Change in law banning pre-packed fruit and vegetables at supermarkets - WTAF
- Thread starter gentlegreen
- Start date
The39thStep
Urban critical thinker
Chard is brill . The green is like spinach and the stems are great rolled in parmesan and fried or lightly battered
nogojones
spelling is overrated
Hi there
mx wcfc
Well-Known Member
What are you meant to do? if you want to eat the fking avocado today, or tomorrow, or with the Sainsbury's "Ripe and Ready" ones, anytime in the next month, you have to squeeze them.
Of course, if the supermarkets were a little bit more honest in their packaging.......
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
I don't think I've ever bought an avocado without squeezing it first.
But what's the problem? Are people eating the skin? Have I been doing it wrong?
But what's the problem? Are people eating the skin? Have I been doing it wrong?
Dystopiary
putting up a hook to hang my hopes upon
reaction smiley instead of a "like" for posts like this.
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
Thing is with avocados, if I squeeze it and it has a nice give, I'll buy it. If I squeeze it and it's hard, I won't buy it but I won't have damaged it. If I squeeze it and it collapses on me, it's no good for anyone anyway.
WouldBe
Dislicksick
You'd need a large veg box to fit that Chard in.
story
Changing the facts
You do though: damage it. You know when you open an avo and it’s got a small local bruise in it? That‘s a thumb print, it’s the spot someone squeezed it too hard when it wasn’t ripe. That bruise can spread to the rest of the fruit over time, and spoil it by the time it’s ripe.
Like I said, to check an avo, don’t squeeze it. Check the stem, and only use the pad of your thumb and the flat of your fingers to feel, no force at all behind the pressing. You're meant to be feeling if it’s ripe, not seeing if you can poke your finger into the flesh.
You‘d not squeeze a peach and expect it to be undamaged. The flesh of the avo is soft too. The skin is hard but the flesh isnt.
This is why I only ever buy Hass avocados unripened now. Ripe Hass avos have been handled so much they’re almost certain to be bruised.
I do buy the big bright green Jamaican avos ripe, from the groceries mainly catering to Afro Caribbean people, mainly because they tend to know how to check for ripeness properly. Same with mangos.
Im very lucky to have Brixton Market, and the local grocery shops, where I can buy unwrapped fruit and veg, and single carrots and onions if I want to,
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Hollis
bloody furious
I'm feeling really conflicted by this: As a household of single residency I resent having to buy large bags of carrots and garlic from supermakets. On the other hand pre-packaged salad bags are a godsend, and there's nothing I can do with an iceberg lettuce that can match them..
But anyway we all know this is one small part of the 15-minute city conspiracy..
But anyway we all know this is one small part of the 15-minute city conspiracy..
mx wcfc
Well-Known Member
TBH, I expect it's more about the tories trying to flag green credentials.I'm feeling really conflicted by this: As a household of single residency I resent having to buy large bags of carrots and garlic from supermakets. On the other hand pre-packaged salad bags are a godsend, and there's nothing I can do with an iceberg lettuce that can match them..
But anyway we all know this is one small part of the 15-minute city conspiracy..
They won't actually do it, cos their makes in Big Food won't let them.
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
I don't squeeze it hard. If it doesn't have a give to a light touch, it's not ready. I'm not poking holes in it. tbh overripe ones you don't even have to poke. You can tell just by picking them up.
Really depends on where you live, and your current diet and lifestyle etc. I buy ready meals sometimes because of executive dysfunction shit, and other things that come in unnecessary plastic as an occasional treat if they're reduced to pennies, but other than that it was easy to use almost no plastic where I lived before. Lots of local shops let you bring your own container to fill, including several that only sold things that way, so it was just a normal way of shopping. It needs to be much easier for everyone, everywhere though.
oryx
Sitting on the bok of the day
I really miss proper old-school greengrocers which had the walls lined with deep trays of fruit and veg, and had brown paper bags. They were cheap, too. If we had a local one we'd use it a lot rather than buying fruit and veg in Sainsbury's or Aldi.
We tried Abel and Cole (kept referring to them as Farrow and Ball as they probably appeal to the same demographic
) and gave up due to too much muddy chard/constant 'no beetroot please' reminders/not great quality for the money etc. etc.
I'm pleased to see this initiative although one shrink-wrapped head of broccoli should never have been allowed to become a thing. The more big companies are forced to do environmentally-friendly stuff, the better. I eagerly await refilling stations for hand soap, washing liquid etc.
I'm getting very tired of the onus to be environmentally-friendly being forced onto the consumer. While I applaud those of you who do it, I simply cannot be arsed to keep bits of plastic film and take them to the supermarket. Better not to have them in the first place.
