Grow Your Own Magazine

I think this thread has descended into science fiction and scaremongering!!

SimonCole, where do you work? What is your department? I think you really do overstate your case (and I'm not convinced that you are not 'winding us up.)

I'm not sqeamish, but I find it hard to believe that blood and guts are scattered all over this green ane pleasant land.

Why shouldn't you have to defend additives. One of the ingredients of Hellmans mayonnaise is formalin. This is a poison. It is used in biology labs for the preservation of specimens. Why is it there??

I think for Farmers' Markets you should substitute Car Boot Sale. We have been attending the Bakewell market for about five years. The same stallholders are there month after month. There are no fly-by-night stallholders! If they had sold me anything I was not happy with, they would be left in no doubt (to date this has not happened). The fact that they are there 'month after month' to my mind, means that they are proud of their their products, and I have no problem buying from them. In fact the food I buy there is wonderful, and all locally produced!!

With regard to your local butcher, greengrocer and baker selling 'stuff' from around the world, and local produce being a rarety in your area, I can only pity you.

Yes greengrocers have no option but to buy produce from around the world. My parents had a greengrocery shop (from 1936 until 1972) and oranges always came from Spain, bananas from the Canaries some apples from South Africa and Australia, all 'shipped in'.

Bakers used to be able to buy the American and Canadian hard wheat to make flour for bread (very high in gluten). Thanks to the EU we have to put up with the European soft rubbish.

With regard to meat, if you cannot buy locally produced, I just find it unbelievable.

Oh, and yes I can remember programmes exposing people selling 'shoddy meat'. This was usually chicken, and I think the Bernard Matthews fiasco highlights what happens in this market. It is also another reason why I will never buy supermarket chicken.

valmarg

I was thinking about our local FM. Nearly all the stall holders have another shop on their farm premises etc, so are hardly fly-by-night. After I got chatting to various stall-holders, I've found out so much. The lady on the jam and chutney stall shared her tips and recipes with me, and since buying local ostrich meat, we've been to visit the ostrich farm - very informative!

I'm sure that the reason most products are loaded with chemicals/additives/preservatives is to promote and prolong shelf-life. Years ago people managed without E-numbers and chlorine etc in food (not that there weren't other things put in food then)

I'd rather grow my own than buy something from a field god-knows-where, that has been pumped with/sprayed with/washed in god-knows-what. I'd rather buy my meat from someone who I trust, where I can go to the farm and see the animals myself if I want, than pre-packaged, pumped-full-of-water stuff.

My kitchen probably isn't that hygenic (what with the dog counter-surfing a lot these days) but I've never had food poisoning from things I've grown/made/cooked.

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"Its not who you are underneath, it's what you do that defines you" - Bruce Wayne

Make sure you're farmer's market is certified!

My local one isn't and a new stall turned up amazingly well stocked with loads of fruit and veg - friendly chap, talking away about his orchards and how he doesn't use pesticides.

Heard via another stall holder that he'd been investigated and banned by the certification people for buying in his stuff - I confirmed this with them

I also bought some apples from another stall, when I came to eat them they had round sticky marks where labels had clearly been removed. The same stall also sold tomato plants - exactly the same tags on them as the local garden centre and the local street market! Unless they specifically tell you it's grown by them they're not doing anything wrong.

Whilst some of the producers are genuine and do great stuff there's the <insert expletives> that spoil it.

Went to an certified (and organic) market and the range of fruit and veg was pitiful, it's tempting to ignore trying to get the 'best' and buy everything from the street market which is far cheaper than the alternatives.

And that's not scaremongering? Apologies if you work for Unilever and know any secret ingredients, but having just looked at my jar of Hellmann's mayonnaise which I have in the fridge, I can see no sign of it on the ingredients.

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http://inelegantgardener.blogspot.com
Updated 13th September

I study Environmental Science at Bangor University. Sorry if I've overstated things a bit.

Here's a bit reported by the BBC:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/1859653.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/special_r...week/69303.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/1433477.stm

I also thought that this article was interesting, but you can't believe everything you read:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2493619.stm

I agree with dan1979 re certified farmers markets. my local farmers markets - Inverness, Dingwall and Dornoch - are not certified and I know for a fact that one stallholder buys his stock from Lidl's the day before !!!!!! He used to grow his own stuff but hasn't for the last couple of years, but sells his bought in produce as home grown.
However, the tomato plant issue is not as clear cut. I have grown 13500 young veg plants from seed for my local garden centre, in pots and packs, and each plant or pack has a label that I bought for it. I also sell these myself, so the labelling issue is not necessarily any indication of provenance.
On the matter of a poor range of organic veg, organic produce is pretty much grown with the seasons and so will just be coming onto the market now. Field grown veg is grown in much the same way as most of us grow in our gardens but economies of scale means it isn't quite as pampered, so it grows with Mother Nature, not against it.

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Rat

British by birth
Scottish by the Grace of God

Blog updated Wednesday November 13th

Dan 1979 : said
Went to an certified (and organic) market and the range of fruit and veg was pitiful, it's tempting to ignore trying to get the 'best' and buy everything from the street market which is far cheaper than the alternatives.

I would expect a truly organic markets food offerings to be slightly less appealing than supermarkets for obvious reasons, i try to be organic as i can, but still get the odd hole in my apples, lettuce with the odd holed leaf, a nibbled this and that, if i went to a proper organic sale and things where perfect, i know i'd walk away.

The problem for me was the uncertified market had so much choice and things were virtually perfect so I'm very skeptical of it.

I know they run farms but there's a big grey area of how much they grow themselves and how much is 'topped up' with no way to know for sure.

Well, I think I will listen to happymouffe - common sense should be liberally applied! We all wash and cook our veg (dont we?) and so should rid any nasties - besides, there's the whole 'too clean' debate as well, that a little dirt is good for us. This doesnt, tho, rid the issue of 'food miles' and environmental costs. The whole debate could go in circles for ever, a bit like some supermarket veg seems to!!

Don't have any problems with a bit of dirt, it's some of the unnecessary chemicals I have concerns about.

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Some of us live in the past, always talking about back then. Some of us live in the future, always planning what we are going to do. And, then there are those, who neither look behind or ahead, but just enjoy the moment of right now.

Which one are you and is it how you want to be?

Totally agree Alison, a little dirt never hurt (as long as it IS just dirt and not some of the other nasties which have been mentioned) but chemicals are another matter. I do also have issues with 'foodmiles' as well though, and buying something grown in some farflung place that could just as well be grown in the uK and unfortunately the two issues don't seem to go together which is very annoying.

I have looked through this thread and see very little mention of price!

I work in a fairly low paid job (Although I wouldn't change it for the earth!)

I prefer to feed my family with organic, locally produced produce. I can't afford to buy this produce.

This is the reason I have taken on two allotments to grow my own and feed my family with healthy food grown locally

The majority of shoppers will have a budget to adhere to and probably very little time to shop because they are working mothers/fathers.

The questions I do ask myself when shopping is, whether it's organic?, green? or locally produced?, but much more importantly, whether I can afford it, or not?

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My Majesty made for him a garden anew in order
to present to him vegetables and all beautiful flowers.- Offerings of Thutmose III to Amon-Ra (1500 BCE)