View Full Version : How easy is it to be an ethical food consumer in Brixton?
Orang Utan
10-05-2006, 12:33
Been reading the River Cottage Meat Book and my conscience is being pricked.
However, it's all very well for Mr Posho-Moneybags in his Dorset village to tell us all to buy locally sourced meat (and other groceries), but is it practical and affordable if you live in Brixton and have little time to shop?
Suggestions welcome!
Also please list here butchers, organic grocers (or at least decent grocers with locally sourced products) etc etc that are Brixtion based (or near Brixton)
Ta.
Well, Brixton Whole Foods on atlantic is your first stop for all things yoghurt-woven. Apart from that, the only places I've seen stuff labelled as organic etc. are Sainsbury's and Tescos.
Orang Utan
10-05-2006, 12:50
the only places I've seen stuff labelled as organic etc. are Sainsbury's and Tescos.
Yes, but I want to see if it is possible to completely avoid supermarkets in Brixton - I will always have to get catfood there but I can live with that.
If only I lived up the hill in Streatham - it's much easier to avoid supermarkets there, cos of the fruit and veg place and the late opening deli.
SubZeroCat
10-05-2006, 12:53
If only I lived up the hill in Streatham.
Yeah and then you could have an ethical picnic on Streatham Common in the sunshine :cool:
tarannau
10-05-2006, 12:57
The veg in there is Brixton Wholefoods is generally rubbish though. Last time and they had some of the driest husks of greenery anyone's ever had the cheek to try and sell.
Esme's Organic in the market is usually a fair bit better. And there's that little organic stall outside Mango Landing at the weekend.
There are also plenty of organic delivery box schemes in the area.
Meat's always the trickiest thing to source ime. I'm not greatly impressed by the stuff I've had delivered in boxes before, well not at those prices anyway. Your best bet for the highest quality meat in the area is probably Dove's in Clapham - a great old style butcher. Phillips ain't that bad either, nor is that place in Herne Hill - you'll need to ask questions to check where the meat's sourced from, but at least they'll try and help.
Avoid Moens by Clapham Common ime - it sure does look pretty, but I always find the meat in there way overpriced and a little randomly selected. More about style than quality imo...
Yes, but I want to see if it is possible to completely avoid supermarkets in Brixton - I will always have to get catfood there but I can live with that.
:mad: Go to the pet shop just past the van gogh cafe
What are you feeding your siam on anyway?:)
Dig up your back yard and plant some veg.
Who owns that empty field behind your gaff? I could probably get you a couple of sheep of my Cousin Alec to graze on there ;)
Orang Utan
10-05-2006, 13:02
:mad: Go to the pet shop just past the van gogh cafe
Too far away! And not open at the right times either.
I feed the cat animal slurry of course!
tarannau
10-05-2006, 13:02
Sad truth is though Orang - if you want to eat anywhere near ethically in Brixton, you'll almost certainly have to get used to getting out of bed on Saturday. If your hours are like mine, it's difficult to get anywhere other than the supermarkets on the way home.
Gawd knows it's often a struggle schlepping over to the market and beyond on Saturday Am, but it's a price worth paying..
Orang Utan
10-05-2006, 13:03
Who owns that empty field behind your gaff?
The tenants own that - I have considered sheep and goats before actually, but I don't think the neighbours would approve.
Too far away! And not open at the right times either.
I feed the cat animal slurry of course!
I bet you feed her sugary rubbish :(
Whiskas or something....:(
Orang Utan
10-05-2006, 13:04
I bet you feed her sugary rubbish :(
Whiskas or something....:(
Nah, the cheap Tesco own brand stuff and sometimes Felix.
The tenants own that - I have considered sheep and goats before actually, but I don't think the neighbours would approve.
My old man had a girlfriend once who had a pet goat, she used to tether it up on the green outside her house and all the neighbours were fine about it.
Nah, the cheap Tesco own brand stuff and sometimes Felix.
Oh, I wont preach about it I'm sorry I tend to go off on one about animal nutrition.
As you were :o
What did Cats eat before Catfood? It should be able to fend for itself.
Orang Utan
10-05-2006, 13:06
Oh, I wont preach about it I'm sorry I tend to go off on one about animal nutrition.
As you were :o
No, do tell. I'm all ears.
Orang Utan
10-05-2006, 13:07
What did Cats eat before Catfood? It should be able to fend for itself.
Not mine - she's a fraidy cat
Not mine - she's a fraidy cat
Thats cos she's a substite child for you and your housemate :eek:
No, do tell. I'm all ears.
I will bring you a booklet when I see you :)
Lots of dry food is full to the max with sugar and wet food is full of water :(
Not Iams that's for sure they do nasty things to animals in Labs!
Thats cos she's a substite child for you and your housemate :eek:
Nowt wrong with that.
