If you need urgent support, call 999 or go to your nearest A&E. To contact our Crisis Messenger (open 24/7) text THEMIX to 85258.
Read the community guidelines before posting ✨
Options
Essential support for under 25s
Essential support for under 25s
Take a look around and enjoy reading the discussions. If you'd like to join in, it's really easy to register and then you'll be able to post. If you'd like to learn what this place is all about, head here.
Comments
But its not as simple as that. Developing countries do not have to adhear to any, or at least few, of the enviromental standards and animal welfare guidlines we have to. Therefore it isnt fair trade because farmers here have to adhear to these standards.
I think the best way forward would be to get rid of export subsidies, by which the EU and US can dump food on the developing world at under the cost they can produce it.
Then, IF and only if, developing countries adhear to our enviromental standards they can compete without import tarrifs. If they are producing goods under our standards then they get hit with tarrifs, simple.
Personally I buy British food when I can because in the main I think it tastes better, this is especially true with strawberries, there are NO others that compete.
However, I do buy things like suger snap peas from developing countries. Of course there are the air miles involved in this, but there is also a good cash crop for countries that need it.
For example, I am a big fan of Tree Ripened Mangos from Peru. These are probably quite a high profit item for the farmer (and supermarket). This could well be a viable alternative to coca, or suger/coffee or other valueless crops.
Also the question remains, if we get rid of the CAP and farming dies in this country, what the hell do we do with the countryside?!
Yeah sure...you've got expensive packaging, shipping it from 3000 miles away, the 3/4 different companies that will be used to distribute it...after everyone from the EU countries envolved take their cut, you're left with a £10 bar of chocolate that the producer gets 3.7 pence for.
Brilliant.
i personally do not approve of animal testing for COSMETIC reason *i need to make it clear that for medical reasons i.e saving lives its ok* and therefore i choose to avoid products from some of the largest multinationals. to them the loss of the income from me isnt much but what if more people like me did this, the loss of income combined should certainly dent their profits to make them sit up and least take notice of us. well i wish, i know that isnt reality, they will just try and eek money out of people who do like what they are doing even more.
i also boycott Nestlé for their violations for the international code of marketing of breatmilk subsitutes and i buy fairtrade as much as possible although that doesnt always occur. the lack of income from my purchases again may not hurt their vastly inflated turnover, but i dont care, if i dont like what they are doing, why should i suppor them?
our family trys to buy organice as much as possible and we also buy thigns from shops nearer to home when we can although it is sometimes necessary to go to the supermarket, we buy recycled and we take bottles and stuff like that to the recycling bins. i think the rest of the house is more concerned with environmental stuff whereas i am more into the whole boycotting thing although ive never been that politically active, although i do admti to supporting the scottish socilists which mum doesnt like too much as they are seen as a bunch of anarchists.
i guess im trying to say that although our parts may not be seen as much, we can still do our teensy bit and make a difference and care about how our spending impacts across the world. the big multinationals dont give a damn about the issues, so we if we can should care.
thanks to everyone here, and big thumbs up to all who care passionately in their causes and issues.
Just let it be natural....
You seem to care about animals more than humans?
Just let it go completely?
Oh, certainly a lot of it could be turned into parkland of some sort but a lot of it just isnt practicle. The land is in too small chunks.
Personally I'd rather see an extension of the enviromental schemes under which farmers get set-aside subsidy or payments for planting trees.
Plus there is the issue as to what to do with the farmers? Re-train them all to do what, and more importantly where?
Also, if we are to produce less and less food here are we not relying too much on others. I am not suggesting that we try and grow everything here, but some is a good idea.
Both shipping and air transport are getting much more expencive, that means higher food prices if we import.
I think there are areas where farms can prosper, crops suited to British climate, maybe Biomass energy fuel?
I did my disscertation on this topic and one of my key recommendations was that Biomass was a good way forward.
The week after I handed it in the largest biomass project in the UK went bust and the failure was in all the papers! Gits.
You are right though it is a viable way forward, either SRC (short rotation coppice) or other things. There are HUGE EU grants for this and the UK government is supposed to be helping too.
The subsidies for farmers are all in place all they need now is a market for the stuff. Grants and help need to be given for places to burn this stuff. But then no-one will want it 'in their back garden' will they.
I always thought that buying British as opposed to 3rd world would be better for a whole host of reasons.
Quality, we win hands down. Safety, again our food is checked more stringently.
And thirdly, Do you agree, ethically speaking that it is fair to force farmers in the 3rd world to sell their food to us instead of their own people?
Talk about generalisations.
Exports from countries such as Peru, Guatamala, Zambia etc bring in valuble money which helps the people there.
You cant just lump all '3rd world' countries together, there are gradients you know.
The only geographically and sociologically recognised differences are between 1st, 2nd and 3rd.
3rd world countries are marked out by their extreme poverty and poor conditions for the majority of people. Lack of developed infrastructure, lack of education and ammenities and a lack of food and clean water.
If Sudan has all of them then it ceases being a 3rd world country and becomes a 2nd world country.
If given the choice between food from here, or there i would choose it from here.
I concern myself far more with the fate of people in this country than I do people from others.
Yes, ethically its not on. Unfortunately, a lot of so called "free" trade rules force some 3rd world farmers into this position.
This is wrong.
People starve because they have no money or power, not because there is not enough food.......