Tell the supermarkets what we think

[Katarina]

With Asda , Sainsburys and Tesco importing poor standard meat produce from other countries , isnt it time we start voicing our discontent by by shaming them with written messages on big bales and messages at roadsides and telling the public what we who really are the people who feed our nation think of how Supermarkets are selling us down the road

 

[neilo]

With Asda , Sainsburys and Tesco importing poor standard meat produce from other countries , isnt it time we start voicing our discontent by by shaming them with written messages on big bales and messages at roadsides and telling the public what we who really are the people who feed our nation think of how Supermarkets are selling us down the road

Is it of a ‘poor standard’, or just cheap? If you are thinking of campaigning like that, make sure the facts are right or it could backfire.

I agree they are doing our industry no favours currently.

 

[Northeastfarmer]

Vote with your feet...I’ve never set foot in Tesco for years and won’t be any time soon
I’ll stick with Morrison’s

 

[rhifsaith]

this popped up on fb.Asda and Tesco the worst culprits

 

[yellowbelly]

Vote with your feet...I’ve never set foot in Tesco for years and won’t be any time soon
I’ll stick with Morrison’s

I agree with you but unfortunately there's just not enough of us for them 'to give a f**k'.
There's 42,000 members on this forum, there's 50 odd million in the country - we're just a very tiny, insignificant number, the barstewards wouldn't notice

 

[andybk]

The question we should be asking is Why is polish beef cheaper than ours ? we are all in the EU so should be level playing field, bigger units ? less red tape (red tractor ?) cheaper/ less labour . This is what need addressing and abolishing if necessary, Apb is exploiting this weakness , and should stand as a warning if we start doing trade deals around the globe

 

[Tarw Coch]

With Asda , Sainsburys and Tesco importing poor standard meat produce from other countries , isnt it time we start voicing our discontent by by shaming them with written messages on big bales and messages at roadsides and telling the public what we who really are the people who feed our nation think of how Supermarkets are selling us down the road

As said, you will need to be sure of your facts and how you present them, the last thing farmers need is to look like they’re trying to profit in a time of crisis.
Not sure of the exact best way to present it but I see no harm on pointing out that farm gate prices are falling at a point when shelves are getting empty and shop prices are at best static if not rising, let the public join the dots and decide.

 

[Treemover]

It’s the same here in Ireland; supermarkets are doing better than ever while farm gate prices crash.
Lobby the govt. they could force the retailers to do more ; esp now. Imagine if the supermarkets couldn’t import or worse had to close.

 

[PostHarvest]

Why is polish beef cheaper than ours

Last year, Polish abattoirs were found slaughtering casualty cows after hours and exporting the beef to 11 different EU countries. https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2019/04/eu-audit-finds-serious-issues-after-poland-beef-scandal This was reported throughout Europe and investigated by the EU. They may have cleaned up their act in the past year, but who knows? In the past, I spent a lot of time in Eastern Europe and visited some extremely dodgy food plants including abattoirs, so I know how inspectors can be "persuaded" to sign off on poor practices. Been there and seen it happening.

 

[puppet]

We need to sell ourselves not just criticise others

 

[Highland Mule]

Last year, Polish abattoirs were found slaughtering casualty cows after hours and exporting the beef to 11 different EU countries. https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2019/04/eu-audit-finds-serious-issues-after-poland-beef-scandal This was reported throughout Europe and investigated by the EU. They may have cleaned up their act in the past year, but who knows? In the past, I spent a lot of time in Eastern Europe and visited some extremely dodgy food plants including abattoirs, so I know how inspectors can be "persuaded" to sign off on poor practices. Been there and seen it happening.

And we’re all angelic here in the UK? Of course not.

This was less than 1 day throughout of meat, probably always destined to come to the UK but diverted from commercial catering to retail, at a time when UK Ag and processing couldn’t meet customer demands. It was very clearly marked on retail packs too. Why would we make any fuss about it? It’s not like the UK system had any slack last week, is it? Would folks really be happier to see our fellow countrymen go hungry/ get used to vegetarian cooking?

 

[Barleycorn]

Vote with your feet...I’ve never set foot in Tesco for years and won’t be any time soon
I’ll stick with Morrison’s

I won't go in a Tesco, did go to Sainsbury's until they gave £millions to the Brexit remain campaign. Only use Aldi now, occasional forays into Waitrose.

 

[PostHarvest]

And we’re all angelic here in the UK? Of course not.

Of course we're not perfect, but I've yet to find a UK food safety inspector, whether employed by a local authority or standards agency, that is prepared to ignore statutory standards for a £25 bung or a case of vodka. I've witnessed it happen and even seen written instructions saying that it will happen in other countries.

 

[Highland Mule]

Of course we're not perfect, but I've yet to find a UK food safety inspector, whether employed by a local authority or standards agency, that is prepared to ignore statutory standards for a £25 bung or a case of vodka. I've witnessed it happen and even seen written instructions saying that it will happen in other countries.

How many have you tried to bribe? Pretty sure some must be in this country, given recent food scandals here (date changes on chicken spring to mind), albeit perhaps it’s more than £25 to do it.

 

[Pennine Ploughing]

What if there is a supply problem, ie, the auctions not running, the buyers off in self isolation, the abattoir got staff off, or others reasons, then the fact of distribution may be a problem,
Yet say the government told supermarkets to make dammed sure they have enough food on the shelves for the public, or there will be unrest,
So maybe they are just trying to cover all the bases, in making sure there is meat on the shelves,
Would this of happened if everything was normal, ?

I don't agree with it, but there might be reasons for it

 

[Tarw Coch]

It was very clearly marked on retail packs too. Why would we make any fuss about it? It’s not like the UK system had any slack last week, is it?

I’d have thought there was plenty of slack last week, what with the likes of Maccy D’s and BK shut down. The ripples from which saw beef cattle price drop sharply as Abatoirs that had supplied them lost large customers. Surely beef from these factories could have been more easily diverted to the supermarkets than beef all the way from Poland.

 

[Katarina]

My original point was criticising how the Supermarkets are willing to drop UK home grown produce at the fall of a hat to chase foreign cheap imports. Can we not agree on the point that this is wrong surely.
If some of you are happy with this then that's your choice but i see it a different way. This has a major impact on our lively hood.

We have strict rules in this country with regards to food production through to slaughter so i cant see how anyone can come out saying that rules are bent or broken to anyone else's benefit.

 

[Surgery]

I would guess we are getting the same amount of polish shite coming in straight from sauce rather than via Ireland as it was , mr g will be involved , someone we need to kick out of the uk full stop

 

[Smith31]

The question we should be asking is Why is polish beef cheaper than ours ? we are all in the EU so should be level playing field, bigger units ? less red tape (red tractor ?) cheaper/ less labour . This is what need addressing and abolishing if necessary, Apb is exploiting this weakness , and should stand as a warning if we start doing trade deals around the globe

By the time it is transported here, is it cheaper?

English farmers are hardly on record breaking prices!

 

[Smith31]

And we’re all angelic here in the UK? Of course not.

This was less than 1 day throughout of meat, probably always destined to come to the UK but diverted from commercial catering to retail, at a time when UK Ag and processing couldn’t meet customer demands. It was very clearly marked on retail packs too. Why would we make any fuss about it? It’s not like the UK system had any slack last week, is it? Would folks really be happier to see our fellow countrymen go hungry/ get used to vegetarian cooking?

The abattoir which sold horse meat here only got fined £8000 and may still be operating? As others have said we would look better promoting our own products, opposed to criticising.