three hungry boys - what a waste of time

[Gotte]

I like Hugh Fernly Whittingstall - I think he's done a lot of good, esp in his harrying of Tesco, but his latest programme, Three Hungry Boys, which was trailed as about three guys trying to forage for food on a trip through the west country, was just stupid TV - they are driving around in a converted milk float (which is supposed to be charged via green energy), while, at first sight, having three bikes on the back of the thing. At first, I was dissapointed they didn't just ride the bikes, but then it turned out the bikes were electric also. then they all had iphones and ipads and twitter and facebook accounts.
I felt really disappointed that they did it that way. Why it couldn't just have been about foraging, I don;t know. Oh, no, hold on, I do - it was channel 4 (or, as we call it in our house, I can't believe it's not Bravo).

 

[Vulpes]

To be honest with you, after the original series of River Cottage finished, I found the newer programs to be increasingly more disappointing. The infusion of 'foodie' culture into the whole thing just started to get to me from there on in.

Opinions aside, I did like it when he stood up to Tesco and it did change the way I thought about supermarket food...I still can't afford to buy anything else though...sorry Hugh.

 

[morch]

As above

Dave

 

[hedgerowpete]

sorry i hate it too, just stanard tv blurb,

when hugh did the first series of cook on the wild side and river cottage when it was river cottage it was great since then its become river cottage Plc and i dont bother watching it.

 

[Gotte]

As I said, I tend to respect the guy. Loved his stance on Tescos, and out of all the TV chefs he seems to be the least driven by ego. I imagine he's a genuinely nice chap with his heart in the right place, but the new series seemed such a contrived. cobbled together thing that I was quite annoyed watching it.
It would have been so much better if the three guys had ditched the iphones and the ipads and the electric vehicles and got on some bikes and peddled - camping and foraging along the way. Then again, I imagine without the hook of all that technology and all those "characters" and the need to have a challenge other than just finding somewhere to camp and foraging for food and beating the elements, the public would not tune in. Of course, after watching it, I'm not sure if the public would tune in, anyway.
Still, what do I know?

 

[redandshane]

I made the effort to watch this and at the end felt as if I had been robbed of time which could have been better spent
Disappointing to say the least

 

[Bundleman]

As with so much today, the original idea was probably good but by the time it gets produced...

 

[gandelff99]

erm, i can kinda see what there trying to do and what your saying, i suppose its more of a social experiment rather than a bear grylls type of thing though ,bit of fun,fact finding,mainly for the tv audience if anything as you point out.
couple of conversational points though,
in one episode there using a spear gun to hunt for fish....is this legal in the uk? as isnt a jetty a public plaice(see what i did there lol) they where openly hunting for mullet to great success, and can see the underwater action of using such a tool/weapon( dunno you'll have to clarify what its deemed as) but when used out of water and shot into?hmmm. i like the idea of using one but seems too likely to attract too much attention, for joe survivalist on his todd for a bit of self reliance and sustainable food source methods yes...whats your views?
also secondly, i work for the coop delivering goods around the country, the wasteage on fresh food and chilled goods is amazingly high,some stores in excess of 1000 pounds plus per week, the use of them foraging in the bins is good sound advice. common sense dictates if something that has a use by date or a eat by date or shelf life etc, but alot of the food they throw away can be eaten though its not straight from the cooker fresh, given the thought of hunger versus this option i'm well with the for brigade, you used to be able to activley get food from supermarkets that was past its sell by date, now a days through one thing or another the supermarkets have been forced to throw it away rather than give it away to needy causes for fear of prosecution incase some one gets ill...the world we live in at the mo.

 

[shaggystu]

i've caught a few snippets of a couple of episodes, and i quite enjoyed what i watched; three young blokes on a road trip messing about and enjoying themselves, entertaining. yes there's obviously an element of artificiality to the whole set up (lots of convenient coincidences), but it's not real, it's only the telly.

as for using smartphones, ipads, etc. do people think there's any benefit at all from showing the "veiwing public" that it is possible to have all the latest gadgets and still use "green energy"?

personally, anything that makes green issues more trendy has to be a good thing, convincing granny to recycle (a feat not to be scoffed at) is one thing, teaching a future parent to show some care and consideration for their environment is another thing altogether. IMO TV shows, such as those produced under the river cottage banner, that promote the idea of environmental awareness (as being fasionable) can be capable of a lot of good

cheers

stuart

 

[oldtimer]

Yes, I agree. What a lost opportunity and waste of talent and knowledge of the participants and HFW. None were given the opportunity to shine: I wouldn't be surprised to learn that they are as disappointed by what ended up on screen as the rest of us. All the values of a poor production company and HFW has to take the blame.

 

[bigroomboy]

I have to strongly disagree with most of you I'm afraid. I think its a very decent program and much better than most. I don't think the idea behind this one is as good as the previous series which strangely they pretend didn't happen but I think thats partly limited by the time available of the guys involved this time.

The milk float is a bit strange but its promoting being green and slows everything down or they would be there in a day. I think people on an internet forum being concerned about the use of technology is odd. Its for them to use resources just like this one to aid them in finding and using things.

I find it quite entertaining but the truth is its being realistic, foraging and hunting are very difficult to live off, thats the whole driving force behind civilisation. Farming and bartering become dominant, I agree its not so interesting seeing them working for things and bartering but thats just reality.

 

[Vulpes]

Doesn't make me regret not having a tv sometimes.

