Saturday 30 July 2011

Bin Men Unite! Your Bacon Butty Depends On It!

So, the bin men are revolting in Brighton and Hove as well, not just in Southampton. Albeit for a much different reason:
A protest was staged by the ‘disgusted’ workers when their canteen removed bacon butties and lamb chops from the menu.

The veggie day was part of Brighton and Hove Council Green Party’s successful election manifesto in May.
And it clearly went down like a cold cup of sick…
One worker said: 'As a result of potential grievances and general disgust at being told no meat would be served in the staff canteen, the policy has been abandoned and they will return to serving meat every day from now on.'
Bin Men 1, Green Fruitcakes 0…

So, are they giving up? Reader, they are not:
Despite the pilot scheme failing to impress binmen, Brighton and Hove has not given up on the idea and is talking to other departments about introducing the policy.

A council spokesman said it was disappointing, but ‘we’ll work to communicate the benefits better and work more closely with the workforce in any future plans’.
People don’t give a damn about the supposed ‘benefits’, they’d rather make their own choices on what to eat. That’s what people like you really can’t abide, isn’t it?

And just what is ‘work more closely with the workforce’ code for?
Green central services cabinet member Jason Kitkat said: “We are not looking to force this on staff. The idea is to get staff and people to talk about the issue. We will continue to have conversations with staff to find out ways to take this idea forward.”
In other words ‘We’ll hector and cajole and threaten until these uppity peasants are forced to accept this!’.

42 comments:

gildas said...

Fruitcakes is right

Anonymous said...

Jason KITCAT? Is that his real name?No wonder he has to go into lefty green issues as no-one in business would take him seriously.
Jaded

Zaphod said...

I'm a veggie, but I'd have fully supported the protest.

Why am I a veggie? I'm atheist, so it's not religious. I'm a smoker, so it's not health.
I support vivisection, so it's not about fluffy bunnies.

Some, (a few), of us veggies just use the label cos we personally don't like meat. But I have to agree, most of em are pious lefty fruitcakes.

SBC said...

Vegetarians -the reason God made second-hand smoke.

sBC said...

"Fruitcakes is right"


..so long as it is fruit from 'sustainable' fairtrade organic sources of course.


And preferably farmed by a Women's Collective, for favourite.


Sure it costs a bit more but your council feels it is important to support...

It's only council tax payers money anyway.

microdave said...

I wonder why the binmen were so successful? Could it be related to the old joke about various parts of the human body arguing about which was the most important? I can't remember all of it, but the arsehole was the winner. When it went on strike the other parts quickly realised that constipation soon affects every other function...

Meatless said...

As a long-time veggie, I freely admit the only meat I miss is bacon. But so it goes: everything has its price.

I also would uphold the inalienable right of all humans to eat bacon (and for that matter, any meat) as they see fit.

I really do not understand the Greenies ideas on most things, but this one takes the biscuit (no animal fats used, of course). Being veggie is a purely personal choice, and nothing to do with lefties nursing ecoloon tendencies.

We have a society where people are increasingly nagged or cajoled by lunatics. The halal meat for schools -- just in case a precious non-infidel is offended -- is a case in point.

But if Brighton council want a dialogue on their ideas, this is how it would go:

"Seems our bosses want to control our eating and tastes."

"Yeah, well they can fuck off. Pass me the pork."

(Sound of num-a-num-a-num fills the air)

Uncle Badger said...

I'm going to start a campaign called 'Eat up your Greens'.

Xopher said...

Best way to financial health would be to remove Kitkat from the Council's diet.

Does our MPs' subsidised 'canteen' have anything as common as a bacon sandwich on the menu?

Edwin Greenwood said...

I'll 'ave a halal bacon butty an' a slice o' that green fruitcake, please, love.

Quiet_Man said...

You know, if I were a vegetarian and was around fruitcakes like those, I'd deliberately take up eating meat just to annoy them.

Jim Enfous said...

The Greens are just the extreme left with an income above Giro level.

Anonymous said...

How's this read on his CV "I was the Green central services cabinet member, and initiated a meat-free day at the council..."

"Welcome to ASH, Jason..."

A K Haart said...

Just had a bacon buttie for lunch - delicious. I think I'll have another later on.

So how does this dietary Stalinism fit in with Dave's happiness index?

Longrider said...

So how is removing meat from the menu not forcing the issue?

Bill Sticker said...

Kitcat's council department looks like a prime candidate for public spending cuts.

SBC said...

"Oh you can't stop the Waste Management Facilitators of The Revolution, oh no you can't stop..."

-with apologies to T-Rex

Captain Haddock said...

Jason KITCAT ?

Bet he can manage at least 5 fingers ..

Specially living in Brighton .. ;)

BLTs, food of the gods. said...

What are the odds that Jason's birth certificate has a much longer, double-barreled, name on it do you reckon?

What surprises me about this story is that there are councils that still have staff canteens.

Angry Exile said...

What an annoying twat Jason Kitkat must be to have around. I'm amazed the binmen haven't put a Bounty on his head.

Angry Exile said...

Bet he's fed up with people snickering at his name though.

SBC said...

"Bet he's fed up with people snickering at his name though"

Its probably pronounced differently...like those people who shop at 'Lye-dells'..

James Higham said...

I was reading that last paragraph and was just about to write this:

In other words ‘We’ll hector and cajole and threaten until these uppity peasants are forced to accept this!’.

Captain Haddock said...

Yeah ..

Makes you wonder why someone hasn't already kicked his arse up into the Galaxy ..

Or at least as far as Mars ..

Bet he lives in a real Quality Street too ..

blueknight said...

The idea is to get staff and people to talk about the issue...

They have and they are all saying it is crap...

Angry Exile said...

