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Right, that seems to have got things warmed up nicely; I'm off out on me bike for a ride. 😉
(I am however interested to se if anyone can provide any scientific evidence as to the real benefits of free-range/organic foods)
Free range often means that the chickens live in a very slightly larger pen, and have a bit of outside to run about in. Or that there is a slightly lower density of animals on a bit of farmland.
which some people are happy to pay for. My point has nothing at all to do with taste.
(I am however interested to se if anyone can provide any scientific evidence as to the real benefits of free-range/organic foods)
I don't think the answer lies in qualitative data. There are 2 points.
1. Either you care about animal welfare or you don't
2. Either you can tell the difference between a cheap tomato/chicken/whatever and a quality tomato/chicken/whatever or you can't
If you answer positively to either of the above then likely, if you can afford it you will pay more for the quality product.
I would add that organic != quality and vice versa. I've had plenty of high quality veg/meat which is not certified organic.
But without knowing provenance, organic is at least a guarantee of a certain standard of welfare.
i will continue to buy the freerange cornfed type of chuck.
the sight of a long slender tough leg bone when stripped of meat is far more appealing than a stunted soft brittle one, like those on £2.50 value chucks.
also a good sign that the animal has had the freedom to move move around and maybe enjoy it's life prior to slaughter.
Mrs FH always plans the weekly shop and what meals were eating that week shes a prolific list maker 🙄 She spend aroun £100-£110 per week, not sure if the amount counts towards eldest sons school meals, I have also realized I sort out my own lunches so that probably another ten to fifteen pounds on top of the shop budget.
If we fancy splashing out we go to a farm shop or get a reduced price duck or something. Apparently if you shop online then your more likely to spend less as you only buy what you need and don't get tempted instore.
On another not Elfinsaftey is turning into another TJ! 😆
We spend around £60-£80 for 2 people but that lasts us for 10-12 days normally. And that includes cat food for 2 kittens.
I've got 2 ducks so never buy any eggs, also a very handy supply of lunch/dinner solutions at hardly any cost.
Never mind the chikens, try going to a squab farm, aircraft hangers filled with thousands of squab buried from the neck down in little holes so they can't fly around, just fed to plump them up ready for the oven, bargain at £8.50 each.
WRT 'value' / branded / 'special', I think it's worth picking your battles. My trolley will routinely contain Tesco Value items next to Extra Special items, just depends what you're buying as to whether it's worth it or not. If you're buying ingredients especially, you pay a premium for vegetables which look nice; who give a toss when they're going to be chopped up anyway?
The other thing I've found is that some Value items are as close to the regular own-brand stuff as makes no odds. Eg, buying tinned spaghetti say, you might have Heinz at 60p, Tesco's own at 40p and Tesco Value at 20p (I'm making these figures up as an example). Both Tesco's are indistinguishable in taste, so you're basically paying 20p for a full-colour label.
Common sense would make you think that the mid-priced option is a good compromise between price and quality, but really there's no reason to ever buy it; if you want the best product get the Heinz, if you want to save cash get the Value.
I've started doing taste tests now; when buying a product I'll get one each of the different varients, and compare over a couple of days to see whether the increased price is worth it. The outcome can be surprising. Sometimes you can use this to save money, and where you don't you can at least rest assured that any premium you're paying is an informed decision rather than habit or snobbery.
Our main shop is usually in the region of £90-100 from Tesco, but inevitably there are add ons, friday is usually chippy tea night and we often run out of milk or bread and so the "quick trip" to the Tesco then becomes another £30-40. That is feeding three of us though.
Agree with the points made above that writing a list and sticking to it saves money, we shop online as the Mrs reckons that she is able to manage the purchases better. Having said that she doesn't look & see what we have or don't have, and just buys according to recipes, which means ( 😳 ) that we're probably quite a wasteful household.
There are two of us in our house. I do a "big shop" once a month around pay day, normally around £80. I visit the Chinese supermarket ever couple of months for spices, 10kg bags of chicken breast and a couple of kilos of raw tiger prawns. This normally comes in at £40(ish). The farm shop once a week and that is another £10. Bread, sandwich meat and lunch box stuff is another £5-10 a week.
