Ever not known how you feel about something?

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RonW

Native
Nov 29, 2010
1,575
121
Dalarna Sweden
Yes, I have made similar observations here, triggering similar thoughts.
Around here you see a lot of oatfields, which get harvested and then the oats are used to fuel the heatingsystems of the farms!
To me that seemed like the senseless destruction of tons of good (cattle)food.
However this year I learned why that was done.
The oats are used as a fertilizercrop, fertilising the fields, exhausted from previous crops, such as potatoes. It then gets harvested and is used to heat the farms, because a) it is a free and available fuel, b)it saves a lot of labour cutting wood, c)is easier to use for heating and d) saves on bringing in additional fuels such as wood, electricity or even oil.
 

andybysea

Full Member
Oct 15, 2008
2,609
0
South east Scotland.
our families weekly food bill is approximately two and a half times what it was 6yrs ago,(for a very similar family shop) and our household income certainly has'nt risen by the same percentage, food prices our getting out of control you only have to go to a supermarket one week buy a item go back again a few weeks later and the same item has risen by between 50p and a £1, totally unsustainable for most, hence the rise of foodbanks.
 

santaman2000

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Jan 15, 2011
16,909
1,114
67
Florida
I think I have a similar uncertainty when I see the masses of pumpkins for sale, knowing barely any will be eaten. :) I wonder if many kids actually consider them edible (not that I like the taste myself, though I suspect they're bread for size, shape, etc with no care for taste)

And your suspicions would be partly true; for fresh pumpkin. On the other hand, there is a great market for canned pumpkin this time of year for pumpkin pies. But you never see the actual pupmkins in the stores.
 

Stew

Bushcrafter through and through
Nov 29, 2003
6,480
1,310
Aylesbury
stewartjlight-knives.com
And your suspicions would be partly true; for fresh pumpkin. On the other hand, there is a great market for canned pumpkin this time of year for pumpkin pies. But you never see the actual pupmkins in the stores.

I seem to recall someone saying that squash was used for pumpkin pie rather than pumpkins. That true?
 

Laurentius

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Aug 13, 2009
2,437
631
Knowhere
Or that we build on allotments when there is a waiting list for them. (thus creating an instant slum instead of encouraging thrifty citizens)

There are also too many folk, who once they get an allotment, leave it to weeds after the initial enthusiasm wanes.
 

santaman2000

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Jan 15, 2011
16,909
1,114
67
Florida
Scientists can now 'grow' near perfect meat in a petri dish, [cultured beef], which will be perfected, and prove a far economically superior method to the farming of animals.

http://news.nationalgeographic.co.uk/news/2013/08/130806-lab-grown-beef-burger-eat-meat-science/

Lab Grown Burgers will become the norm, very quickly.

lab-made-beef-burger-mark-post_70099_600x450.jpg


[The Ranchers in the USA would go nuts, as would farmers worldwide

Ironically beef isn't one of our more important crops. We actually import beef. On the other hand we export large quantities of grains; rice, corn, and wheat.
 

santaman2000

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Jan 15, 2011
16,909
1,114
67
Florida
And by yourself it would appear (RE sweeping statements)

And no i'm not making it up (RE really?). This is generally the accepted consensus with the students/peers i normally engage on such topics.....

Forgive us for the seeming to be nitpicking. But it just isn't the accepted consensus among the students/peers I normally engage on such topics. I'm sure it's likely down to differing fields of study and background; my personal years in high school were heavily involved with vocational agriculture classes and all my peers (in and out of school) were farmers at least part time. In university I switched to civil engineering. I'd be interested to know what your major was? (not to discredit your point of view, but to understand why it might well be different.
 

Tengu

Full Member
Jan 10, 2006
12,821
1,543
51
Wiltshire
Im sure its a lot easier to employ a cow to make beef...Or even a buffalo. (or those racehorses come to think of it.)

However I guess astronauts like beef too.
 

feralpig

Forager
Aug 6, 2013
183
1
Mid Wales
Not sure if it ever was solely to produce food to be honest. Farmers have been growing no-food crops such as cotton for centuries.


The context of the point I was making is that the mission of UK farmers is no longer to produce anything. Food, or any other product, is (theoretically) only produced within the overall idea of guardianship of nature, and maintaining the environment. Except where DEFRA chooses other wise...........
 

santaman2000

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Jan 15, 2011
16,909
1,114
67
Florida
......The problem isn't not enough food, it is also down to bad distribution and over production, and supermarket purchasers being to picky over what they accept......It isn't really madness, its economics...

Exactly. Growing food is easy. Getting it where it needs to be and making a living doing it or another matter.
 

Toddy

Mod
Mod
Jan 21, 2005
39,014
4,661
S. Lanarkshire
our families weekly food bill is approximately two and a half times what it was 6yrs ago,(for a very similar family shop) and our household income certainly has'nt risen by the same percentage, food prices our getting out of control you only have to go to a supermarket one week buy a item go back again a few weeks later and the same item has risen by between 50p and a £1, totally unsustainable for most, hence the rise of foodbanks.

Where are you shopping ?
I feed three adults, one an omnivore, one a vegetarian and one veggie but gluten free; my shopping really does cover the whole range. We mostly eat fresh food, I keep a good pantry though and I make and put by for Winter from the Summer and Autumn crops. We bake a lot of our own bread, we always manage the five a day ( yeah, I know the comments from my camping companions about five a day with Toddy being more like five at every meal :rolleyes: ) HWMBLT eats good butcher (or friendly neighbourhood poacher acquired) meat, and Son2 and I eat a wide variety of everything else.
Milk's a £ a 2ltr carton in Lidl, it's £1.49 in Sainsbury's....guess where I buy milk ? Same for Socttish butter 98p versus £1.59.
I still use the local shops, but tbh, if one has time, then a quick sorte through the Home Bargains and B & M's can be an eyeopener re prices.
Easy for me to say when I have a choice of shops nearby though; I know not everyone has that option. The major supermarkets do deliver however, and they're all offering £15 off a £60 grocery shop just now for the first time users.....so there's at least Asda, Sainsbury's, Waitrose and Tesco's all waiting to give you a fair chunk of groceries for nowt.
There is also the pantry stuffer that is the ApprovedFood website. Again, they deliver and it can be interesting trying something different that turns up dead cheap....not a fan of the beetroot soups however :yuck: but the dried fruits and the sprouting grains were brilliant :D

I've been a housewife for an awful long while :eek: :eek:

atb,
M
 

Stew

Bushcrafter through and through
Nov 29, 2003
6,480
1,310
Aylesbury
stewartjlight-knives.com
There is also the pantry stuffer that is the ApprovedFood website. Again, they deliver and it can be interesting trying something different that turns up dead cheap....not a fan of the beetroot soups however :yuck: but the dried fruits and the sprouting grains were brilliant :D

Wow, never knew of that site!

I need to do some planning. :D

Thankyou. :)
 

British Red

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Dec 30, 2005
26,742
1,989
Mercia
Nope "housewife" is the proper term

Surely a "home maker" would need to know bricklaying, roofing, tiling, plumbing and more?
 

Toddy

Mod
Mod
Jan 21, 2005
39,014
4,661
S. Lanarkshire
I suspect that's one of those cultural mores.
I heard it described as a "domestic engineer" once.....and I thought,
"But it's G....who fixes the hoover and the washing machine :confused: " :eek:

M
 

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