Fight obesity like tobacco

[merlin]

That link was interesting. It just goes to show that governments are clearly not interested in public health (like that’s news). Profit before health is not a new thing, the tax on tobacco, alcohol, petrol and the like is clearly loaded onto those products because they know that pretty much, people will not, or can not do without them.

To be honest, if people want to live in a society that has free medical care, social support, free education etc, it has to be paid for somewhere along the line, unless tax payers actually want to pay the real price of this out of their paye.

It is very possible to live in other countries to a very good standard, people don’t for all sorts of reasons, perhaps it’s still better in the UK

[oldjerry]

My previous post' in retrospect, looks amazingly smug.We are very fortunate to live within easy walking distance of decent small shops.Not so long ago,when we lived in the middle of nowhere,we at least had the space to provide a lot of our own food.As we seem to point out regularly in this forum,the one group that seems to be ignored above all others is the rural poor,these days,round here at least,they don't all have nice gardens and live in a bucolic paradise,in fact most don't.
Massive transport costs,crap,or non-existent services,desperate employment situation,buggerall representation due to usually living in a safe seat etc.etc.
Where's Wat Tyler when you need him??

[berry]

transport costs in rural areas are ridiculously high! Im lucky in that i can forage for fruit of a weekend when its in season and roll that in as an activity for the boy.

Supermarket fruit prices, as much as they tell you other wise, are very high and our local greengrocer decided to cater as though it was in an upmarket area. prices rose to subsidise some of the more expensive and niche products they wished to sell. If they had stuck to local fruit and veg and a maybe milk and bread they wouldnt have gone out of business. as it stands now the greengrocers is a charity shop and i have either coop or farm foods to get my shopping from.

I know this isnt just me. hundreds of small local shops are trying to adapt and failing so much with it. this is having a knock on effect to those who really do want to provide good food.

[boboff]

I am pleased you all find the idea of someone buying 400g of mince in Waitrose for £7 a non sence, but they do. Same time as T***o sell "Pasty Beef" for £5 a kilo which you could mince your self!

Me I buy the £3.50 a kilo mince and boil it, skim off the fat, drain and add quorn mince, tasty and cheap!

Supermarket fruit prices are really high, Lidl's fruit is consistently cheaper and better than Morrisons and T***o I find, but their meat is crubbish.

[Odsox]

I didn't comment before as I didn't know how much mince is here, but just got back from a shopping trip and I specifically looked at he prices.
Local Irish low fat minced beef is €3.99 Kg (£3.20) and ordinary Irish minced beef is €2.99 Kg (£2.40)

[merlin]

I thought 18 squid was a bit steep, perhaps the grass is greener in Wales. It sounds quite reasonable in Ireland.

A kilo of mince would do the two of us 4 meals, so that is 40p a meal, come on, that can’t be bad, can it?

[oldjerry]

[quote="boboff"]

Me I buy the £3.50 a kilo mince and boil it, skim off the fat, drain and add quorn mince, tasty and cheap!




To save even more money,substitute shredded newspaper for the Quorn,the flavour will improve as well!

[GeorgeSalt]

I thought 18 squid was a bit steep, perhaps the grass is greener in Wales. It sounds quite reasonable in Ireland.

A kilo of mince would do the two of us 4 meals, so that is 40p a meal, come on, that can’t be bad, can it?

Waitrose is always a bad example.. tends to be premium prices.. British beef is a minor premium, Welsh beef being even more specific is a major premium. The only additonal premium possible would be if the pack had the name of the beast the meat came from on it. Now there's an idea..

[Odsox]

The only additonal premium possible would be if the pack had the name of the beast the meat came from on it. Now there's an idea..

Doesn't it already then ?
Maybe not the name, but it's number and herd number, although the animal number is probably not on mince but it is on steaks and joints.

Now, if you go to the restaurant at the end of the universe, it would recommend itself as well.
Sorry if you're not a Douglas Adams fan.

[The Riff-Raff Element]

We buy beef from the lady opposite who has a herd of a breed called maraîchine, ridiculously local to this area. So local that they haven't even got an English language Wikipeddia entry, which by some measures means they don't really exist:

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mara%C3%AEchine

Whenever I see her out on my travels she takes the time to point out which beasts are next for the chop so that I can admire their sleekness and general air of happy ediblity.

[merlin]

Yes, I have 'herd' of it. It is the lesser spotted eatmenowcow, we have their distant cousins across from us.

[boboff]

I heard tell of that beast in brown in ellocution lessons.

[The Riff-Raff Element]

And in the news today, France has now decided that a fat tax would be a good idea.

The Senate has approved a law that would tax palm oil for food use at a rate of €300 per tonne, which I calculate could add 3 cents to the price of a jar of Nutella. In fact, on Nutella alone the state could raise €3 million per year to squander.

Of course, the government could save a similar amount by cutting by 10% the 6000 euros paid each month to 577 members of the National Assembly for expenses against which they are not obliged to provide receipts. But they didn't want to do that.

[oldjerry]

Seem to remember something about carving up the rainforest to grow palm oil,could be wrong,but seem to remember being dragged through a variety of Supermarkets while Mrs OJ found a jar of palm oil free peanut butter.Needless to say, the kids went off it a couple of days later,and it's still in the cupboard.

Can't help thinking,Jon,if the politicians were made to provide said receipts,you'd get a NA members of a far greater caliber........at least in terms of creativity and imagination....

[MKG]

Hang on, OJ. You used "politicians" and "creativity and imagination" in the same sentence there.

Are you feeling OK?

Mike