Food & Pollution

[Dan 4RR]

I remember reading an article on the internet stating that the average Christmas meal would have travelled 85,000 miles to reach your plate. Now, obviously this is quite a lot and the pollution must be immense if it's travelled all over the world. But another thing that annoys me is that the other day whilst shopping in Iceland I spotted a 'Leg of Lamb' now on closer inspection it had travelled half way across the world, right from New Zealand. I mean, whats wrong with British 'Leg of Lamb'? (Maybe NZ lambs taste different?)But surely if we stopped getting them from NZ, then it could support the British farmers, make a difference in supporting our economy and cut down on a little pollution.
____________________
Humans....the largest form of cancer the world has ever seen!
Speed Cameras - Putting goverment revenue before public safety!

[feef]

you can get British lamb...

you can get most foods produced in the UK, but there's just not enough, we need to import food to meet demand.

a
____________________
Mudskipper wrote: feef, that is such a beautiful post that it gave me a lady tingle
Windchill calculator - London Bike parking
Blog and stuff - PlentyMoreFish dating

[zaknafien]

[feef]

cost is an element, however, there's just not physically enough farmland in the UK to provide enough of all foodstuffs. Some will have to be imported.

a
____________________
Mudskipper wrote: feef, that is such a beautiful post that it gave me a lady tingle
Windchill calculator - London Bike parking
Blog and stuff - PlentyMoreFish dating

[WishayKillie]

Eat the homeless
____________________
Current; 10' Aprilia Dorsoduro 750.
Previous; 05 Triumph Daytona 600, 08' Ducati 1098s.
"Needs a check-up, fae the neck up!"

[colin1]

its about relative costs of production

it can actually be more efficient to produce something where its cheap to produce, and ship it over, than produce it here where its expensive to produce

in new zealand they have huge efficient farms with low costs per sheep, whereas here we have smaller farms with more expensive costs per sheep

its the same reason we import coal rather than mine it from mines which would produce stuff too expensive to buy

the difference is, the eu doesnt buy coal off the miners and then stockpile it

i dont like the eu supporting our farmers

if british call centre staff can lose their jobs to indian call centre workers, why cant british farmers lose their farms and we buy off cheaper foreign farms ? french politics mostly
____________________
colin1 is officially faster than god

[stinkwheel]

The real reason is that animal welfare standards for sheep in New Zeland are virtually non-existant. In the UK they are very high, as required by law and as is only right and proper.

As such, UK produced lamb is vastly more expensive to produce to the extent that you can ship New Zeland lamb to the UK and still sell it cheaper.

It is my oppinion that you shouldn't be able to import animal products into the UK that haven't been produced to the same high standards as they are required to be in this country. Not the case though, Mr Tesco must have his cheap meat.

[RickHolt]

I've heard a few times that you shouldn't rely on the label anyway. To get the local mark, all they need is to be there for a few weeks. So you grow a cow in France, ship it over here, leave it in a field for a fortnight, sell it as British Beef.

Maybe that would be a bit extreme, but moving animals between counties to more popular areas etc would make sense.

Anyone know if that's true? When does an animal become British etc?

Rick

[m99dws]

[stinkwheel]