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Supermarkets in Shetland - prices, ethics and experiences


breeksy
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Shetland produces many quality foodstuffs, and yes, you will not avoid sending money South, after all, that is where it comes from. It is quite a sight seeng folk buy New Zealand lamb when Shetland born lambs are within a mile or so, and fish from where?

 

Although the stodge Paul you refer to 150 years ago may be boring to the modern taste, it did however sustain the population, though, with further knowledge on diets and the way food breaks down over time, fresh is always the best.

 

Running out of stock on a regular basis either show poor management or a glitch in the system Tesco has for ordering.

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Tesco's do sell some local produce, including fish caught locally.  Re local meat:  Isn't it the case that the main UK supermarkets have agreed that the slaughterhouses must have CCTV?  Does the Shetland one have CCTV?

 

Tesco's don't have sufficient warehouse capacity up here, me thinks.

 

Fresh may well be best but many families cannot afford fresh, don't have garden space to grow it and/or don't have the dosh to get to an allotment if one was available.

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yes we would all be better off on a more limited healthier diet. but peat you are missing the point shetland at the moment can not feed itself.

if we did borrow mr wells time machine and pop back we would find everyone in one way or another connected to the land.            

 

we dont grow enough spuds to even feed ourselves. we would need multiple tingwall greenhouses to be built and hundreds of grow tunnels. also can you imagine a modern shetlander willing to risk starving if there crops failed.

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Then this highlights the social issues around food.

 

Why do you not ask the Slaughter house if they do, if it is worth mentioning here then it would be worth asking the company. I would hate to think that you are suggesting that there may be issues of animal welfare. I really wonder what your motive is behind that question. The abattoir complies to all the required regulations and is accredited.

 

Tesco makes suppliers jump through hoops. Take the local beer, had to be sent south to be labels so it could be sold at the Lerwick shop. Tesco have also in the past refused to take local meats due to quality issues. I would guess the water content of the meat may have been too low.

 

There are otherways to get land to grow, folk have to remove the negative and look to see how.

 

However, looking at FOI requests to the council, it says that if there is a demand for allotments, they will install them. I know the annual charge was in the region of £25 a year. I have not found any details on waiting lists, so, either, no one is waiting, or it is not reported.

Help can be got from the Allotment Society and even the Transition Town Movement.

 

Paul, Shetland cannot feed it self, that is so obvious. Though, there are ways to reduce the dependancy on off-shore supply chains when it comes to vegetables.

 

I am not really missing the point, more that folk have just come with reasons why not.

 

If we then look at this globally, the CO2 produced shipping your food from half way around the world is part the reason that countries are looking at alternative means of power. It could be said then, again, a little removed, that this demand for worldly goods has created a need for mass wind and solar generation.

 

Anyhow, the mere suggestion of way to improve ones life and quality can be enough, some will go away and look at this. Hopefully, it may get posted on the very few positive threads. How good would that be?

Edited by shetlandpeat
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Why do you not ask the Slaughter house if they do, if it is worth mentioning here then it would be worth asking the company. I would hate to think that you are suggesting that there may be issues of animal welfare. I really wonder what your motive is behind that question. The abattoir complies to all the required regulations and is accredited.

 

Tesco makes suppliers jump through hoops. Take the local beer, had to be sent south to be labels so it could be sold at the Lerwick shop. Tesco have also in the past refused to take local meats due to quality issues. I would guess the water content of the meat may have been too low.

 

SP, I wasn't insinuating anything; I genuinely have no idea whether the local slaughterhouse has got CCTV or not.  DEFRA decided elsewhere that they wouldn't make it compulsory requirement.  IF the slaugterhouse hasn't got CCTV, it MIGHT be a reason why Grotesco's doesn't purchase local meat.

 

Was the local meat you refer to up here or elsewhere in the UK?  The only thing I heard (hearsay) was to do with Grotesco's packaging requirements for up here.

 

Personally, I couldn't give a stuff if there is CCTV in the slaugterhouse or not and I'm not particularly thrilled with overpackaging either.

Edited by Suffererof1crankymofo
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the packing requirements were part of it as well as labelling, there were comments about quality from a local supplier in a quote from the paper, a while ago now.

 

The use of CCTV in such establishments should be encouraged, simply for the animals welfare, eyes cannot be everywhere and it would be a good back up at busy times. However, cameras in the slaughter area are installed due to the poor treatment of animals in the past.

 

Give the packaging back to the shop, there is a lady here that does that at Sainsbury. Fills a couple of their carriers with additional packaging.

 

The meat mentioned was in the same context as the first part of the sentence. I do normally indicate that, only to get the "we don't care what is happening sarff" jibe, ya get me? That always makes my day.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 year later...

So, whats folks take on our local Tesco Emporium these days? Still thinking they're the best thing since a Hovis sliced, or has the lustre worn off?

 

Gotta admit, as there's a reasonabishly okay local shop within reasonable distance, I was pretty indifferent to the Multinational for a while, as unless you did a horrendously huge shop using them was difficult to justify with petrol cost, so only used them as and when and if passing anyway.

 

The delivery service largely negated the petrol cost factor though, so figured it was worth a try, and for the first few months it didn't seem too bad. Okay, there were a few cases of items being sold out and shorter than would have been ideal use by dates that seemed "un-necessary" of an empire of their magnitude, but tolerable.

 

However, it seems, to me at least, that things have gone significantly downhill these last couple of months or so, it used to be there were no more than one or two "unavailable's" while putting together an order, and you could usually get a second choice item no problem. Now its several, and in many of those cases its not just a case of your first choice sold out, your second choice, and sometimes your third choice are gone as well. More lately, there's been the "Tesco no longer sells this product" making an appearance, which further reduces availability and choice.

 

Is this just something peculiar to some/all delivery order customers, or are folk shopping in person finding similar, and if so, have we now reached that plateau many businesses in Shetland seem to reach, of being sloppy and careless both with stock range/availability and pricing, as "folk have gotten in to the habit of coming here now, so we don't really need to care anymore, and besides they have nowhere else to go"?

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