We tried Abel and Cole (kept referring to them as Farrow and Ball as they probably appeal to the same demographic
) and gave up due to too much muddy chard/constant 'no beetroot please' reminders/not great quality for the money etc. etc.I'm pleased to see this initiative although one shrink-wrapped head of broccoli should never have been allowed to become a thing. The more big companies are forced to do environmentally-friendly stuff, the better. I eagerly await refilling stations for hand soap, washing liquid etc.
I'm getting very tired of the onus to be environmentally-friendly being forced onto the consumer. While I applaud those of you who do it, I simply cannot be arsed to keep bits of plastic film and take them to the supermarket. Better not to have them in the first place.
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
Totally this.
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
It's not just that. High street rents went up. Supermarkets created their own corner shops with their 'metros' and 'locals' and 'little' shops and outcompeted everyone else, able to take short-term losses if necessary where independent businesses can't. Smaller grocers were squeezed out. Supermarkets also have monopolies on various supply chains, right back to the farmers.
Humberto
Justice is order
Yes high street rents have fucked independents, and therefore many high streets and town centres. But economies of scale and control over suppliers only goes so far. Most people do their best for themselves under the failing system we live under. Supporting the local bakery, butcher, greengrocer etc used to be normal. Now it's an unfeasible ballache.
gosub
~#
Got two decent fishmongers where I live...cheaper and fresher than the supermarkets 5 minutes away..some people still buy their fish at the supermarket...its convenience - price has little to do with it . Same reason corner shops survive
8ball
AV REFUGEES WELCOME
Yeah, you try squeezing the produce in one of those places. Get yer arse kicked.
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
I hate not living near a proper market nowadays. They are always cheaper and fresher than supermarkets. When I go to the big versions of supermarkets like Tesco, I'm always amazed at how shit their fish is. It's expensive, usually prewrapped in plastic and mediocre in quality.
Supermarkets like Lidl have their place, and their veg is a good price, although it usually doesn't last too long. And more upmarket supermarkets like Waitrose that at least have fresh fish and meat counters with traceable produce also have their place. But the likes of Tesco can fuck the fuck off. They're just shit. They sell bad food for bad prices and promote bad farming practices.
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existentialist
Tired and unemotional
TBF, I think it would be tricky finding recipes that encompassed that particular ingredients list
gentlegreen
I hummus, therefore I am ...
I suppose I'm cynical because given the whole of my lifestyle, the small amount of plastic film I accumulate that way is insignificant.
For a while I was saving it up and putting it in Aldi's recycling bin, but they removed it.
My local Tesco Metro seems to have installed one now, but I rarely shop there...
For a while I was saving it up and putting it in Aldi's recycling bin, but they removed it.
My local Tesco Metro seems to have installed one now, but I rarely shop there...
existentialist
Tired and unemotional
A little further away from me than my nearest Tesco there is a fruiterer/greengrocer that operates a bit like a wholesaler. I haven't been there, because I just don't buy veg in the quantities that would warrant a specific visit, but it sounds to me like it might be worth researching if there's something similar in your neck of the woods, gentlegreen.
I am sure you would not be offended at the suggestion that you probably aren't the "typical" supermarket customer - quite the contrary, I suspect - so you're probably always going to be something of an outlier when it comes to national strategies on issues like this! If they were basing strategy on the way you buy vegetables, I suspect that it wouldn't go all that well...
I am sure you would not be offended at the suggestion that you probably aren't the "typical" supermarket customer - quite the contrary, I suspect - so you're probably always going to be something of an outlier when it comes to national strategies on issues like this! If they were basing strategy on the way you buy vegetables, I suspect that it wouldn't go all that well...
gentlegreen
I hummus, therefore I am ...
They repeatedly tried to run a greengrocer locally, but given the population density and two supermarkets it was always doomed - and I for one only shopped there once or twice because they had unusual things...
At this point in my life, food shopping is something I want to get over with quickly - my ultimate hope is to grow most of my own veggies...
Some larger stores sell single lemons.
I’ll be happy to be able to buy loose mushrooms. Our store doesn’t sell them and I don’t need a whole punnet when I’m the only person who likes them on my pizza.
gentlegreen
I hummus, therefore I am ...
My typical mushroom shop :-
Very nutritious, but I might not have started eating so many if these weren't so cheap...
Very nutritious, but I might not have started eating so many if these weren't so cheap...
shakespearegirl
just worked out taglines
I’m amazed how much our food waste has gone down now we shop mainly at the market and almost never buy pre packed veg. They are big here in Portugal on pre packed mixed salads but that’s about it. I’m shocked when I go into one of the French supermarkets here and see how much pre packed stuff they have, mainly in the bio section
Silas Loom
Advanced. Forthright. Signifficant.
This will be bad for people who shop exclusively online. We will end up with all the produce which has been rejected by in-store vegetable gropers and fruit fondlers.
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