WE ARE WHAT WE EAT

[Big Kev]

I do enjoy a whisky and coke now and then.....

[Cathy]

I’m not one for fizzy drinks, but have found that having some Coca-Cola really helps to release air after a medical operation.

[Tripps]

Wendyf wrote: ↑Sat Dec 19, 2020 5:03 pm
I do enjoy a whisky and coke now and then.....

Always fancied that, but I once had a can of coke once, on a hot summer night shift, and was quite unable to get to sleep afterwards. I rang them to ask how much caffeine was in a can. but they were evasive, and just kept talking about cups of coffee equivalents.

I'll have one eventually, but might end up joining Stanley - posting at 3.00 am.

[Stanley]

I don't get up early because of caffeine David. My Circadian rhythm was adjusted to very early in 1953 when I started milking early in the morning and has never recovered since.
Wendy. I was always very scathing about fizzy drinks and whisky being a bar room bigot about the necessity of drinking it neat. Then I started going in bars in Scotland and saw the free lemonade on the bar. Later I was taught by old whisky drinkers to always have it with water. In my old age and almost TT capacity I have gone back to extremely small sips of the neat stuff.

[Tizer]

I've posted this story not because of the lorries in Kent but because it give some more background to Brexit - how much we depend on the EU for our food and therefore to what extent a no-deal Brexit will cause shortages...
`How dependent is the UK on the EU for food?' LINK

[Stanley]

Good link Peter. However, some of us can remember a time when we had zero imports from the EU and we survived well. They called it World War Two. We may have to do unthinkable things like support our own industries and paying a bit more for food, accepting the fact that may items were seasonal for instance you simply couldn't have a salad in winter. I can remember how good the first salad of spring used to taste. If you look at the labels on food in the supermarkets you'll be amazed how far some foods travel. I have seen onions from New Zealand! Given the right price we can supply onions year round from UK produce.
The real culprits here are the supermarkets. They are always seeking availability and the cheapest price, that's why we import to much fruit and vegetables that could be home grown, the same applies to dairy produce, meat and fish.
Perhaps the answer to any post Brexit shortages is pay the market price and accept seasonality. Eat home caught fish and grass fed meat but pay an economical price for it.

[Marilyn]

Cazza...you mention fizzy drinks after an op.
I can remember feeling so poorly, that finally after days, I was offered “clear soup”. Clear Soup is exactly how it sound - possibly a stock cube dissolved in multiple litres of hot water. Who cares...it smelled like heaven...I devoured it...and finally knew I was going to live! Magnificent stuff, when you haven’t had anything except small sips of water for over a week!

[Big Kev]

Good link Peter. However, some of us can remember a time when we had zero imports from the EU and we survived well. They called it World War Two. We may have to do unthinkable things like support our own industries and paying a bit more for food, accepting the fact that may items were seasonal for instance you simply couldn't have a salad in winter. I can remember how good the first salad of spring used to taste. If you look at the labels on food in the supermarkets you'll be amazed how far some foods travel. I have seen onions from New Zealand! Given the right price we can supply onions year round from UK produce.
The real culprits here are the supermarkets. They are always seeking availability and the cheapest price, that's why we import to much fruit and vegetables that could be home grown, the same applies to dairy produce, meat and fish.
Perhaps the answer to any post Brexit shortages is pay the market price and accept seasonality. Eat home caught fish and grass fed meat but pay an economical price for it.

That may work in the long term, once farmers have had time to grow the stuff, but there's going to be problems if we don't buy from the EU.

[Marilyn]

Yes...I think you may get a shock with food prices, it will be a steep learning curve reaching for your usual choices at supermarkets and learning just where your staples are produced.
We noted things when we visited UK on holiday...couldn’t believe how far your foods had travelled before sale. Now, you will need to pay for that transport....and import.
Nothing new to us, given the size of our continent, bushfires, floods, transport costs and Covid hampering harvest/transport etc.
Welcome to OUR world!

