On Jul 21, 2004, at 6:47 am, Rundle wrote:
> AFAIK, Tesco have a policy of selling organic produce at the same 
> price as their regular produce... not sure how they do it but their 
> 'organic' prices are cheaper than other supermarkets though I've 
> noticed they import a lot of their produce... I prefer to buy localy
> produced stuff...

I don't know about this!  Their organic meat is definitely more 
expensive.  Beef mince is ok at about £7/kg, but most cuts of meat are 
in the £10-16/kg region.  Wild fish is actually cheaper- I can afford 
twice as much salmon or trout as sirloin steak!  Veg isn't too bad, 
although leeks are £1.  I can put one decent meal together for £4-5, 
and I spend about £6 a day on food.  (Times 7 = about £40 a week, ie a 
LOT of money to me).

> You could try joining a local box scheme, shopping at farmers markets 
> and buying directly from farmshops... I get organic eggs from truely 
> free-range hens [roaming on Dartmooor] from Wild Beef at Borough for 
> £2 a dozen... [see the links below]

This is tempting but a bit of a hassle.  For a start, the cost of the 
petrol to get me to the farm and back would wipe out any savings on the 
food.  I've looked into grass-fed meat and the farm near me charges 
astronomical prices.  They also rather worryingly rave about their 
beautiful marbled steaks- which is what I was trying to avoid!

> We may not need to do much 'hunting'  nowadays but getting the best 
> quality foods does entail much research and 'gathering' :-)

Getting any sort of quality food certainly seems like hunting to me!  I 
keep watching the shelves for organic liver or kidneys but they never 
appear.  Where are all these organs going?  I could be feasting instead 
of fasting every night if they actually sold the damn things!  I am 
unsure whether the intensively-reared organs are healthy to eat so I am 
avoiding them in the mean time.

I am consoling myself with the fact that I'm voting with my wallet for 
organic food (although it feels more like giving to charity).  One day 
the organic section will outgrow the intensive section and it will all 
be because I spent half my wages on Tesco carrots!

> Ashley