How easy is it to be an ethical food consumer in Brixton?

[Orang Utan]

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]

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)

 

[tarannau]

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.

 

[Winot]

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]

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.

 

[TeeJay]

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 [email protected] 0207 739 8181
UK5 Organics, E5 http://www.uk5organics.org.uk/ [email protected] 0208 806 0721
Just Organics, N4 telephone 0207 704 2566 113 Wilberforce Road N4 2SP
Bumblebee, N7 www.bumblebee.co.uk [email protected] 0207 607 1936
Greenwich Organics, SE10 http://www.greenwichorganics.co.uk/ telephone 0208 488 6764
Abel & Cole, SE2 http://www.abel-cole.co.uk/ [email protected] 020 8944 3780 and 08452 62 62 62
Capricorn Organics, SE6 http://www.kimmykool.co.uk/capricornorganics/orderpage.htm [email protected] 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/ [email protected] 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

 

[Pieface]

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 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.

 

[TeeJay]

...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.

 

[TeeJay]

...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.

 

[Pieface]

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?

 

[aurora green]

..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 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]

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.

 

[William of Walworth]

..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 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 ...

 

[Pieface]

It was just one beardy guy folks - once - they are not evil troll people

I, however......

 

[TeeJay]

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!

 

[brixtonvilla]

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.