Simas are the fuckin coolest!!:cool:
Orang Utan
10-05-2006, 13:14
I will bring you a booklet when I see you :)
Lots of dry food is full to the max with sugar and wet food is full of water :(
She doesn't care for dry food much, though it's there all the time if she wants it.
She doesn't like the wet food much either I don't think - she often bolts it then pukes it up again.
She doesn't care for dry food much, though it's there all the time if she wants it.
She doesn't like the wet food much either I don't think - she often bolts it then pukes it up again.
So what does she eat!!:eek:
Orang Utan
10-05-2006, 13:15
Sad truth is though Orang - if you want to eat anywhere near ethically in Brixton, you'll almost certainly have to get used to getting out of bed on Saturday. If your hours are like mine, it's difficult to get anywhere other than the supermarkets on the way home.
Gawd knows it's often a struggle schlepping over to the market and beyond on Saturday Am, but it's a price worth paying..
:( Not too good at getting up before 12 on a Saturday and I usually only have energy to read the papers. Or I am still at an afterparty elsewhere. :o
Orang Utan
10-05-2006, 13:17
So what does she eat!!:eek:
She eats those sachets of fishy jelly yuck.
And the dry food when there's nothing else available
She eats those sachets of fishy jelly yuck.
And the dry food when there's nothing else available
I think I'm gonna need some pics to make sure she's ok Orang ;)
</derail>
As for meat I reckon you should go along and talk to a butcher that's what I did with my local one :)
Orang Utan
10-05-2006, 13:23
I think I'm gonna need some pics to make sure she's ok Orang ;)
</derail>
She's fine - she eats a fraction of what other cats eat mind, though most ohter domestic cats are huge and overweight.
tarannau
10-05-2006, 13:31
:( Not too good at getting up before 12 on a Saturday and I usually only have energy to read the papers. Or I am still at an afterparty elsewhere. :o
Welcome to my world, albeit I'm slightly less likely to be nursing a comedown head on a Saturday these days. Doing the market with no sleep is still a regular occurence though
TBH, once you get past the shock to the system it's not that bad being out wasted from the night before. You stagger through the bustle with a beautific smile-. A little banter with the shopkeepers and market guys and that's about it, bar the stagger back home. Hell, it's not as though the market traders don't know a good night out - there's one in particular to swap clubbing tales with.
I actually don't mind it too much now. At the least you tend to get that sense of achievement when you make it back and collapse onto the sofa. Generally I get the best sleep after that mission. And when I wake up again there's allsorts of fruit crying out to be made into smoothies and all manner of recovery munchies available. A little bit of pain sets you up for a fine weekend...
:)
Orang Utan
10-05-2006, 13:39
Is the market a good place to get fruit and veg though?
I've never been impressed with the quality, just the price.
She's fine - she eats a fraction of what other cats eat mind, though most ohter domestic cats are huge and overweight.
Ok
perfect food here (http://royalcanin.petstore.uk.com/royalcaninforcats_siamese38.cfm)
Ethical and nutritious :cool:
Is the market a good place to get fruit and veg though?
I've never been impressed with the quality, just the price.
My experience of markets is that you usually have to buy on the day as it usually goes off quickly. Are you close to any markets you can go to in your lunch hour? thats what i tend to do.
Orang Utan
10-05-2006, 13:51
Are you close to any markets you can go to in your lunch hour? thats what i tend to do.
Just fruit.
I have been using a butcher's in Pimlico which is great but not exactly convenient - my work fridge gets packed.
You still don't know where you're groceries are from in most markets
christonabike
10-05-2006, 14:10
You have to make an effort
Saying you are always at an after-party is ok, but you'll need to get out an about in the week to get your stuff if you want to do both
I make sure my weekend bacon is bought in the week from a decent butcher so I'm not eating cornershop crap
This goes for chicken as well
Decent butchers are easy to find but not if you are twatted all the time, (or just out and about)
Priorities, innit
I hear people complaining that they have no time to source decent food, but they are probably watching two hours telly a day, or spend their dinner-time in the pub
My collegues find it funny that I'll always go get my food Friday dinner, and join 'em in the pub later - now some of them go to the same place
I can also do it as I am no longer taking double figures of e's, the same amount of tabs of acid, and a stupid amount of speed/coke every weekend
Grown up ChrisT(onabike)
:D
tarannau
10-05-2006, 14:26
Is the market a good place to get fruit and veg though?
I've never been impressed with the quality, just the price.
Mixed bag to be honest. I tend to use about 5 stands from the market these days, after two of the best old traders retired. You'll need to browse, but cosmetics aside, some of the stuff's faultless - I had some excellent greens, fresher than fresh mushrooms, lovely Cyprus potatoes and spinach last visit. Sometimes you're luckier than others. It's more consistent for W.Indian staples generally, although the asian run place in "Brixton Village' (barf...) has some excellent herbs, shallots and assorted other bits from time to time.
