Do you buy local?

MattBanshee

I live in London so I don't really have 'local', but as pretty much every vegan restaurant and food shop is independent, I regularly support those.

Phil_aka_Pip

p90fool said:

Our local Tesco employs 165 local people. 
I'd rather support them than one local UKIP-supporting lunatic local butcher.

except that you're supporting a big business that doesn't give a damn about the 165 local people in its employ and lies to its investors about the financial state of the company. You never know, some of those 165 local employees might also be "lunatic UKIP supporters" ...

crunchman

Phil_aka_Pip said:

p90fool said:

Our local Tesco employs 165 local people. 
I'd rather support them than one local UKIP-supporting lunatic local butcher.

except that you're supporting a big business that doesn't give a damn about the 165 local people in its employ and lies to its investors about the financial state of the company. You never know, some of those 165 local employees might also be "lunatic UKIP supporters" ...

@p90fool has Wales as his location in his profile.  52.5% of voters in Wales voted for Brexit so the odds are that most of them are at least sympathetic to UKIP.

p90fool

crunchman said:

Phil_aka_Pip said:

p90fool said:

Our local Tesco employs 165 local people. 
I'd rather support them than one local UKIP-supporting lunatic local butcher.

except that you're supporting a big business that doesn't give a damn about the 165 local people in its employ and lies to its investors about the financial state of the company. You never know, some of those 165 local employees might also be "lunatic UKIP supporters" ...

@p90fool has Wales as his location in his profile.  52.5% of voters in Wales voted for Brexit so the odds are that most of them are at least sympathetic to UKIP.

Yeah, cos there's nothing we like better in Wales than union jack-waving posh city boys. 

bingefeller

I only buy from bakeries and butchers who vote Sinn Fein.  

lovestrat74

bingefeller said:

I only buy from bakeries and butchers who vote Sinn Fein.  

Kosher!

p90fool

On a serious note, our local Tesco has revitalised my local town. They're actually a pretty good employer compared to a lot of local companies, paying well above minimum wage, with good benefits packages and promotion routes and they happily recognise and work with Usdaw.

A lot of new businesses have opened and stayed open since they arrived, and other large companies are starting to piggyback now that Tesco have proved it's a town worth looking at. 

This is a town run formerly run by three or four local families for generations, who were on every committee, ran the council, blacklisted workers, fixed petrol prices and ran manky, illegally filthy and expensive shops seemingly immune from prosecution. 

And if you'd fallen out with so-and-so's second cousin when you were 15, don't even bother going to that job interview, you wouldn't stand a chance.

Some of us imagined a multinational company coming here to shut down what little we had left, when in fact they just smashed a cartel. 

Local isn't always better. 

stephen.wood125

@P90fool Interesting perspective and nice clarification. Thanks for that. Wis awarded.

crunchman

I have mixed feelings about Tesco.  If I go back to my hometown (I'm originally from Devon) the High Street is absolutely deserted these days.  Everyone just goes to the big Tesco just outside of the centre of town and buys everything there.

When I was a kid there used to be an independent toy shop we used to love, there used to be a Tandy, and a Woolworths.  All of that stuff has gone now.  You can buy toys in Tesco, and you can buy most of what Woolworths used to sell.  It's not all Tesco's fault but I don't think it has helped. 

DiscoStu

Phil_aka_Pip said:

DiscoStu said:

Phil_aka_Pip said:

DiscoStu said:

Local beer, local bread, local coffee.

They grow coffee in your neck of the woods?

My friends have a coffee roasting business, their coffee is more expensive than the big brands but it's tastier than most and they've got kids to feed.

fair enough but I bet they're importing the beans

That's irrelevant, all manufacturers need to source their materials. The point is they take the sacks of green beans, roast them on site in their cafe, grind it and bag it. It's local produce.

strtdv

bingefeller said:

I only buy from bakeries and butchers who vote Sinn Fein.  

Depending on where exactly you live that could either be very easy or very difficult!

bingefeller

strtdv said:

bingefeller said:

I only buy from bakeries and butchers who vote Sinn Fein.  

Depending on where exactly you live that could either be very easy or very difficult!

Unfortunately, for me, I live in Sandy Row.  

strtdv

Could be tricky. I used to live on Felt Street/off Blythe Street.
You should ask in Kirk's if any of them vote Sinn Fein. 

bingefeller

strtdv said:

Could be tricky. I used to live on Felt Street/off Blythe Street.
You should ask in Kirk's if any of them vote Sinn Fein. 

That's an idea.  I was going to ask in The Royal Bar if they get their booze from any Sinn Feiners, not sure how it'd go down though.

strtdv

Could be worse, could have been the Donegall Arms when it was on Roden Street

WezV

I picked up a couple of large ham hocks, a pound of amazing smoked bacon, 8 links of large farmhouse sausage and a couple of links of black pudding.  All from local animals and made on site near my house.

I left with change from a tenner.

i don’t go because they are local.  I go because the quality is amazing and the prices are better than most supermarkets.  

p90fool

WezV said:

I picked up a couple of large ham hocks, a pound of amazing smoked bacon, 8 links of large farmhouse sausage and a couple of links of black pudding.  All from local animals and made on site near my house.

I left with change from a tenner.

i don’t go because they are local.  I go because the quality is amazing and the prices are better than most supermarkets.  

And yet that scenario barely existed 30 years ago, the quality and prices are excellent BECAUSE of the supermarkets, they've been forced to up their game to stay in business. 

Our local greengrocer and butcher are fantastic and they're thriving because they're challenging the supermarket on quality, but they never made that effort before the supermarket arrived. 

I know my town may not be typical, but because it's fairly isolated it makes an interesting study in local market forces.

Phil_aka_Pip

@p90fool ... wow for the On a serious note post!

p90fool

Welcome to Wales lol