Brixton news, rumour and general chat - May 2015

[Rushy]

i said majority, not all of it. i'm guessing if they fucked with the milk like they fuck with the food someone would pull them up on it.

The 89p pint isn't without controversy of its own:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...armers-business-countryside-changed-ever.html

 

[Winot]

don't forget supermarkets employ millions, through the chain. could nice little indies employ the same amount? nice liddle indies are better on the eye, i agree. it's good for the soul to see independant shops thriving, but really, would society in general be better without the mass economic force that is today's supermaket.

i am honestly don't know either way, tbh. devils advicardo

And supermarkets generally stick to employment laws. Indies are under the radar.

I'm torn too - try not to use them but can see they are necessary.

BTW not defending Iceland generally but iirc it was the police rather than Iceland that took action regarding the homeless and Iceland protested.

 

[Mr Retro]

don't forget supermarkets employ millions, through the chain. could nice little indies employ the same amount? nice liddle indies are better on the eye, i agree. it's good for the soul to see independant shops thriving, but really, would society in general be better without the mass economic force that is today's supermaket.

I don't think that's the point. In my view the alternative to today's type of supermarket isn't indepependent shops, it's supermarkets that aren't able to get away with epwhat they are doing at the moment.

 

[cuppa tee]

Yeah well I'm looking forward to someone tethering a cow in Popup Brixton so we can have fresh milk at £5 a pint, thereby reducing the irresistible temptation to buy Iceland's shit milk (so you say) at 89p for 4 pints.

My dog has just had a phantom pregnancy and is currently lactating, maybe I should get some crowd funding

 

[Winot]

I don't think that's the point. In my view the alternative to today's type of supermarket isn't indepependent shops, it's supermarkets that aren't able to get away with epwhat they are doing at the moment.

Good point.

 

[Winot]

My dog has just had a phantom pregnancy and is currently lactating, maybe I should get some crowd funding

Pop(up)bitch

 

[pesh]

BTW not defending Iceland generally but iirc it was the police rather than Iceland that took action regarding the homeless and Iceland protested.

iceland gave a statement to police that valued the out of date food taken from a skip at £33. they only protested after the story went viral and they started getting slated on social media.

 

[BigMoaner]

I don't think that's the point. In my view the alternative to today's type of supermarket isn't indepependent shops, it's supermarkets that aren't able to get away with epwhat they are doing at the moment.

nailed it.

 

[steeeve]

The 89p pint isn't without controversy of its own:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...armers-business-countryside-changed-ever.html

I find it hard to find sympathy for farmers with their vast quantities of inherited property and enormous subsidies

ETA - tenant farmers not included

 

[Winot]

iceland gave a statement to police that valued the out of date food taken from a skip at £33. they only protested after the story went viral and they started getting slated on social media.

Ah OK didn't know that. Would it not have been the local manager dealing with the police and then being overridden by HQ?

 

[pesh]

yeah, probably to be fair… but HQ still waited 2 days till it blew up on social media to voice their concerns.

 

[editor]

the majority of the food is shit though.

Most of what they sell is the same as any other supermarket. It's the same brands (or the same brands under a different label) but being a store serving generally poorer people, it's true there's not much in the way of high end, hoity toity grazing supplies.

And for all the easy bashing of the place, they deserve credit for some things:

We are very proud that, as long ago as 1986, Iceland became the first UK supermarket to remove artificial colours, flavourings and non-essential preservatives from our own brand products – 19 years before Marks & Spencer. Also in 1986, Iceland became the first UK supermarket to remove monosodium glutamate (MSG) from our own brand products. We banned mechanically recovered meat from all Iceland brand products in 1990, and in 1998 we became the first national food retailer anywhere in the world to ban genetically modified ingredients from all our own brand products: a commitment which every other major UK retailer then followed. We removed hydrogenated fats (manmade trans fats) from all Iceland brand products in 2006.

 

[editor]

The 89p pint isn't without controversy of its own:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...armers-business-countryside-changed-ever.html

Cheap milk is a disgrace - and that's down to all the supermarkets. I stopped buying the stuff a long time ago,

 

[editor]

.... it's about 70% freezer food and the majority of that is shit.

That's why it's called 'Iceland'!

 

[Rushy]

Cheap milk is a disgrace - and that's down to all the supermarkets. I stopped buying the stuff a long time ago,

It's the same with many products. The guy who started posh crisp / vodka company Tyrrels stubbornly refused to sell his crop to Tesco, I think, because the price was less than what it had cost to grow. He then had to decide what to do with his mountain of potatoes.

 

[Mr Retro]

It's the same with many products. The guy who started posh crisp / vodka company Tyrrels stubbornly refused to sell his crop to Tesco, I think, because the price was less than what it had cost to grow. He then had to decide what to do with his mountain of potatoes.

Supermarkets fucked bakeries in Ireland back in late 80's ( dates might be wrong) driving most of them out of business selling bread as a loss leader. My wife's father was a baker and ended up scratching out a living with odd bits of work until he retired. Fuckers.

 

[ShiftyBagLady]

That's why it's called 'Iceland'!

