Aspies For Freedom

I love to go to Tesco when its very quiet, no sound but the low hum of regrigerators and blower fans, the light falling evenly on the long shopping lanes where you can stand and look at interesting products for as long as you like and no one will ever bother you.

Today I was standing and looking at a display of cheese when my eye fell on a rectangular block of such a strange orange colour that I had to look away for a moment before I could read its label, which said "Ilchester Mexicana."

"The first plastics were made from cheese," I said to the lady behind the counter.

"Well, I never," she said. "I thought it looked a bit funny."

"Yes," I said. "Yes, it does."

"Would you like to have a taste?" she said.

"I'd rather not," I said.

"You're Stella, aren't you?" she said.

"Yes I am," I said. "I must go now."

"Bye Stella," she said. So off I went.

Outside it was raining, so I decided to buy some ham hocks to make pease pudding.

Stella

[b]Stella's Pea Soup[/b]

1/2 pound dried green peas
1/2 pound dried split green peas
1 Smoked ham hock - uncooked
1  onion - chopped
Salt and pepper

Soak whole green peas overnight in a large pan of  water. In the morning add split peas and remaining ingredients. Boil slowly for about 4 hours. Remove ham  bone before serving.

Its gently simmering now on Gas Mark 1.

Hoo hoo!  

Stella

Now there's a thing, Amy....  I haven't made eggy bread for simply yonks, though I do rather like it.

A friend rang me the other day, and we talked about her Welsh Rarebit recipe, the whole palaver, not just melted cheese on toast, so I promised I'd give her recipe a go before next week, and tell her how it went.

Now you've put me to thinking about French Toast,  I think I might give it a go for my tea on Friday. The most obvious pitfall is allowing the toast to go soggy and flabby, I s'ppose.  :roll:

Stella

I've had a few dismal experiences where the egg has cooked and browned round the crust of the toast, but remained soggy in the middle -  :cry: perhaps due to an insufficiency of fat in the pan, so it's cooked only at the contact points.  :roll:

It might work best in a deep fat fryer - I keep thinking of things that would work well in deep fat such as mushrooms in batter, and potato scallops (which you can get in some chip shops in the North) - and I may save up to buy a fryer. I think you can get quite a nice one in Asda for about £25. But its so hard making ends meet sometimes.

There's a beautiful big Asda at Brighton Marina and I like to cycle there along the sea front in fair weather and buy am ice cream in Asda and then look at the little fishing boats moored along the harbour wall.

I bought five pairs of over-the-knee stripey socks in different colours and a pair of Mary Janes last time I went into Brighton. (I live in Portslade-on-Sea)

Stella

i LOATHE tesco.  last time i was in there, i had to leave cos i nearly had a *** breakdown (i told you in #chatautism, i think, Amy).

i have friends who live in Portslade, stella!

and i dress like a complete weirdo, by choice, having only one rule - if anyone else is wearing it, i'm not.  i have been out in full fariy regalia before now, complete with wings. in fact, i am so noted for my outrageous outfits that people don't bother to comment anymore - they just assume that i WILL be wearing something "different".  i make a lot of my own clothes.  fake fur trousers are great - warm as you like, AND something to stroke (a great stim of mine).  and i have a thing about BIG boots and shoes... (i'm 6'1" in my tallest fetish boots )

Quite, you'd be far better off buying your cheese from a proper deli.

Nah, I just go for the cheapest per gram.

Here's someone who feels guilty about shopping at Tesco...

If Tesco charged me a tenner for an apple, I'd still be convinced that it would be twice the price at M&S

My husband and his £150-a-week habit

Rowan Pelling, Independent on Sunday

Behind the veneer of this seemingly respectable, middle-class household lurks a terrible secret. Some may even call it an addiction. It started with my husband slipping out every couple of months after withdrawing £50, then returning sheepishly with the goods. But soon he had abandoned his customary routine altogether and was going every week, and the sums had soared. In a bad week he could blow £150 on his habit - although that was actually quite hard to do, as everything's so blooming cheap at Tesco. The chain has just announced record £2.3bn profits and my family has helped to propel the grocery juggernaut to its bonanza. How did this come about?

