Food prices - Scaremongering? (Warning - Potential Political Content!)

Discussion in 'General Gardening Discussion' started by KevinH, Jan 6, 2013.

  1. "M"

    "M" Total Gardener

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    Strawberries? Did someone say ..... STRAWBERRIES!!!! :dancy:


    <------- Psst! I'm over here!!! (Too much of a lady to make the first move via PM's :heehee:)
     
  2. Jenny namaste

    Jenny namaste Total Gardener

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    Excuse me,I've been GC less for 24 hours or so - what is "tagging" and what is the benefit of it?
     
  3. clueless1

    clueless1 member... yep, that's what I am:)

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    I own a small piece of countryside, 3 acres in all, and have been thinking about how I can start making some money from it.

    My first thought was to farm it. Growing food on it, but I did the sums, and figured that without subsidies (which most likely I wouldn't get because my piece of land is too small - most funding is 'per hectare' from what I gather, and my land is barely more than a hectare), I couldn't find a crop that I could produce on it at a profit.

    I looked at potatoes first. Its the obvious choice given the characteristics of my land. I could possibly make a profit if I didn't take a salary, and if I did all the work myself by hand, but who's going to dig 3 acres by hand twice a year?

    So what about the usual veg that tends to be a lot more expensive than potatoes? Well then I'd have to ensure the entire site has made rabbit and deer proof, costing thousands of pounds in fencing, not too mention ongoing maintenance, and then of course there's still the cost of looking after the crops.

    I guess I could get myself a flock of sheep or a heard of cows, but 3 acres wont support a lot of livestock if you care about that livestock and don't want the animals to live in cramped conditions, and of course keeping livestock introduces a world of red tape and hidden expense. Registrations with DEFRA, routine inspections (which you have to pay for), vets bills etc, and unless you slaughter and butcher the animals yourself (requiring more licenses and cost) then you can't sell the animals for anything like the price their bits will have on them when they reach the butcher's shop.

    There's a lack of 'niche' farms because the government says what crops they will subsidise, and everything else is just a non-starter as it costs more to produce than you'll get from selling it.

    Add to all of that the EU rules. The media made a great fuss of the bendy banana fiasco, but that was just a dumbed down version of the story intended for the masses. The truth is that the EU maintains a list of very specific items that are legally food. If the exact thing you produce is not on that list, it can't be sold as food in the EU.
     
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    • Vince

      Vince Not so well known for it.

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      Mrs Vince left the ducks out one night, the night Mr Fox decided to visit!!!!

      Mr Fox took one duck with him, I butchered the 3 remaining dead ones! :cry3:
       
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      • Vince

        Vince Not so well known for it.

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        Clueless, with a flock of 10 or less hens, DEFRA don't want to know and you don't have to grade any eggs, simples!
         
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        • Fat Controller

          Fat Controller 'Cuddly' Scottish Admin! Staff Member

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          mummaonthaedgerliness is alive and well, or at least it is in our street. We moved into this house a year past in October, and last spring/summer was our first 'proper' opportunity to get to know some of the neighbours.

          Many of my surplus tomato, pepper and chilli plants were passed to neighbours, as were a number of cucumbers when they started coming thick and fast. From the neighbours on one side, we were given a big bag of veg from their dads allotment toward the end of the season (lovely it was too), and more recently we have had Christmas cards from both the neighbours on our side as well as those across the road.

          To be honest, that is part of the reason that I am a little less concerned about sowing 1000 lobelia seeds than I perhaps should be - between neighbours, colleagues and fellow GC members I am sure that they will all get a good home one way or another; and as far as I am concerned, giving a neighbour a couple of tomato plants gives them far more than the equivalent 'cash' value.

          Equally, the kindness and support that gets shared on this very forum is worth so much more than cash would give - longer lasting for a start.
           
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          • Fat Controller

            Fat Controller 'Cuddly' Scottish Admin! Staff Member

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            What am I doing wrong with these tags - I definitely put @ Mum without the space above?
             
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            • "M"

              "M" Total Gardener

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            • clueless1

              clueless1 member... yep, that's what I am:)

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              Sorry to hear that.

              I was just a kid, maybe 8 years old when my older sister and I cycled to the allotment before school one morning to feed the 33 chickens and one cockerel, as we routinely did if my dad was working a shift that meant he couldn't. We got there to find 31 dead chickens, a dying, badly injured cockerel, and one chicken (a very agile bantam) that had managed to evade the fox so was physically unharmed, but was clearly traumatised. That chuck, like all our chucks, had been quite tame and friendly. Not any more. It was just in a permanent state of blind panic. My dad gave it away after a couple of days because it wouldn't calm down, poor thing. From all that carnage and death, only one chicken had been taken.
               
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              • Jenny namaste

                Jenny namaste Total Gardener

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                Just getting this Mum?
                 
              • Jenny namaste

                Jenny namaste Total Gardener

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                What on earth is it in the nature of a fox to do this I wonder?. I do so hate reading about it when it happens.
                 
              • Fat Controller

                Fat Controller 'Cuddly' Scottish Admin! Staff Member

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              • Vince

                Vince Not so well known for it.

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                Got a problem now, Shadow just can't get enough of duck now :cry3:
                 
              • Fat Controller

                Fat Controller 'Cuddly' Scottish Admin! Staff Member

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                See, its done it again! I definitely put @ Jenny namaste - - in fact, I clicked its suggestion as I was typing!
                 
              • KevinH

                KevinH Guest

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                Be careful using the @ symbol as I have just discovered.

                There's a lot of posts - but at Clueless - my difference is growing food for me and my loved ones - the officialdom - as you know - comes from growing food for commerce. May I suggest there is a UK-wide shortage of Gooseberries and that jam producers are looking for major producers of Gooseberries? If I lived near you, I'd buy the rotovator and rotovate your land on a barter basis. Perhaps all you need is the right person as your (subordinate) right-hand man?
                 
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