Seriously? Well now, that's ingenius

 

[Ms T]

Yeah well I'm looking forward to someone tethering a cow in Popup Brixton so we can have fresh milk at £5 a pint, thereby reducing the irresistible temptation to buy Iceland's shit milk (so you say) at 89p for 4 pints.

Which is less than the cost of production, so forcing small dairy farmers out of business. We all supported the Ritzy workers in their quest for a living wage, but somehow it's different when it comes to farmers.

 

[CH1]

Which is less than the cost of production, so forcing small dairy farmers out of business. We all supported the Ritzy workers in their quest for a living wage, but somehow it's different when it comes to farmers.

That's because there is a supermarket price war, and milk is a loss leader (as it has been since the 1990s).

You could buy your milk from Morrisons at £1.24 or something - but can you guarantee the farmers are getting any more money? More importantly perhaps do cows supplying Morrisons get better living conditions?

A couple of months ago Farming Today was reporting farmers demonstrating outside a Morrisons milk depot in the west country because of financial issues.

 

[steeeve]

Which is less than the cost of production, so forcing small dairy farmers out of business. We all supported the Ritzy workers in their quest for a living wage, but somehow it's different when it comes to farmers.

Farmers generally own swathes of land and get massive subsidies

 

[leanderman]

Which is less than the cost of production, so forcing small dairy farmers out of business. We all supported the Ritzy workers in their quest for a living wage, but somehow it's different when it comes to farmers.

In consolation, land prices have rocketed - beating everything else, including even 'prime' London property.

 

[Up the junction]

"But while it's true to say that some dairy farmers are being financially hit by price cuts, it's too simplistic to say it's the same for all of the UK's milk producers. Farmers receive subsidies for the amount of land they have, and despite some making a loss on their milk business, they may still be making money. Others are still making money on the milk they produce. It's entirely down to the individual farm."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-31058356

 

[Up the junction]

That's because there is a supermarket price war, and milk is a loss leader (as it has been since the 1990s).

Of the liquid milk, a third is sold to retailers who base the price they pay on what it costs the farmers to produce it. Those retailers include Sainsbury's and Marks and Spencer who are currently paying 34p per litre, Waitrose who are paying 33p per litre, Tesco who are paying 32p per litre and Co-op who are paying almost 31p per litre.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-31058356

 

[peterkro]

Which is less than the cost of production, so forcing small dairy farmers out of business. We all supported the Ritzy workers in their quest for a living wage, but somehow it's different when it comes to farmers.

Arf,I've heard this all through my life.A cow cocky (dairy farmer) who didn't complain would be as rare as rocking horse shit.Have a look at Fronterra the largest cooperative in the world (that's a capitalist cooperative not a workers cooperative).They can control the price of milk worldwide just because they want to.I don't include hill farmers etc in this but you can take it as given that a farmer complaining is talking to his pocket and not the consumers wellbeing.

 

[Rushy]

"But while it's true to say that some dairy farmers are being financially hit by price cuts, it's too simplistic to say it's the same for all of the UK's milk producers. Farmers receive subsidies for the amount of land they have, and despite some making a loss on their milk business, they may still be making money. Others are still making money on the milk they produce. It's entirely down to the individual farm."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-31058356

True to say that the system is so complex that it is pretty much impossible to know what the truth is.

 

[teuchter]

https://m.facebook.com/events/16410...:3}&aref=3&ref=m_notif&notif_t=group_activity

Where do psychedelics stand in the fight against gentrification - help or hindrance?

Discuss

 

[SpamMisery]

Farmers generally own swathes of land and get massive subsidies

I'd wager most are tenant farmers and the land is owned by others

 

[CH1]

Of the liquid milk, a third is sold to retailers who base the price they pay on what it costs the farmers to produce it. Those retailers include Sainsbury's and Marks and Spencer who are currently paying 34p per litre, Waitrose who are paying 33p per litre, Tesco who are paying 32p per litre and Co-op who are paying almost 31p per litre.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-31058356

Thank you for this very comprehensive article

 

[steeeve]

I'd wager most are tenant farmers and the land is owned by others

35% of agricultural land was tenanted in 1994 according to Wikipedia and the percentage has been declining since. I did caveat tenant farmers above but they still get far more help than other unprofitable enterprises get/got - coal mining for example

 

[ViolentPanda]

Is there a recycling bin for electronics? I need to get rid of a wrecked laptop and a surplus (but working) router.

List of WEEE on-street recycling bins (from Lambeth.gov website, was current last year):

• Kennington Lane, next to the Boris Bike station, SE11 4HJ
• Tesco Car Park – access from Kennington Lane, SE11 5QU
• Woodchurch House, Cowley Estate off Brixton Road, SW9 6LU
• Railton Road – next to Alexander House, SE24 0LX
• Tulse Hill estate, Deway Lane, SW2 2JB
• Belthorn Crescent Junction Anfield Close, SW12 ONF
• Streatham Vale, Junction with Woodgate Drive, SW16 5TE
• Gabriel House Old Paradise Street, SE11 6AL
• High Trees junction with Tulse Hill, SW2 3BZ
• Holwood Place , off Clapham Park Road, SW4 7BQ
• Roupell Park Estate, Fireview Place, SW2 2SL

HTH