If you go to Morrisons in Diss and want to buy onions that are English and not in a plastic bag - Sorry you can't.
The loose onions are from Spain and the English onions are packed in a plastic bag.
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| Blurry but it Does say Spain - honestly. |
The Union Jack says they are grown here and the label says Norfolk. Why do they have to be in a bag? that's what I want to know.
I choose the Norfolk onions and the bag will go in the rubbish which goes to the incinerator. But which was the right choice??
Back Tomorrow
Sue
It's infuriating isn't it Sue? We try to buy British as much as possible, but it is difficult sometimes, you really have to scrutinise the labels. And when you want to cut down on unnecessary packaging too, it's even more difficult. We've found that frequently Morrisons sell radishes from another country....why, when they are so ridiculously easy to grow here?
ReplyDeleteIt's difficult to understand the logic - down to costs I expect
DeleteHi I would have done the same; buy British but the packaging is a big issue for me too and I recycle it but can't see why they have to do this. Same with potatos and my goodness have I searched high and low for good old English apples without success. I long for some of the old varieties we used to grow in this country, russet gold was my favourite.
ReplyDeleteI usually search through all the apples to look for Engish or New zealand in our summers as they come by boat rather than plane
DeleteI have been going to a great Farm Shop on the edge of Hereford every time we go to Malvern, and come home with huge bags of English Apples - I suppose they would be called Heritage Apples, and pears ditto. This week it was Coxs and Red Windsor, though I was torn whether to get some more Lord Lambourne too. I've had this year's Russets from one of the stalls at Hay Market but the veg shop there doesn't seem to buy apples from the orchards any more - they always used to have a really wonderful selection and I would try them all. I am a bit of an appleholic!
DeleteI'd have bought English and recycled the bag too.
its a really bad apple and pear year , just the late spring and a good year for bugs . Very hard to get in Lincolnshire and cooking apples are like gold dust
DeletePlastic vs miles of transportation. Plastic probsbly wins but you could, after purchase, slit the bag and put the onions in your own bag, leaving the plastic with Morrisons and registering a formal customer dissatisfaction (and encouraging others to do likewise). I know, that seems really stern and we shouldn't be obliged to be campaigners against every unsatisfactory choice we are forced to make just to buy staple food items.
ReplyDeleteIt's a crazy world
DeleteSo annoying, I agree, especially given Morrisons statements on sustainability, etc.
ReplyDeletexx
I'm still getting the Suffolk tomatoes from Morrisons although they have a tray and film cover, wonder if Morrisons being taken over will make things worse
DeleteThe American takeover team was led by Terry Leahy the ex Tesco director so it is likely that he will manage the new Morrisons so it will turn into another Tesco which if you are a British farmer is bad news.
DeleteI didn't know they had been taken over. Drat!
Deletexx
You need to read my blog Joy. I frequently write about such things!
DeleteAt least there are no shortages. Better to be moaning about stock origins than starving.
ReplyDeleteFilling a blog post!
DeleteWe've got used to cheap tomatoes all year round - imported from Australia! Now (because of covid restrictions) we only have New Zealand grown ones and they are SO expensive! Not sure what the answer there is meant to be.
ReplyDeleteThat is annoying and no idea of a solution to that
DeleteI think the only bad choice would be to incinerate a plastic bag. Yikes! Lots of toxins go into the air when incinerating plastic. I would have probably chosen the bulk onions from Spain. Spain is a nice country. :-) ~Andrea xoxo
ReplyDeleteAll Suffolk waste goes to a big incinerator and is used to produce electric for the grid.They are well regulated
DeleteI'm sure it won't be long before Morrison's follow Tesco and allow you take back your soft plastics to them.
ReplyDeleteI try to buy British/local and have decided that I'm not going to worry too much about packaging. There are limits to that, if things are ridiculously over-packaged I won't buy them, but that doesn't seem to happen too much these days.
I didn't know Tesco had soft plastic recycling.
DeleteThe Lady who gave us a talk at WI about the Suffolk Incinerator and recycling said they actually needed a good amount of plastic in the waste as it produces the best heat to make electric
Co op also have soft plastic recycling facilities
DeleteAs people have said, some supermarkets recycle it, but I'm with you in wondering why aren't we phasing it out. When they started making large amounts of the stuff in the fifties and sixties, I wonder what the manufacturers thought was going to happen to it all. They knew it was as good as indestructable. I don't think they cared. It wasn't our job to think it through.
