supermarkets

[Detta]

We try not to use supermarkets at all for any of our shopping, although I do need to visit the local Co-op and also go to Lidl for stuff I can't find elsewhere. I know that the Co-op are about the best of them (encouraging Fair Trade and trading ethically) but I don't know anything much about Lidl. Does anyone have any idea? I've Googled but still can't find much info. Thanks.

Lidl is as far as I know not big on fair trade and Co-op is the best.
have you read "Not on the label"" by Felicity Lawrence ? I wasn't pro-supermarket but now really try to steer clear al together.

Lidl have absolutely no fair trade policy at all....just buy cheap sell cheap.

Have you looked at Corporate Watch?

I'm sure I read somewhere that Lidl did pay their workers a decent wage though - way above the national average for supermarket workers. Still think the Co-op is best though

pupuce - have read Not on the Label, and also Shopped - the shocking power of supermarkets. will never set foot in asda or tesco ever again. In fact mentioning Tesco is worse than the c word in our house! I'm appalled by how many shops they've taken over, and the fact that everyone thinks they're great. I love the co-op for trying, but also like the idea of Lidl being cheap. Have also heard that their staff are paid well, but don't know if this is true. Any Lidl (or Li-Dell as my mum calls it, very Hyacinth) workers out there want to spill the beans (no pun intended..)

WWW what is Corporate Watch?

Detta, \link{http://www.corporatewatch.org/\it's here}

Have a look at \link{http://www.ethicalconsumer.org/magazine/buyers/86/supermarkets.pdf\this}
It's a bit out of date but compares the ethical performance of supermarkets including Lidl.

I have a couple of mates that work in Lidl, they get at least £6.50 an hour.

If you want be really ethical, ie the conditions / sustainabilty of the animals / fish used in their food waitrose and M&S are far superior to the Coop (tho much more expensive than lidl)

Nanny... M&S will sell you baby vegetables some grown in the UK others grown in Kenya, they'll ship the UK ones to Kenya so that cheap Kenyan labour can make put all these veg together and bundle them with a cute chive and ship them back to the UK... What a WASTE of air miles! Absolutely ridiculous !

I want to find out more about the whole Kenya business - from what little I understand half of the country is suffering drought and starvation whilst the other is shipping beans, flowers and baby veg to the UK...this is so f**ed up.

Read "Not on the label" and you are bound to be shocked !

they may do that to their veg.... BUT their fish are fished sustainably and their animals (meat)live much nicer lives in better more humance conditions than oterh supermarkets.

I agree with all those air miles being a waste.... we get our local organic veg delivered in a box weekly.... the box is resued each week so that reduces the packaging and all the veg are grown quite locally to us

If you want local veg go to your local green grocer / farm shop / veg delivery box NOT a supermarket!!!

Lidl didn't respond to the questionnaire about ethical products so defaulted to bottom of the list. Suspect that they're not eithical but do indeed pay their staff well.

Hi again. We buy all our fruit & veg from local organic shop, and also we have an organic butcher, where most of the meat is local. It's quite pricey, but I've found that we eat far less meat, and what we do eat is good quality and well produced. Hate the air miles idea. I really was thinking more about other goods, eg biscuits, cheeses etc. According to the packaging of Lidl foods, many things don't seem to have all the horrid additives that you find in the cheap ranges of other supermarkets. Eg, lemonade actually has sugar in it and not horrible sweeteners. By the way, do you give your kids sweeteners? I never do, despite it being supposedly safe.