Why does Unicorn leave the leaves on its celery, or carrots or radish or, or, or …..
because these are the first things to go off on a harvested vegetable or fruit. By leaving them on customers know we are selling fresh produce.

Has any heard about the Chorleywood process of making bread (and the taking out of goodness and addition of synthetic goodness). Have you read about Aspartamane?

No wonder our children are growing up with ADHD or learning problems.

I used to think Jamie “pukha” Oliver was a bit of a w****er, but I’ve sort of grown to like him. I think his heart is in the right place. We need to educate the less educated. Not the rich. We don’t need to target rich schools or suburbs, we need to let the poorer people in on a secret: food is good, can be cheap and healthy, is worth time making and in the long run can help as part of a “healthy balanced lifestyle”

Will we ever get rid of Supermarkets and their “we know what you want (and need) attitude”? Can we stop people believing in their hype?

We’re not ranting, we’re chanting.

Sure some people really do need the money. Maybe they really don’t have the time or money to wander around lots of shops looking for local fresh food or to commit themselves to cooking each day, and this is a real problem as it is these vulnerable people who would probably benefit the most from the improved diet this would give them .

However I think for a lot of people this obsession with work, money and “stuff” really is a choice they have made, whether consciously or not. It seems to me a lot of people would rather work themselves to death so they can buy all these fancy things, arriving home too knackered and brain dead to have the time or inclination to start preparing a meal for themselves or their family. They would rather just chuck something frozen into the oven or a ready meal in the microwave and then spend the evening slumped in front of their 96″ plama screen TV watching soaps and drinking Pinot Grigio until their mind finally switches off allowing them to forget their own sorry existence.

Oh dear, looks like I better stop now, I’ve clearly flung myself into full rant mode too!

I wonder how much of this stems from our society (and government’s) obsession with work. Families with both parents working full time in a country with the worst long hours culture in Europe. People perceive supermarkets as a quick and easy option and food shopping as chore. When it needn’t be and could be a valuable part of their life. I agree with Richard that food and eating is not valued any more. When we were growing up the evening meal was a daily family occasion, a social event. Of course, as children we’d have rather been sitting on the sofa with the TV on, but well done parents for sticking to your guns. I do think this has been lost a little with people working late and rushing around. They are then preparing separate, quick and less nutritionally valuable, meals to pander to their children’s demands because they feel guilty for not being around. What is wrong with us?! Why can’t we plan better, lots of recipes actually taste nicer the day after so you could make it and then there’s an instant meal when people get home the following evening. You can also make loads at once and freeze it. It really isn’t too hard to do.

Right I’ll stop before I get too far into rant mode!

Btw the cauliflower and sweet potato curry looks nice. Sweet potatoes rule, Even just baked instead of jacket ones with a bit of butter, chilli, mozzarella and fresh basil they’re amazing.

Anyway, enough from me! xx

You may already know about this, but thought I’d mention Beanies in Sheffield does a box delivery scheme, it’s not ideal, but could be an alternative for buying some of your veg at least. more info here about their scheme.

Glad you like the site, and likewise, nice to meet you. Hopefully our paths will cross again some point in the future.

Where I live on the east of Sheffield we have a fantastic range of supermarkets but no independents whatsoever. All the independents are 10 miles away in Sheffield itself so I’m afraid nearly all of my shopping is done at the supermarkets.

The packaging drives me mad – and it’s something that actually seems to be getting worse! I’d say that at least 95% of the stuff they sell I just ignore because it’s garbage. When I worked in Barnsley a few years ago the joy of shopping in the local market was fantastic – half the price and twice the quality. Sadly the only market at my side of Sheffield (Crystal Peaks) has one poor greengrocer whose prices are the same as the supermarkets.

I’d never dream of buying herbs and spices from supermarkets unless I’ve got no choice – I don’t know how they get away with the prices they charge.

You can get most of the ingredients you need to cook for yourself in supermarkets – it’s a case of knowing where to look – and some of them, pulses for instance, are very good value provided you don’t insist on organic. I have to say though, it ain’t a joyous experience.

Good to meet you at John and Viv’s wedding, by the way – and love the site. We’ll try some of the recipes.

Unicorn is doing great things in Manchester, if only there were more places like it. I’ve really missed it since I moved away. It’s hard to find a good place to buy quality veg locally. With 2 huge supermarkets within a mile of the house, all the green grocers that used to be here have disappeared. It’s now a 30 minute walk to the proper shops, and a couple of miles to anywhere that’s doing organic. No doubt this puts a lot of people off, leaving the supermarket as their only choice. Grrr.

I believe supermarkets have a lot to answer for, especially when creating artificially high prices and infeasibly uniform organic food, to be classed as luxury items and therefore out of reach (and pocket) to a lot of people. Every day at work I try to explain that organic wholefood is not as expensive as they think, it helps the community and the planet and will provide more nutrition, for longer, than most processed food.

I also think if we can get good food to kids at young ages we can provide a good foundation for their future (initially health wise).

So, there you go. There’s more if you want, and if I can help you can always email me.

Ta Cakes