Over a couple of months our food bill, 2 adults, 2 boys (7&9) averages out at around £100 per week inc. wine and beer and household consumerables. I do all the shopping and the majority of the cooking and make all meals from scratch - except fish fingers and the odd pie for the boys! Shopping at Aldi has saved me a packet - I estimate around £30 p/w when compared to Tesco and probably £20 to Asda.
On the free range chicken thing - I will always buy free range chicken, not necessarily for the taste (although I do think the meat looks and tastes nicer) but I can't bear the thought of battery farmed chicken. I've some concerns over pork too, in this respect...
ton - MemberI will continue to buy the free-range corn-fed type of chuck.
the sight of a long slender tough leg bone when stripped of meat is far more appealing than a stunted soft brittle one, like those on £2.50 value chucks.
also a good sign that the animal has had the freedom to move move around and maybe enjoy it's life prior to slaughter.
Well said, most of the meat I buy is very local and I know the farmers who have reared it. Perhaps when you live in a big city its no so easy to associate with the food you eat?
Family of 5, £120-140 a week at Tesco or Morrisons, £70-90 a week at Lidl.
2 and a 11month old here, spend is 80-100 a week on food. Usually at tesco, although i reckon they have got expensive recently. We tend to buy brands and always take advantage of the multibuys. (if they are actually a good deal)
A trap we fall into is popping to the co-op, now that does cost some money. Although it is nice to have a local supermarket so I dont worry about i too much.
I don't know how much we spend on food, i know its much less if I do it than if the wife does it as she has no sense of budget or appropriate quality, its always got to be the most expensive brand or finest or sainsbury's version. Internet shopping is worse as she can't see how full the trolley is, she'll easly £250-£300.
The worst example was when she went in M&S for a picnic for us and our 1 and 2 year old and spent £67 for one meal to eat at a campsite. I was so angry, we can afford it but as I grew up in poverty having to do the weekly family shop and know you could feed a family for week for that money it made me sick. Worse still neither me or the kids liked anything she bought.
I do most of the food shopping now
Nick
All that organic/free range stuff is another con; blind tests would prove there is no difference in tastes.
Anyone for free range Troll?
You know I'm right though. And I could prove it. I know chefs who could knock something up using cheapo ingredients, and you'd think it were finest cuisine.
Interesting that no-one's actually been able to rise to my challenge of providing proof that spensive 'free range/organic' foods are nutritionally any better. Probbly because there is none. 🙂
Buy what you want. Just be aware of the massive slick marketing that goes on behind food production and retail...
fred.............ssshhh
You know I'm right though. And I could prove it. I know chefs who could knock something up using cheapo ingredients, and you'd think it were finest cuisine.
Of course, but the point is the same dish would be better with better ingredients. Ask your chef friends.
Interesting that no-one's actually been able to rise to my challenge of providing proof that spensive 'free range/organic' foods are nutritionally any better. Probbly because there is none.
I don't think anyone actually said it was nutritionally better, I tend to agree with you, from a broad perspective I doubt it is apart from maybe any effect growth hormones or antibiotics may have.
This was more your perspective that the point of food is for nutrition alone.
But remember we don't eat for nutritions sake alone - a big part of a food is taste and appreciation and that's where quality ingredients come into their own.
No I know; but much of the time, the 'cheapo' versions are in fact just as good as the spensive ones. I've learned this myself, through extensive (and expensive) trial and error.
I shop in a variety of places, including local butchers, market for fruit and veg, Tescos, Co-Op, Waitrose and LiDL. The latter offers fantastic value for loads of stuff, yet many people are too snobbish to shop there. Oddly, Waitrose is very close in the VFM stakes tbh. But we're talking about certain things here; one place will do the best value or quality of a certain type of food, so I'll buy it from where I know it to be best in terms of value and quality. LiDLs don't do nice steak, for example, although their standard beef mince makes surprisingly good burgers! Waitrose's bread and pastry thingies are nicer than Tescos, yet don't seem to cost a noticeable amount more. Their meat is well overpriced in terms of actual quality I've found; I've often had better from Co-Op, for a lot less. The butchers can be a bit hit and miss; their 'quality' varies from day to day. LiDLs Mozarella cheese is just as good if not better than Waitrose, with the latter costing over twice as much. Pays to shop around, look for the best [i]value[/i].
And none of that free range/organic rip-off muck in my trolley thank you very much. I prefer the taste of growth hormones....