[plaques]

We noted things when we visited UK on holiday...couldn’t believe how far your foods had travelled before sale. Now, you will need to pay for that transport....and import.

The food that's imported from distant countries will continue as normal that is unless it passes through the EU. The stupid thing is that France is only 20 miles away from England, I used to travel that distance to work every day for 30 years. You couldn't make it up.

[Big Kev]

We noted things when we visited UK on holiday...couldn’t believe how far your foods had travelled before sale. Now, you will need to pay for that transport....and import.

The food that's imported from distant countries will continue as normal that is unless it passes through the EU. The stupid thing is that France is only 20 miles away from England, I used to travel that distance to work every day for 30 years. You couldn't make it up.

and it's not like it's a 20 mile body of water in the way now either...

[Marilyn]

Well...see how you go! Best of luck...

[Big Kev]

Announcement due this morning (Thursday) on a potential trade deal with the EU. Let's see what they've come up with.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-politics-55433447

[Stanley]

We have a deal but at the moment nobody knows what it is or how long it will be before it is fully ratified. However, that's an improvement on where we were 24 hours ago. We will just have to wait and see.

[Tizer]

I posted elsewhere an article about how there's now a majority in the UK who believe we shouldn't have the left the EU - they've learnt more of what it really means rather than what the brexiteers were telling them. But the article failed to mention the Scots and Northern Irish, who didn't want to leave at the time of the Referendum. Imagine how they feel now!

[PanBiker]

The guardian had a breakdown and initial run through of the main bits, I got a notification on my phone.

[Stanley]

I shall not be actively searching for information. It will all unfold eventually and until it does a lot of breath will be wasted on speculation much of which will be wrong. All that is certain at the moment is that from the end of the month we will have handicaps we hadn't got until now and it's unclear what immediate benefits will happen.
Just thought, it couldn't all be Pie in the Sky could it? Surely not.

[Tizer]

It might just be worth contacting your surgery and checking that they definitely will be providing covid vaccination otherwise you might be waiting forever! If there answer is positive they might be able to tell you when they will start. Use your charm on the receptionist!

[PanBiker]

Strangely enough, I was thinking the same thing. Never look a gift horse in the mouth comes to mind.

[Whyperion]

Good link Peter. However, some of us can remember a time when we had zero imports from the EU and we survived well. They called it World War Two. We may have to do unthinkable things like support our own industries and paying a bit more for food, accepting the fact that may items were seasonal for instance you simply couldn't have a salad in winter. I can remember how good the first salad of spring used to taste. If you look at the labels on food in the supermarkets you'll be amazed how far some foods travel. I have seen onions from New Zealand! Given the right price we can supply onions year round from UK produce.
The real culprits here are the supermarkets. They are always seeking availability and the cheapest price, that's why we import to much fruit and vegetables that could be home grown, the same applies to dairy produce, meat and fish.
Perhaps the answer to any post Brexit shortages is pay the market price and accept seasonality. Eat home caught fish and grass fed meat but pay an economical price for it.

That may work in the long term, once farmers have had time to grow the stuff, but there's going to be problems if we don't buy from the EU.

From what I make out , whatever the Common Agricultural Policy had become, the UK replacement is not fully in place, farmers dont know what they will recieve, for doing, or not doing, farming and land management activities. Meanwhile cheap US, EU . South America or Chinese produce even plus tariff can be cheaper than UK total costs for retailers and bulk users.

[Stanley]

You lot don't know my handicaps, if you did you'd be holding back on the advice to travel.
I've already asked the question and the answer is that as soon as they know they will call me again and we can review the situation. I think they're expecting the Oxford vaccine to be more widely distributed. I am not the only person in Barlick that can't travel...

[PanBiker]

To put this thread back on track.....

I made some chicken soup today. Bubbled up the carcass along with its remaining stuffing of sausage meat and herbs to get the last of the meat off and some stock. Sweated off a leek, two carrots a large onion and two potatoes. Added the lot to one pan when the spuds and carrots were cooked along with the de fatted stock from the original roasting of the chicken and any spare chicken from the fridge. Bit of salt and pepper a teaspoon of chilli flakes. Shoved about 80% through the whizzer and then put it back to the 20% with some bits in. Just potted it up for the freezer and I have six tubs. I'll keep one back for lunch tomorrow. Six meals for next to nowt.