My husband and I share the ineffectual liberal's anxiety about globalisation, climate change and huge corporations. We don't have Sky, have never been to Bluewater, don't fly when we can travel by train, shamble in the twilight zone of energy-saving lightbulbs, drink fairtrade coffee, and don't eat cod or Siberian tiger. Frankly, we're only two steps away from adopting a dolphin. Oh, and we rarely use our car except for, ahem, the weekly Tesco run. In the interests of strict journalistic accuracy, I should point out that when I say "we", I really mean my husband - who's nobly done all the grocery shopping since I first met him 12 years ago - while I lounge on the sofa eating Tesco Finest walnut and chocolate cookies.

One of the strokes of genius that underpin Tesco's success is that they've managed to appeal equally to two totally different kinds of shopper: those like myself who would buy anthrax and gonorrhea if they labelled them "Tesco Finest", and those like my husband whose anti-coporate scruples are nuked by a pathological strand of thrift at the very sight of the supermarket's "Value" range. My late mother's house was a sea of blue and white stripes as she revelled in the opportunity to bulk-buy Value baked beans and Value toilet tissue at around 2p a pop. Or did they pay her to take them away? Something like that. My husband never spends more than £3.99 on a bottle of wine and is particularly keen on his new dustpan and brush, which cost him "just 59p". On the rare occastions that I accompany him, I can scarcely believe that the multi-packs of baby socks are as cheap as baby wipes. In fact, at that price you might as well use them to clean your infant's bottom.

The whole big damn anti-corporate point about Tesco is that it's as cheap as chips, and you quickly come to believe in that tenet with evangelical fervour. If they charged me a tenner for an apple, I'd still be convinced that it would be twice the price at M&S. It's true that Tesco cannot get away with using the same kind of aspirational advertising slogans as Marks: "This is not any old apple!" says posh totty actress in manner of porn star. "This is an unbelievably cheap, mass-produced, foreign-labour exploited, jumbo-jet transported, pesticide-intensive, irradiated, monopoly Tesco apple."

But at least Tesco doesn't ask its checkout staff to indulge in the fatuous exchanges currently in vogue at M&S. Them: "Hi, how are you today? Aren't those flans delicious?" Me: "Why? Do you give a damn?" And then, of course, there's Waitrose, with its vast queue of yummy mummies in 4x4s waiting to get into the place. The Cambridge store (reputedly the busiest in the country) is so posh that you feel you ought to put your children down for it at birth. At Waitrose prices, I think they should delegate all customers a colour-coding consultant. "You're definitely an autumn, so you'll want red chard, claret and calf's liver." What I need is a "Waitrose Worst" range for cheapskates: over-seasoned lobster bisque and past that's not quite al dente.

Until that happy day (and while the weekly organic-box people are so wedded to beetroot) I surrender pathetically to the terrifying march of Tesco. There's one small act of resistance, however, with which we bolster our dilapidated ethics. No clubcard for this household! Behind its cheery reward scheme, Big Tesco is watching you and documenting every act of consumption - doubtless telling MI5 what insurgents eat for dinner. Naff off, Big T, and let us eat our cookies in peace!

My nearest Tesco Metro won't sell groundnut oil or coconut milk, and they've devoted a ridiculously large amount of shelf space to Christmas goods since September.

But is it fairtrade?

In fact there are over 2000 native British varieties of apple, but supermarkets stock only a few of them, if any. Same is true of all their fresh produce. But hey, at least you can look at their limited selection...

Produce better value at farmers' markets than superstores

By Marie Woolf
Political Editor
Independent on Sunday, 6 November 2005

Shoppers who buy their fruit and vegetables from markets get better value for money and access to "affordable, fresh food" than those who go to supermarkets, according to research.

