Whole chicken:
Sainsbury's free range: £6
Sainsbury's organic: £9+ but very small
Waitrose not free range but the label says they monitor animal wellfare closely: £3.50 and a very good size
Waitrose organic: £9+ very good size again

I think Waitrose wins here.
In fact, most of what Waitrose sells has my approval and will probably switch to them completely from Tesco & Sainsbury.

went to a farm with a shop bought:
red pepper
onion
mushrooms
cucumber
vine tomatos
grapefruit
satsumas
cherries
lemons
strawberries
all for a tenner, i havent tasted fruit and veg so good and the colours were really bright

am going to try non-supermarket shopping too. Have a couple of grocers nearby for fruit & veg etc.. Not sure where to buy my milk as I do buy Organic milk and go through gallons a week - If anyone lives in Reading area there is a farm shop between Theale/Pangbourne - not been there but def. going to check it out soon and will post findings.
flashingnose - there is a Costco in Reading. dh has a card through his business - which I am going to try and use to get dry goods - problem is storing them as they come in mega packs - where do you keep 50 loo rolls?????!! Not sure how you go about registering sorry but next time I am there will try and find out for you.

hello.. was pointed over here from another thread.. can I join the gang?

expat, if you don't mind me asking but where abouts is Ballencrieff farm shop? We go to the beaches at Longniddry and were trying to find it (a map would have helped, durrr!)

Also, how much did the stuff cost?

M O'Hara, which county are you in?

From the roundabout at Longniddy, as you approach from Edinburgh, you go left, towards Drem. You'll hit Ballencrieff about a mile up the road. There's one roundabout. You go straight, and it's on the right - there's a white sign.

The farmer let DD stroke a two-day old piglet! She was in heaven! She absolutely adores all animals.

Just found this thread, and read through with interest. We have switched to organic milk, and got a free range chicken last week (from Tesco though I'm afraid), but you could really taste the difference, and see the difference in the structure of the bird. Can't beleive I never really noticed before until it was pointed out on that program. I do need to source a good local butcher and grocer.
Swiperfox hi, I'm a fellow Hampshirite (is that a word?) I live in Portsmouth. Think it was you that said about Dewhurst and wether they are any better than supermarkets, well imo no, they're not. DH went into local Dewhurst, converstation goes:
dh: Morning, have you got any pork fillet
butcher: No sorry sir we don't do it.
dh: You don't do it? But the fillet is part of a pig, what do you do with the fillets then once you've butchered the pig?
butcher: We don't actually do the butchery sir, all our meat comes in pre butchered, we just sell it.

So Dewhurst "the master butcher" (as I believe their advertising slogan once said) don't actually have a clue what they're selling, where it's come from or how it lived. I was appalled.

Cheers EIS, will need to pay a visit next time we go there.

Hi, I'm around the beds/bucks area. I don't know where to start!

Aha, thought you were! Give me a moment...

here you go

If you give them a ring, they'll send you their Local Food book which is v useful .

So far wqe have cooked our sausages and garlic chicken breasts from the DEwhurst butcher and I have to say i'm not impressed!! THe sausages were very bitty and fatty and the chicken breasts were very sort of 'bruised' and black in parts Will have to look for a 'proper' local butcher me thinks.....

I have found (from boyf) that there is a farmer/butcher just down the road from us who slaughters and sells his own meat. Apparently he has a very good reputation so I'm going to try meat from him. Apparently boyfs mum (who is very ethical and strictly vegetarian) get's all her meat from him.

I will give that number a call. thanks!

I looked on BigBarn but need a bit longer to go through all of the places listed in my area (there was loads!) I'm rather excited at the prospect

love the way this thread is helping people out locally. im in brighton, anyone else nearby and able to recomend a good weekly market? (already know about box schemes, infinity foods etc)

My PILs have always shopped for fresh stuff in their village and then visited the supermarket every two weeks to stock up on dry goods. I popped in to see them this morning, so thought I'd try shopping in their local shops. Visited butchers, greengrocers and bakery - all were friendly, could tell me where everything came from and give me recommendations, were cheaper than Tesco in most cases and the whole trip took me less than 20 minutes.

got my organic veg bos delivered today inside was
3 onions
some new potatoes
bag of radish
2 heads of broccoli
cauliflower
bag of mixed greens
leek-looked like it was just pulled from the ground!
tomatoes
red pepper
bag of carrots
2 lettuce
and 2 courgettes
all for £10.00-not bad i thought!

I went to butchers and greengrocers at the weekend spent roughly £35 in all so I thought a bit steep but will keep trying..

Anyone else noticed that the supermarkets have started putting pictures of farms and fields on the packaging of their ordinary poor chickens in a cage food? Noticed it the other day while looking for organic or free range to see what I could afford. Very misleading as some people won't read the label to see that the chicken isn't raised in a farm or a field!

They must think us absolutely stupid!

Except that the label of box usually says "farm fresh" ... er ... yeh right!! I guess it just wouldn't sell if it said, "from one of several thousand featherless, sick hens squashed into huge windowless huts with growth-promoting food on tap". Mmmm, yummy.