Where can I get decent bread in central Brixton?
- Thread starter Orang Utan
- Start date
newbie
undisambiguated
I'm not going to champion Tesco or any of their competition. But this lazy blaming the supermarkets for any and every change in our habits is a bit dull.
'Mr Tesco' isn't just the county set lording it over the rest of us- which was what farming was about throughout the c20.
Corporate Watch gives the main Tesco shareholders (in 2004) as:
1. Barclays Global Investors (3.82%)
2. Legal and General (2.79%)
3. Schroder Investment Mgt Ltd (2.87%)
4. State Street Global Advisors (2.73%)
5. Axa Investment Managers (2.63%)
6. Threadneedle Investments (2.33%)
7. Scottish Widows (2.08%)
8. M & G Investment Mgt Ltd (1.99%)
9. Morley Fund Management (1.88%)
10. UBS Global Asset Mgt (1.73%)
Notice that these are pension funds or investment fund managers, ie they're administering the pensions and savings of millions of people. No, I'm not singing the praises of the capitalist system of ownership and control, and yes, of course that disguises the power and greed of some incredibly wealthy people.
The drop in the % of our income going to the food trade has coincided with its change of ownership/control from the landed gentry to pension funds, and with a massive expansion in the choice and quality of foods available to the least well off. Of course there are many downsides which must be recognised, and of course there are good reasons to be concerned about the power Tesco, in particular, has over our lives. But it's got a lot more going for it than romantic tosh about yeoman farmers tilling the soil and artisans joyfully producing the highest quality food for the sheer love of it.
'Mr Tesco' isn't just the county set lording it over the rest of us- which was what farming was about throughout the c20.
Corporate Watch gives the main Tesco shareholders (in 2004) as:
1. Barclays Global Investors (3.82%)
2. Legal and General (2.79%)
3. Schroder Investment Mgt Ltd (2.87%)
4. State Street Global Advisors (2.73%)
5. Axa Investment Managers (2.63%)
6. Threadneedle Investments (2.33%)
7. Scottish Widows (2.08%)
8. M & G Investment Mgt Ltd (1.99%)
9. Morley Fund Management (1.88%)
10. UBS Global Asset Mgt (1.73%)
Notice that these are pension funds or investment fund managers, ie they're administering the pensions and savings of millions of people. No, I'm not singing the praises of the capitalist system of ownership and control, and yes, of course that disguises the power and greed of some incredibly wealthy people.
The drop in the % of our income going to the food trade has coincided with its change of ownership/control from the landed gentry to pension funds, and with a massive expansion in the choice and quality of foods available to the least well off. Of course there are many downsides which must be recognised, and of course there are good reasons to be concerned about the power Tesco, in particular, has over our lives. But it's got a lot more going for it than romantic tosh about yeoman farmers tilling the soil and artisans joyfully producing the highest quality food for the sheer love of it.