Captain H, he ought to live in the local loony bin since he's clearly a sandwich short of a Picnic.

Angry Exile said...

Sorry, Julia, this is all going a bit off Topic.

banned said...

I don't suppose there is a great deal of potential for bonuses or promotion in the binmen departement but Kitkat and his like will find it far easier to pressurise white collar workers in departments where that potential does exist and where demanding meat on Friday will be equated with racism, sexism and all the other bollox.

Anonymous said...

Profound comments arising from a gathering of great minds locked in ethical debate, can leave one weary.

Goodnight, everyone.

Budvar said...

As a confirmed meat eater (If God didn't want us to eat animals, he wouldn't have made them so tasty), I think I must on average have a veggie meal at least once a week.

Either something like cauliflower cheese or mushroom risotto with some nice crusty bread. It's nice and I enjoy it. Would I want to eat it because some tosser on the local council wanted to further some personal agenda? Probably not, no.

What I don't understand is stuff like TVP or quorn, WTF is that all about? That's the sort of shite they should be feeding people in jail. If you want to eat meat, eat it. Don't use a vegetable substitute as it's anything but.

As for vegans, they're about as lucid as someone on crack!!

Zaphod said...

@Budvar, I eat the veggie burgers and sausages.

The flat round slab, or long thin cylinder, are very practical shapes for cooking and eating any processed bulk.

I'm not a foodie, and I don't trouble myself with diet or nutrition. I do mainly the three Ch's, (cheese, chips and chocolate). The occasional veggie designer lump with added nutrients is probably good for me. It seems to be working okay.

Personally, I can't face those products engineered to resemble (?) the taste and texture of bits of animal. Those who gave up meat reluctantly may get some comfort from them?

People become veggies for different reasons. Some, (many?), are evangelical about it, and a bit of a pain. I'm not responsible for them, they're an embarrassment. But I suppose it's not so different to a lot of other enthusiasms or zealotries.

Tolerate us veggies, but tell us where to go if we get fundamental or smug. Like any other nut.

I honestly don't want others to stop eating meat. It's natural, and I do like to see the livestock in the fields as I drive to work. But I have noticed that some carnivores feel cheated unless every meal or snack contains some meat. Some also fret about me not eating it. There's a bit of a fetish thing going there.

But if meat got banned, then I'd have to swallow some!

I am NOT green! :-)

A Rose By Any Other said...

SBC: "Its probably pronounced differently...like those people who shop at 'Lye-dells'.."

I worked with a woman whose surname was Onions.

She insisted it was pronounced Oh-Nee-Ons, with a French lilt to it.

The King of Wrong said...

Does our MPs' subsidised 'canteen' have anything as common as a bacon sandwich on the menu?

Griddled hickory-smoked pork loin shavings with HP jus in a pain rustique, maybe...

Captain Haddock said...

I served with an Officer called Death .. who pronounced it De' Ath ..

Personally, I always though that Capt Death sounded much more scary ..

Captain Haddock said...

Speaking of "Quorn" .. A certain Lady of my aquaintance once served me a "Shepherd's Pie" made from it ..

I didn't stop crapping for a week (literally) .. mind it was a bloody sight cheaper than colonic irrigation (if that's what floats yer boat) ..

By the end of the week, my bum resembled the Japanese flag ... :(

Zaphod said...

Why do meat eaters feel the need to rubbish veggie food? This puzzles me, and I do notice it quite a lot.

This is just a little similar to veggies banging on about how your meat is horrible and makes you ill. And we know how insecure that makes them sound, don't we?

A lot of veggies are nuts, yes. Some of the food can be a bit dull, but it's not poison. And you will not wither away and die if you never, ever eat meat. But if you do like it, then eat it.

Now stop worrying and get on with your life.

Budvar said...

Zaph, I'm not rubbishing veggie food per se', I'm rubbishing veggie food that pretends to be meat. In the same vane, I also rubbish the processed crap that purports to be "Meat" with equal enthusiasm, but we're not discussing that today are we?

JuliaM said...

"Jason KITCAT? Is that his real name?"

Apparently so! :)

"Some, (a few), of us veggies just use the label cos we personally don't like meat. But I have to agree, most of em are pious lefty fruitcakes."

I've got a few veggie friends, all for the same reason; they just don't like the taste. Most eat fish, though.

"We have a society where people are increasingly nagged or cajoled by lunatics. "

And there's no sign of it stopping anytime soon...

"Sorry, Julia, this is all going a bit off Topic."

*chuckle*

JuliaM said...

"Why do meat eaters feel the need to rubbish veggie food? "

Oh, I'm with Budvar on the 'substitute meat' stuff. Why use it, when proper vegetarian food - i.e. vegetables cooked well - is twice as nice?

Zaphod said...

Again, I wonder. Why does anyone feel the need to have an opinion on what I eat?

But as you asked, Julia, (was it rhetorical?), I do eat the soya burgers cos it's 2 mins in the microwave, bung it in bread, hunger abated. I'm informed that "vegetables cooked well" takes a bit longer, and necessitates washing pots.

Jeez, is that okay with everyone? I'm pretty sure that junk meat is no better than junk soya, don't you ever indulge in that?

And if anyone's sick of me answering the question, blame those who keep asking.

SBC said...

Zaphod, I actually like TVP...the 'original' dried dog food sort. Makes a pleasant change from meat...or it did. Not even sure you can still get the sort we had back when I was a vegan in the 80's.

Mars Bar said...

What kind of idiot would choose to be named after an item of confectionery?

I wonder what his real/birth name is - - - or are opinionated commies who "know what's best" for everyone else created in a laboratory?

Google "The Protocols" to see what's really behind all the criminal stupidity we have to put up with nowadays.