Monday 9 November 2009

Yet Another Way To Make Us All Feel Guilty...

Some supermarkets have a "dismal" ethical record when it comes to supporting British farmers, buying local, seasonal and sustainable food and saving energy according a Government watchdog.
So what..?

Frankly, the last thing on my mind when I enter any supermarket is 'wonder what their ethical record is like..?'

I'm concerned with price, availability, and quality. The idea that some government flunky has given it more or less points according to whatever barmy fad is all the rage in Westminster is the last thing on my mind.

So, who gets black marks, then? Well:
Asda, Lidl and Aldi come out bottom in the study by Consumer Focus, the Government-backed watchdog, with D grades.
Ah. The ones that give you the best deal. Fancy..
Marks & Spencer and Sainsbury's both received an A grade.
Well, of course...
Julian Walker-Palin, Asda's head of sustainability, said: "Sourcing certain products from the UK would mean creating artificial growing environments with a higher carbon footprint than sourcing overseas and that is without considering the massive importance of our trade with developing countries so they can trade their way out of hunger."
Why not just do away with this 'watchdog' and let buyers sort it out? Why are we paying money to be told what we should buy?

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

We're not paying money to be told what we should buy. We are paying money to create meaningless jobs for otherwise unemployable idiots in quangos. Sorry, should have said "watchdog". Sounds so much more useful. In fact it almost sounds like it's not just part of the government.

Von Spreuth. said...

Asda, Lidl and Aldi bottom

Wouldn't mind but their shops their selection, and there food is shite ANY WAY.

Or should that be "as well"?

Von Spreuth said...

THEIR food. DAMN night shift ruins my typing.

Joe Public said...

VS - "..... their shops their selection, and their food is shite ANY WAY."

But it's cheap.

Anyway, the big British Supermarkets put the frighteners (aka blackmail) on well-known branded suppliers to not supply the foreigners Aldi / Lidl / Netto (at cometitive prices) on pain of losing their business.

Unknown said...

Agree with you completely AP. Though would note that if some leaf-eating lefty publication wants to assign supermarkets ratings based upon their agenda, then that is entirely within their right. Like WhatCar?, or cnet.co.uk. Why does the government get involved in this sort of thing?

JuliaM said...

"We are paying money to create meaningless jobs for otherwise unemployable idiots in quangos."

And don't look to the Tories to change this...

"But it's cheap."

And if you choose well (and can cook, rather than relying on ready meals), you can save quite a bit over the bigger supermarkets.

"...if some leaf-eating lefty publication wants to assign supermarkets ratings based upon their agenda, then that is entirely within their right. Like WhatCar?, or cnet.co.uk. Why does the government get involved in this sort of thing?"

See adamcollyer's comment for the answer to that! :)


""