He's been bin-diving on a previous program of his. I often do it where I work, because food that isn't eaten goes on the landfill. I often find unopened, sealed sandwiches in the bin that are thrown out on the day marked. Casseroles, stews, cottage pie, angel delight, sandwiches, coffee, custard - nothing has escaped me. Ice cream especially, because it can't be returned to the freezer once it's out, so it's mostly thrown. I can save up to £20 a week on salvaged food due to my position and have been doing so for the past 7 months. Other low end staff also take advantage of the opportunity to fill up at work. Won't last much longer though seeing as alot of us have just been made redundant

 

[Martyn]

as for using smartphones, ipads, etc. do people think there's any benefit at all from showing the "veiwing public" that it is possible to have all the latest gadgets and still use "green energy"?

Might make more of a social comment if Hugh visited the factory where ipohnes get made. They are made in a city in China called Shenzen, a huge city that resembles Hong Kong, except no building is more than 35 years old. In 1979 Shenzen was just a small village of a few dozen people, now it's a city of 14 million people and it's where 90% of the worlds electronics get made. It's a manufactured city full of electronics factories, that employ millions of impoverished Chinese on slave wages, who work horrendous hours in monotonous, repetitive jobs that often leave the workers with vision problems and carpel tunnel syndrome. This is because your iphone is hand made. Every single microscopic component is attached to the motherboard by hand. Nothing in Shenzen gets made by robots if it can be made by hand. People are cheaper than robots. The company that makes the iphones for apple (and many others) is called foxconn. Foxconn, who you've probably never heard of, is the worlds largest maker of electronic components. Their factory in Shenzen employs FOUR HUNDRED AND FIFTY THOUSAND people. It has eight canteens, each capable of feeding 10,000 people at a time. Workers are required to work their 16 hour shifts in silence. The workers sleep in dormitories, rooms 12' x 12' stacked with 16 bunk beds each. Suicides are so common at the factory, foxconn have erected nets all around in an attempt to catch the jumpers. Most employees at he foxconn factory have never seen an iphone actually switched on.

[video=youtube;ddU8rV7_Qis]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddU8rV7_Qis[/video]

The suicide nets....

Do you think the exectives at apple are aware of these conditions? Of course they are. It's not just the iphone though. Pretty much everything you own that is electronic, is made in Shenzen and all the factories are the same. Now you know too. Think about it next time you buy something that runs on batteries.

 

[MartinK9]

Snip >

foxconn have erected nets all around in an attempt to catch the jumpers.

Nice to see Health and Safety being used correctly.

 

[Tadpole]

the number is suicides, at Shenzhen, totals ten people, for a worker Population of 420,000 is well below the average for that region/age/demographic, at something like 28.8 people per 100,000, per year. The total number of workers employed by Foxconn is close to a Million, and there company records stands at 17 suicides in the past ten years
The cotton tee shirt you no doubt own or have owned has more blood on it, than your iphone 200,000 cotton farmers suicided in India in the last 15 years.

 

[Martyn]

the number is suicides, at Shenzhen, totals ten people, for a worker Population of 420,000 is well below the average for that region/age/demographic, at something like 28.8 people per 100,000, per year. The total number of workers employed by Foxconn is close to a Million, and there company records stands at 17 suicides in the past ten years
The cotton tee shirt you no doubt own or have owned has more blood on it, than your iphone 200,000 cotton farmers suicided in India in the last 15 years.

These are not people committing suicide because their wife has caught them with the maid, or because their shares have gone bust, they are all at one factory and they are all about the working conditions there. The hospital where I work employs 5000 people and I have worked there for 15 years. I dont recall a single suicide over working conditions at work in that time. How about you? Has your place of work erected suicide nets to catch the jumpers?

 

[Gotte]

The milk float is a bit strange but its promoting being green and slows everything down or they would be there in a day.

I agree that it's good to promote being green. Nothing wrong with that. Of course how much greener, and healthier to have just used bikes. Probably about as fast, as well. Maybe it's unfair of me to critisize this aspect, but I'm a keen cyclist, and enjoy touring and camping, and just think it was a wasted opportunity if looking to make people think differently. Electric vehicles, and ones that source green energy are beyond the reach of most people, whereas bicycles aren't.
Not looking to start a row, just my take on it.

All the best

 

[para106]

Hmmmm this one could run & run.........................Let's start at putting things right in the UK before we start worrying about forn parts. Maybe not a popular view - but mine own.

 

[WildCamperUK]

I thought this was a great program. It was good to see some alternatives to consumerism that don't require you to be Bear Grylls or Ray Mears. TV is struggling to compete the internet at the moment and is experimenting with ways to make programs more interactive. You can interact via Twitter/Facebook with the characters which gives a real sense of involvement with the project (so they needed iPhones to do that part). If you live along their route, why not invite them to your house for tea in return for some chores!

 

[rik_uk3]

Give the Chinese workers a good wage and pay £2000 for your phone, simple really. We're all hypocrites to some degree, we all know our gadgets come not ideal conditions in China but we still buy the stuff. We send our old computers off to be recycled when in reality some eight year old Indian child sits there burning off the plastic to recover the valuable metals in some components...he or she won't make old bones but we can think we have done the 'green' thing.

Back on track, I can't watch much with Hugh Fernly Whittingstall in as he has appalling table manners, jowls stuffed to the brim with food, chomping away and still talking