A survey of markets in London found that fresh produce can be up to a third cheaper than at local supermarkets.

The research, for the Mayor's London Food board, found that street markets in the capital were significantly cheaper than neighbouring supermarkets, while farmers' markets offered fresher, more locally sourced food than many supermarkets and were competitive on price.

The markets also improved custom for local shops, including grocery stores, and could boost local employment.

The research found that most shoppers who bought their food at farmers' markets did so "because of the quality and a desire to support farmers". But it also found that farmers' markets, where growers and small traders bring their produce into London for sale once a week, were competing with supermarkets on price.

A basket of goods at Marylebone farmers' market cost £7.90, compared with £8.90 at a local supermarket, while in Ealing the farmers'-market basket cost £6.90, compared with £5.81.

"Farmers' markets are also more price-competitive than is often presumed, and as the price demonstrates can compete effectively with supermarkets," says the report, Trading Places. "Both street markets and farmers' market provide destinations for customers and encourage people to shop in the areas in which they are based."

The report, funded by the London Development Agency, found that at Lewisham street market produce was 34 per cent cheaper than at the local supermarket; at Walthamstow market it was 29 per cent cheaper.

Jenny Jones, a Green Party member of the London Assembly and chair of London Food, said: "As well as the good value and freshness of the produce, people go to street and farmers' markets because they have interaction with people that you don't get in supermarkets. They like the social contact."

Farmers' markets, which often stock organic produce, are growing in popularity among Londoners. But the survey found that despite their positive impact on local economies, street markets are struggling.

"Prices at farmers' markets can be greater or less than supermarket prices, but the difference is relatively small," the report said.

From the same paper's Trendwatch column... [3 September 2006]

Convenience cults
An odd phenomenon is taking place on America's East Coast. Shoppers at the Wawa chain of supermarkets have set up websites dedicated to it. The 'I Love Wawa' group (http://groups.myspace.com/ilovewawa) had 5,000 members, while Wawa World (http://www.justinfreiler.com/wawa) allows fans to download special icons to represent them in chatrooms that read 'Wawa for Prez' or 'I have a Wawa tattoo'. Many comments on the fansites rave about the great customer service and own-brand food. In the UK, where supermarkets face a backlash as consumers rue the loss of small local shops, such evangelical behaviour seems strange. But you never know, an 'I Love Tesco' website may be just round the corner.

I wonder if the debate about the growing power of the supermarkets goes on in other countries too? Take France, the home of gastronomy - always held up by foodies as a nation of savvy food shoppers, loyally supporting their local boulangerie, boucherie, charcuterie etc. But they had hypermarkets before Britain did. Well, at least if my memories of family holidays in the late '80s / early '90s is anything to go by. Our continental camping holidays always ended with a shopping trip at Auchan or Mamouth near the Channel ports. We'd seen nothing like those gargantuan temples of commerce in north London. In fact, I'd first come across the concept of a hypermarche (sorry, can't do acute accents on this computer) in French lessons at primary school, and the teacher had to define it for us - for all I know, the word "hypermarket" just wasn't in the dictionary.  And Germany has Aldi and Lidl - but they still have small local shops, don't they?

Copied and pasted from http://www.grownupgreen.com/news/?id=1032

Great Supermarket Debate
Have you had your say?

An alliance of farmers, environmentalists and public interest groups is urging local shopkeepers, farmers and consumers to have their say in the great supermarket debate. People have just two months to submit their views to the Competition Commission which is currently investigating the dominance of the big supermarkets in the grocery market.
The inquiry started earlier this year and is looking at how the supermarkets treat their suppliers, whether they are harming competition between retailers and whether the increasing dominance of the big retailers is reducing choice for shoppers. The decisions of the Commission could affect the lives of millions in the UK and abroad.

Friends of the Earth Supermarkets Campaigner Sandra Bell said:

“This Inquiry into the dominance of the big supermarkets is crucial to the future of our high streets and the livelihoods of our farmers. But the Competition Commission can only act if it is given the evidence. People have just two months before commissioners make up their minds on whether there is a problem.

