Some fails this week!

[Roberto]

In order to produce coffee that tastes its best, you need to use hot water. Not 'warm' but hot. 93-96 degrees in fact. If you go to 100 degrees, you release more bitterness so you don't want it actually boiling.

 

So, the fact still stands - people are complaining that they get burnt when their coffee is hot.

 

Yeah, and I for one wouldn't hold a hot (or cold) drink the way that woman did in the first place either, but my point is that equally it's not quite the trivial claim that people make it out to be, either. And the coffee could be brewed at the higher temp and served at a lower one, too.

 

Ignorance is bliss. I used to do animal rights info stalls - just giving out leaflets showing people where their foods come from, and providing samples of vegan food for them to try. Nothing militant there. People got so very angry about being shown where their food comes from it was unbelievable.

 

I remember one protest outside a McDonald's that I helped at, people threw things at us and one guy in a mobility scooter tried to run one of us over... All because we were highlighting where their Chicken McNuggets came from.

 

Yeah, that's crazy. Some people seem to relish their ignorance and don't want to think about "here's a picture of a chicken, this is the wing, this is the breast, this is leg, now show me which part is the 'mcnugget'". I can't understand that.

 

I'm not a vegetarian myself and couldn't imagine becoming one (no problems here with people who have made that choice, though) but I do like to know where my food comes from to some degree. At least to being aware that the beef steak I'm eating came from a cow, and that the apple I'm eating is a certain type and was grown in the EU/UK.

Edited April 29, 2013 by Roberto

[localzuk]

up to a point but you still have to trust whats on the label. How do you know the local farm shop is any better than a supermarket? and i hate shopping at the best of times the idea of ging to 1 shop for this and another for that is enough in itself to put me off

 

That's the thing - you can get your food in a state where you know exactly what has happened to it, where its from etc...

 

Buy your vegetables fresh from local farms. Buy your meat from a local butcher - if you ask, you can find out exactly which farm it came from etc... If you buy pre-packed stuff, then sure, you don't really know. But its totally possible to have a delicious diet from ethical food. And it need not cost the earth either - good planning and making sure you don't waste anything will reduce the bill considerably.

[witch]

Just to clarify, if your steak was cheaper but the animals were treated cruelly, that would be ok with you?

That's not fair really @sparkeh- we all have budget constraints and we can only do our best. As I said though, we eat far too much meat so if we cut down a bit we can then afford to buy expensive but ethically produced meat.

As for an abattoir being the same as in the wild, @X-13 - bit naive of you. Put it in human terms - either a bloke with a gun is running around firing at a group of people in a field, OR you are queued up waiting for said man to put a bullet in your head - and you can look ahead and see your fate..

[X-13]

As for an abattoir being the same as in the wild, @X-13 - bit naive of you.

 

I was just talking about animals being scared when they know something bad is going to happen.

[BenABF]

All this talk of steak and the bbq weather starting is making me feel very peckish But on a serious note, I'm well aware of where my food comes from. My father comes from a family of butchers which has had a shop for over 100 years so I'm well aware of the methods in which the animals are killed. But I know that they only use abetoirs that conform to the highest standards and the price and quality of the meet reflects that. I freely admit to having a diet that is probably too high in meet i.e. 2 of my 3 main meals a day will consist of some form of meet. This is largely down to needing a high protein diet for my gym training and its the only thing that seems to fill me up. The only time I'm warey of eating meet is when eating out as you generaly don't know the origins unless you're paying top dollar and if you go for a curry or chinese you're never going to know what is really in there. I understand the rational behing being a veggie or vegan but I myself have no desire the become one.

[sparkeh]

That's not fair really @sparkeh- we all have budget constraints and we can only do our best.

Oh no judgement implied. Just wanted to clarify the point.

However, what I would say is that if you have a constrained budget, meat is an expensive thing to buy, ethical or not...

[localzuk]

That's not fair really @sparkeh- we all have budget constraints and we can only do our best. As I said though, we eat far too much meat so if we cut down a bit we can then afford to buy expensive but ethically produced meat.

 

I have budget constraints - I don't buy steak, as I can't afford it. I'm not going to put the welfare of animals at a lower level of importance just so I can eat steak...

[CHR1S]

Oh no judgement implied. Just wanted to clarify the point.

However, what I would say is that if you have a constrained budget, meat is an expensive thing to buy, ethical or not...

 

Agreed, I would not be buying steak if I couldn't afford it. In fact I last bought steak on valentines day!

[witch]

I was just talking about animals being scared when they know something bad is going to happen.

 

Yes, I know, but in the wild they might get away and they can do something to help themselves

[JJonas]

The human body can digest raw pork but it is dangerous due to trichinosis, and this is very prevalent. But you are correct about beef - there are even dishes with raw beef as a component.

 

Trichinosis is not present in the British pig stock.

Edited April 29, 2013 by JJonas

[featured_spectre]

Beat me too it. Was about to say Trichinosis not being present in British pork. If I do eat raw pork, it is often the bacon, or ham slices which I would eat raw, and often I brine my pork so I can put it in the fridge and carve away as and when.

[HarryMonkey]

British bacon does not have to come from British pigs. It only needs to have been cured in this country, the pig could have come from anywhere.

[witch]

British bacon does not have to come from British pigs. It only needs to have been cured in this country, the pig could have come from anywhere.

 

That's where reading the label is key - for example all Co-op bacon DOES come from British pigs

[localzuk]

Interesting to know that about pork! Thanks for the info. I was just going on what I'd been told by parents when learning how to cook.

[featured_spectre]

I only buy meat from my local butcher, as I know him very well (his son has been my neighbour for the past 6 years), and I know the farms where he gets his meat from, so the "british bacon" argument is moot for me. I know my food chain right the way back to source. The only things I don't know the entire chain are soft drinks and juices (like orange or apple).

 

Fruit, veg, meat, dairy etc, I know the entire chain.

 

Pasta I make my own

Cereal I buy in oats from a local farm and make my own muesli with (sometimes home grown) home dried apricots, grapes, or whatever is in season.

[JJonas]

@localzuk my dad was a meat inspector, for some reason I remember having a discussion with him about Trichinosis.

[mattlynch]

I know we are on food at the moment but I was asked this week 'if it is 17 miles on a bus how many miles is it in a car!' Fail

[witch]

I know we are on food at the moment but I was asked this week 'if it is 17 miles on a bus how many miles is it in a car!' Fail

 

Hehehehe

[X-13]

I know we are on food at the moment but I was asked this week 'if it is 17 miles on a bus how many miles is it in a car!' Fail

 

Cars can take shortcuts, buses have a fixed route that usually go further than they have to.

[mattlynch]

Cars can take shortcuts, buses have a fixed route that usually go further than they have to.

 

That was my first answer, but no, apparently both the bus and the car take the same route and the question still stands :facepalm:

[witch]

Do you think they mean time rather than distance? The bus has to stop so even if it takes the same route it will be slower?

[X-13]

That was my first answer, but no, apparently both the bus and the car take the same route and the question still stands :facepalm:

 

Ah, that's a fail then...