Keep an eye out at O Talho (the Portuguese butchers on Atlantic) as well. Fine tomatoes and local greens from time to time. The Portuguese deli is also well worth a look.
Trying to work out what's seasonal and local is trickier - most of the traders are pretty happy to share info once you know them. Even if the products are not organic or seasonal, I'd still prefer to shop at my local market rather than the supermarkets the vast majority of the time.
Been reading the River Cottage Meat Book and my conscience is being pricked.
However, it's all very well for Mr Posho-Moneybags in his Dorset village to tell us all to buy locally sourced meat (and other groceries), but is it practical and affordable if you live in Brixton and have little time to shop?
Suggestions welcome!
Also please list here butchers, organic grocers (or at least decent grocers with locally sourced products) etc etc that are Brixtion based (or near Brixton)
Ta.
I've been trying to do this too but it is pricey. As Hugh suggests, perhaps better to eat better meat less often.
Agree about Moen's - though my main complaint is the service isn't good there - they're a bit of a factory for churning out admittedly good quality product and don't really have the time to discuss more unusual requests.
The new butcher in East Dulwich (opposite Franklins on Lordship Lane) seems pretty good and better value than M's.
By coincidence went to Dove's today for the first time. It's on Northcote Rd so you'll have to negotiate the future city bankers having their first organic nappies bought for them but they seemed really friendly.
Unfortunately the Saturday organic meat stall outside Opus on Acre Lane has closed due to lack of business - I really can't understand why this wasn't better supported - as this thread demonstrates, there's a dearth of decent meat in Brixton. Veg stall is still there though - great produce; they just need to learn a few lessons in mental arithmatic from the Brixton market traders so they can serve more quickly.
Agree that Esme's is pretty good and that Brixton Wholefoods not great (as well as having some of the most miserable staff in all of Christendom).
I would suggest you try having an organic veg box delivered but we've just given up on Abel & Cole after a catalogue of delivery errors (produce was good though) and unfortunately having a couple of boxes stolen from our doorstep.
Hope that helps.
W.
Geoffers
12-05-2006, 22:26
I feel the same: For the ethical/ecological consumer in Brixton there's sometimes meat, veg everywhere but not a drop to buy!
One thing I'm going to look further into is an ad I saw in Brixton Wholefoods for a local 'organic meat cooperative' - bulk buying and distro thing.
Also, to remember which foods are in season I popped up this list you can browse on a phone each time you feel a bit bewildered at the market: http://www.crazywithak.co.uk/mobile/seasonal.html
I'm planning on changing it every month. Remind me if I don't!
Geoffers.
I would suggest you try having an organic veg box delivered but we've just given up on Abel & Cole after a catalogue of delivery errors (produce was good though) and unfortunately having a couple of boxes stolen from our doorstep.I just happen to have this list of London box schemes/organic delivery companies lying around:
The Organic Delivery Company, EC2 www.organicdelivery.co.uk info@organicdelivery.co.uk 0207 739 8181
UK5 Organics, E5 http://www.uk5organics.org.uk/ uk5organics@hotmail.com 0208 806 0721
Just Organics, N4 telephone 0207 704 2566 113 Wilberforce Road N4 2SP
Bumblebee, N7 www.bumblebee.co.uk info@bumblebee.co.uk 0207 607 1936
Greenwich Organics, SE10 http://www.greenwichorganics.co.uk/ telephone 0208 488 6764
Abel & Cole, SE2 http://www.abel-cole.co.uk/ organics@abel-cole.co.uk 020 8944 3780 and 08452 62 62 62
Capricorn Organics, SE6 http://www.kimmykool.co.uk/capricornorganics/orderpage.htm alison@capricornorganics.co.uk 0208 306 2786
Here, SW3 telephone 0207 351 4321
The Food Ferry Company, SW8 telephone 0207 498 0827
The Fresh Food Co http://www.freshfood.co.uk/ organics@freshfood.co.uk 0208 749 8778
Farmaround http://www.farmaround.co.uk/ telephone 020 7627 8066
Riverford Organics http://www.riverford.co.uk/ telephone 0845 600 2311 and 01803 762720
Brixton Wholefoods not great (as well as having some of the most miserable staff in all of Christendom).
God yes - I was in there asking this bloke if they did Ecover refills the other week and he didn't even look at me as he grunted back. I find it SO fucking rude of people to not even look you in the face when you talk to them! I remember thinking "I bet they're all really nice in here this lot, with their principles and their eco-ways." Like fuck are they.
Anyway, food in the market - (I reckon most of it comes from the same suppliers - especially that prepacked stuff in those little polystyrene trays) I use the Portuguese place on Atlantic road and there's a shop near to Wing Thai on Electric Avenue that does some good quality stuff ( I think they're Ethiopian - they just sell veg in crates and are really sound.) And the stalls in Brixton Village are often good.