[Whyperion]

Looking at the rumble on about a replacement for a free school meal (which I understand is for Five Days - excludes Rashfords hope and campaign for seven days) .

From BBC Blog of PMQs today :
What's the government advice on school meal parcels?

At Prime Minister’s Questions earlier, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer asked Boris Johnson about the row over the standard of free school meal parcels delivered to children in lockdown.

-> Sir Keir suggested that the images of parcels, posted on social media, were very close to government guidance on free school meals of “one loaf of bread, two baked potatoes, block of cheese, baked beans, three individual yoghurts”.

{Are those loaf and block sizes specified?}

He added: “The only difference I can see on this list [from] what the prime minister described as disgraceful is a tin of sweetcorn, a packet of ham and a bottle of milk.”

The Labour leader didn't say which specific piece of guidance he was referring to - only that it was published by the Department for Education.

Under guidance it says was prepared jointly with the Department for Education, the Local Authority Caterers Association gives an example of what should be in a food parcel to provide one meal for one child each day for five days.

In addition to the items mentioned by Sir Keir such as yoghurts and baked beans, the example parcel also includes five portions of fresh fruit (or three portions and one tinned alternative), a cucumber and three large tomatoes. [ I Leave it to the photographic among you to add up all the food guidance and post an image later }


The guidance says these parcels should be nutritionally balanced and include a range of ingredients. This includes at least one portion of fruit and one portion of vegetables per day, a portion of protein a day (beans are given as one example) and one portion of dairy or a dairy alternative (with yoghurt given as an example).
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One wonders how this compares with the WW2 rations, I know I found school meals unappetizing (and hospital too). Clearly a delivery of such items is not easy to fulfil ( oh for the days of the Milk Marketing Board (we also had the separate Cheese Board and Potato Marketing Board), it would seem that a link up with the one time daily milk deliveries would have been a way of fulfilling the requirements ). But it is not straightforward to cook or prepare at home on such limited items - a school could take lots of potatoes and do assorted fried, baked , boiled dishes which are less easy on limited numbers , plus if you are on free school meals then things like electric or gas become difficult to afford. Certainly there are means to bulk out the delivery with things that last longer than a week - tomato sauce, eggs and stock cubes for example. I am also finding that value tinned goods such as mushy peas , creamed or in water Mushrooms, Sardines are fairly readily availible for less than a pound which can add quite well. I did read with the closing of eat out places, and schools etc canteens that some egg producers are finding a glut of eggs at present - one wonders what happened to the powdered egg route of things - either white/yolk or whole , I used to get it in industrial boxes for cake and biscuit mixes. A tin of condensed milk and some dried fruit in too and I would be making a bread and butter pudding toward the end of the week as the bread dries up - maybe chop one of those apples (Nigella did an interesting one with crossiants that i would not have thought of)

For the food delivery company there is no easy way of chaining out frozen items within those nutrional constrains , and despite my mentioning tinned or dried goods and meals those can contain high levels of salt. Should part of our civic duty be to plant an apple tree (preferably one with three varieties on one root stock) in our front gardens to provide forage food for the poor kids ?

So, conclusion - are the weekly supplies inadequate, - not really IF you know what to do with them to make something decent of them - are they over priced - probably, there appears to be a lot of double handling throughout the food chain , perhaps as schools have moved out of local authority control there becomes a lack of joined up community advantages. I suppose we do note that food banks tend to be restricted to persons that would also generally qualify for free school meals anyway ( that decent levels of financial support in the welfare net may be lacking is a different arguement for another place ).

[Stanley]

My only question is why do we have to make a profit out of feeding kids? Raise the benefit then there is no need for famine measures.

[Tizer]

This could bring about some changes - money talks!
`Tesco urged by investors to sell more healthy food' LINK