“Farmers who think supermarkets are treating them unfairly and local shopkeepers whose businesses are threatened by the big supermarkets should contact the Commission now.”

The Breaking the Armlock Alliance (membership below) thinks that the biggest supermarkets have grown too powerful, allowing them to bully their suppliers and push local shops out of business.

However the Competition Commission has told members of the Alliance that not enough of the affected individuals have so far provided evidence that big supermarkets squeeze farmers or make it hard for local shops to thrive. The Alliance is concerned that many farmers and shopkeepers do not even know that the Inquiry is happening and want more people to come forward with their views.

Michael Hart (The Small and Family Farms Alliance) said:

“We know that farmers have been nervous about speaking out if they are being bullied by the supermarkets but this Inquiry is the best opportunity we’ve had for years to redress the balance and we are now in a Countdown to the Commission’s deadline. Farmers can give confidential evidence to the Commission without fear of reprisal.”

Nigel Dowdney (an independent retailer in Norfolk) said:

“The Competition Commission could give a great boost to local shops if it acts to rein in the big supermarkets. It’s vital that they hear direct from independent retailers about how supermarkets are making it hard to stay in business and from shoppers about what a huge loss it is to them when local shops close down. This could well be the last opportunity available to everyone one of us to have a say over the future of independent food retail in this country.”

Members of the Alliance have told the Competition Commission that many farmers are struggling to make ends meet because of the way
they are squeezed by the supermarkets and that this will make it harder for shoppers to find good quality local or even British produce.

Friends of the Earth (FOE) report that commissioners have also heard how in 2004 alone more than 2,000 local shops closed down and that this is at least partly due to the difficulty of competing with the big supermarkets. FOE says the loss of local shops means less choice for consumers and can mean that people are forced to drive further to shop, arguing that people without cars the loss of local shops within walking distance can affect their access to healthy food.

The Commission is keen to hear directly from people that have been affected by the behaviour of the big supermarkets, for example shopkeepers whose turnover has gone down since the opening of a new supermarket nearby or local councillors who have seen the loss of choice of independent shops in their towns. FOE claims that farmers have been wary of coming forward with evidence about how the supermarkets treat them for fear that the supermarkets would stop doing business with them but correspondence or hearings with the Commission can be in complete confidence.

Shoppers can also contact the Inquiry with their concerns or simply to tell the Commission that they value the choice offered by their local shops.

The Competition Commission can be contacted directly at Groceries@cc.gsi.gov.uk or by writing to The Inquiry Secretary (Groceries Market Inquiry), Competition Commission, Victoria House, Southampton Row, London WC1B 4AD.

Individuals can also send a message to the Commission via the
Friends of the Earth website.
http://www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/real_food...index.html

Members of the Alliance include ActionAid, Banana Link, British Independent Fruit Growers Association, farm, Farmers for Action, Farmers’ Link, Farmers’ Union of Wales, Friends of the Earth, Grassroots Action on Food and Farming, International Institute for Environment and Development, National Federation of Women’s Institutes, National Sheep Association, New Economics Foundation, Pesticide Action Network UK, Soil Association, Small and Family Farms Alliance, Women Working Worldwide and WyeCycle

Also this week – Supermarket Rubbish – keeping it out of the ground
http://www.grownupgreen.org.uk/news/?id=1031

grownupgreen - 26/10/06

You learn something new every day. Yesterday I learned (in a lecture by theologian Tim Gorringe as part of a environmentally themed Lenten study group) that Tesco opened its first hypermarket at Irlam, Greater Manchester, in 1977, so long before my family discovered the French hypermarkets. According to Wikipedia, Carrefour opened France's first hypermarket in 1962. Confusingly, Wikipedia also claims that Carrefour had a British presence up until the 1980s, beginning with a hypermarket in Caerphilly, south Wales, in "the early 1970s" which would appear to predate Tesco...