I still can't find tasty tomatoes or carrots anywhere though :( :mad: Starting to give up on them! I bought some carrots in Streatham this weekend and made soup with them - you couldn't actually tell there were any in it!
It distresses me, as good tomato is a thing of joy no matter what you do with it and the ones I get are red balls of fuck all. I guess organic and in season really is the way to get veg with flavour.
...I remember thinking "I bet they're all really nice in here this lot, with their principles and their eco-ways." Like fuck are they...What you have got to remember is that a fair amount of eco-hippy stuff is all about turning your back on mainstream society, not a little misanthropy and disgust with "people" and the rejection of the idea that "the customer is always right". It can be preachy, self-righteous, insular and cliquey.
I am very much into "Green" stuff but not at all into the hippy lifestyle. I am more of a 'techno-modernist' green, not an olde-worlde, back-to-the-land, tasseled-skirt, tofu-munching type.
I also don't buy into the whole run-away-from-the-city, hark-back-to-mythical-folk hobitt-bothering crystal shakra crap, which I find very self-obsessed and in many ways reactionary: social justice is *massively* important alongside environmental issues and we really need a global outlook including communicating across cultures - modern urbanised cultures - rather than fetishing the 'exotic' and cherry picking archaic 'traditions' that suit some tee-pee/joss-stick fantasy.
...I reckon most of it comes from the same suppliers...A lot of the fresh fruit and veg in London comes from New Covent Garden in Vauxhall. If you can split it with enough people (and can get up in the middle of the night with a car) you can buy cratefuls of almost any type and grade of stuff for excellent (wholesale) prices. I have done this to get the supplies for festival cafés and once for a kind of 'box-scheme'/cost-price organic pick-n-mix up at Brockwell Greenhouses one summer a few years back.
What you have got to remember is that a fair amount of eco-hippy stuff is all about turning your back on mainstream society, not a little misanthropy and disgust with "people" and the rejection of the idea that "the customer is always right". It can be preachy, self-righteous, insular and cliquey.
I guess so - I really don't run around shops being a gobshite though so it surprised me that he was so rude and anyway, everyone else has been pretty nice so maybe that guy was having a bad day.
I even went on my bike ffs - what's a girl to do? :rolleyes: ;)
aurora green
16-05-2006, 07:31
..Feel like I ought to put a good word in for Brixton wholefoods, although I'm happy to agree that their fruit and veg are mostly shocking quality, I find all the women staff really nice and helpful. They've put stuff aside for me, ordered stuff in, reminded me that I can refil my ecover bottles :o and generally make it a nice shop to visit. The men can be a bit grumpy, but that's men for you, I find ;).
If they could just sort out their fruit and veg supplier though....
And I think it's easier to be an ethical shopper in Brixton than a lot of other places.
William of Walworth
16-05-2006, 08:33
I also don't buy into the whole run-away-from-the-city, hark-back-to-mythical-folk hobitt-bothering crystal shakra crap, which I find very self-obsessed and in many ways reactionary : social justice is *massively* important alongside environmental issues and we really need a global outlook including communicating across cultures - modern urbanised cultures - rather than fetishing the 'exotic' and cherry picking archaic 'traditions' that suit some tee-pee/joss-stick fantasy.
:eek: :p :D
William of Walworth
16-05-2006, 08:35
..Feel like I ought to put a good word in for Brixton wholefoods, although I'm happy to agree that their fruit and veg are mostly shocking quality, I find all the women staff really nice and helpful. They've put stuff aside for me, ordered stuff in, reminded me that I can refil my ecover bottles :o and generally make it a nice shop to visit. The men can be a bit grumpy, but that's men for you, I find ;).
If they could just sort out their fruit and veg supplier though....
Stig's been more often than I have, but I think her experience is more similar to yours than PieEye's ...
It was just one beardy guy folks - once - they are not evil troll people :D
I, however......
Not getting down on Brixton Wholefoods specifically (although IMO they are the worse advertisement for fresh health organic fruit and veg ever) ... its just that I have just had it with people who are self-proclaimed 'holier than thou' and 'alternative' (synergy? psytrance? certain supposed 'commuity' projects or ngos) but then use that as an excuse to be grumpy, curmudgeonly, misanthropic and to retreat into ghettos where they spend their time criticising the world and anyone who doesn't buy into their crackpot ideas.
Sorry - this isn't really the right thread for this comment: it just kind of slipped out! :o
brixtonvilla
16-05-2006, 18:22
The beardy guy in Brixton Wholefoods really is miserable as sin. Still a good wee shop though. One place that does do good quality meat is M&S, but you do pay top whack, of course.
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