Of eggs and ethics...

I'm on the train to go and see a very good friend of mine.  thanks to the wonders of modern technology I can post from on the road, so to speak :-) No cooking or baking for me for a day or so...

I've been using a lot of eggs lately.  All this baking and cooking means that I use boxes of those little portable protein bombs.  Like most people, I buy my eggs at the local shop or supermarket and I always buy free range and, if possible, organic ones.  Or at least I think that's what I am buying since that's what it says on the box and I have to trust the rules, ethics etc that regulate the industry.

Well, and you can probably guess where this is going...there is a large investigation going on in Germany at the moment into the possible malpractice by some of mislabeling eggs as organic when in fact the strict rules for organic food (including the living conditions of the hens) weren't adhered to.
As a consumer there comes the point when you have to trust that what is in your shopping basket is what you think it is.  With that trust slowly being eroded, where will we go from here?

I feel sorry for the vast majority of farmers who stick to the rules and whose reputation gets tarnished by a small number of "bad eggs in the basket".  I am furious at the people (ie "the bad eggs") who are misleading consumers to enhance their profits.  And I am sad that for some people this will mean turning their backs on doing the right thing, no longer buying free range.

Of horses, ready meals and proper food

I thought I'd give you a little update on the horse meat scandal that I wrote about a little while ago (please click here if you missed it).  Companies in Germany, France and the UK have withdrawn further products from sale, either because they have already tested positive for horse meat or as a precaution (the majority of further products tested negative).  Worryingly though, some hospital and school food has also been found to be containing horse.  I would have thought that a weakened or young body needs the best nutrition but maybe that's a lot to ask when the money just isn't there (as is the case in UK hospitals & schools).  What a shame that it all boils down to money in the end :-(

Talking of money, I had to laugh the other day when I saw the TV advert of a fast food company.  Here they were, shouting about the great value of their family meal for £19.99.  It was pizza, potato wedges and a large bottle of soft drink - all for four people (I am assuming 2 adults and 2 kids).  I am sorry but you can cook a perfectly lovely meal for 4 people for far less than that!  I'm not sure if I am angry, frustrated or just bemused by the ad - maybe a bit of everything.  How do you feel about this?

Fish pie...

So, in order to prove my point, here is today's recipe - a yummy fish pie!  I reckon you can make this for four people for half the price of the fast food meal, even when buying sustainably sourced fish.  Plus, it'll be nutritious and tasty!

Just Say Neigh...

It's actually not funny at all.  I am not sure how much of this has been covered in the global media but we have the latest food scandal on our hands here in the UK (and other European countries):  horse meat!  It turns out that with our constant appetite for increasingly cheaper food products, some producers have taken it upon themselves to replace beef with horse meat in a number of ready meals, burgers etc.  Needless to say, they failed to communicate this little fact to their customers and packaging still labels the meat as beef.  Not only that, the horse meat used is unlikely to have undergone the same stringent tests that would be normal for beef (especially after the mad cow disease crisis).  Can you imagine that some products such as "beef" lasagne actually contained 100% horse meat?  And this only appears to be the tip of the iceberg...who knows which other countries are affected by this?  In some countries eating horse meat is the norm and for me this is not about whether you like to eat horse or not.  It's about being lied to by producers and not being given the choice.

Budgets are tight and lives are busy but I think that the only way to ensure we know what goes into our food is to make our own as much as possible.  And maybe some of the recipes here, on other blogs, in books & programmes show that meals can be made from scratch without too much effort.  Yes, it might need more planning and a little more time but at least we know then what we feed our families and ourselves!

Climbing off my soap box now to prepare another post with an easy & quick recipe for you to try...

Until then, get mad, get even, get cooking!