ReplyDeleteI once sat next to a freelance apple dealer on a flight back from Italy. He worked for all the leading supermarkets in the UK. He bought in Europe during our summer and then lived in the Antipodes for the winter and bought their apples for shipping to the UK. He said he rarely if ever bought English apples because the customer in the supermarket is only interested in cost, not where the apple came from.
ReplyDeleteIf the bag is soft like a bread wrapper you can collect them and return them to some stores. If it russles then it has to be put in the bin.
ReplyDeleteIt might be that if both varieties are loose they would get mixed up by people handling them and I think the English are milder in taste.
ReplyDeleteThe Co-op now recycle any soft plastic bags and wrappers even if they are not their own.
PS I buy organic too which always has to be wrapped to keep it separate - if all foods were seasonal and grown here and without pesticides (organic) then nothing would have to be wrapped. I used to shop at my local greengrocers shop and because he served you there was no need to keep things separated and wrapped but Morrison's moved into our village and all the local shops had to close down they couldn't compete. Now the village is all barbers, takeaways, tanning and nail bars. Thanks Morrisons - we didn't actually need you, the local small Co-op was fine.
ReplyDeleteHi, the Coop, Sainsburys and Tescos will all recycle soft plastics so please don’t send waste to incineration you may get electricity but the emissions are toxic. I was looking for good quality veg with no plastic,I found an online greengrocer, he is local delivers twice a week with local produce where possible without packaging, in a cardboard box. It’s here before 7am and left on the step. It’s no more expensive the Asda. It’s worth a punt around the web.
ReplyDeleteBuying locally grown produce is important to me too. The grocery stores carry produce grown from around the world and like you state labels can be deceptive. For example, during our Massachusetts (US) blueberry season I saw blueberries at Whole Foods from Peru and Massachusetts.
ReplyDeleteHow I miss the days Sue when I could mooch round our market stalls on a Fridaymarket and make sure that I could at least buy some home produced stuff,
ReplyDeleteIt's always so complicated. With the soft plastic recycling Sainsburys and Tesco are sending it out to a Polish firm but are refusing to say what happens to it next as it's "commercially sensitive" and the Co-op send their own brand stuff to a UK company that scan it and can recycle 3 types...the rest goes for incineration. Although they claim they will take other brands they don't guarantee that they will recycle them. Call me cynical.....Arilx
ReplyDeleteBy the time I've read every label to see its country of origin my shopping takes forever. We have a produce delivery service that uses locally grown foods but with only two of us it's just not economic for us to do that. Add to that the packaging problem and the recycling issues and it's All Too Much. Twice recently all the potatoes on offer were wrapped in heavy plastic, and both times there were rotten potatoes infecting the pack. So now I'm only buying the much more expensive loose ones.
ReplyDeleteThere's also the sea-miles versus air-miles. I choose sea over air, where buying local and seasonal isn't possible. It's all so complicated.
I'm fortunate, I have the financial independence to make decisions about such things (e.g. I only buy free range, New Zealand raised meats) but if you were struggling to feed a tribe on a benefit you couldn't even think about those issues.
Why would they package Onions grown in Great Britain. I would think those would be loose and the other in plastic. I do think you made the right choice though, as you are keeping your farmers working.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
I don't know if it is any help to you, some co-op stores are starting to have bins for soft recycling. They will take polythene bags, old carriers, crisp packets etc. It seems to be mostly the bigger stores but it might help with your plastic problem
ReplyDeleteliving in farming land the best laugh is onions just grow , they need no chemicals of any kind , so organic onions are the same as ordinary ones just grown in a different field
ReplyDeleteIt is not just about where they are grown organic onions are not identical to ordinary ones as they have higher levels of antioxidants including total phenol, total flavonoid, ascorbic acid and quercetin-3-glucoside. Also the fertiliser put onto the fields in the first place has to be organic not chemical which is far better for the environment.
DeleteAre there any farmers markets where you could buy local unbagged fruits and vegs?
ReplyDelete