.
.
"I don't want to live on this planet any more" - Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth
Lidl have hooooooge jars of vegan mincemeat. This is lovely in a strudel, or on small squares of puff pastry. Makes a nice mince pie alturnative
Quitting something because it's hard is wrong, and quitting something because it's wrong is hard. One takes cowardice, the other bravery.
Big day for us tomorrow. We are going to the co-op in Cambridge. Toothpaste, fabric softener and doughnuts. Exciting life we lead really.
Quitting something because it's hard is wrong, and quitting something because it's wrong is hard. One takes cowardice, the other bravery.
i wanted to buy some bananas in Co-op today, and picked up a bag of Fairtrade ones that were marked down, didn't notice the use-by date was yesterday. they wouldn't sell them to me, and wouldn't give them away either.
'The word gorilla was derived from the Greek word Gorillai (a "tribe of hairy women")'
Stupid isn't it. I know someone who works at asda and she wanted to buy the bread and rolls that had just gone out of date- wanting them for her chickens. They wouldn't sell them or give them away, instead they chucked out masses of them My dad gets her some from a bakery (which he uses for his shop) and it is ridiculous how many get thrown out. All the woman's chickens/ducks plus all the wild birds are well fed anyway!!
Thanks for info on the mince pies, got some today to take to a meeting tomorrow, sick of the biscuits and cakes not being vegan. Being chair, it's my own fault. I never seem to remember in time. But today I remembered, so it's a pie with my black coffee tomorrow.
The fairtrade mince pies are strange, I don't really think they taste like mince pies. However, the custard doughnuts are very very good!
Yesterday I just happened to go to Newgate Street Co-op to get my home delivery (large, heavy multi item food shopping spree).
It turned out they had closed the shop on Wednesday and done a "re-launch" where they completely revamped the look, new display units and much more refrigeration in the fresh fruit and veg aisles, and moved things around to have a much more logical layout.
They had promo people giving away free samples of herb seeds, juice and pastries.
I noticed the bakery products are much more extensive... and I bought some black olive ciabattas, some hot cross buns, and some custard doughnuts.
Unfortunately they have stopped selling soya soleil.
See my local diary ... http://herbwormwood.blogspot.com/
They have changed a few things since we last went. The one we used to really like is no longer vegan but the 'ecological concentrated fabric conditioner' has the BUAV and No Animal Ingredients signs on. Just dragged it out to double check as I make stupid mistakes with labels quite often with stuff like that, but if Helen is involved there never is.
It's like Ecover, bland smell, might have todump some lavender oil in.
Still miss the Sainsbury's one.
I'm currently in the process of opening my own 'Vegan' grocery shop and its impossible to compete on price with the supermarkets. A good example of this is Swedish Glace which is cheaper to buy in the supermarkets than I can buy it from a wholesaler. Local shops don't have the buying power of the supermarkets.
I wouldn't mind paying a few bob extra to support a vegan shop, so no doubt others will too, johnb, although obviously times are hard for a lot of people at the moment so some will have no choice but to shop around for the cheapest stuff.
Could a number of independent shops form a buying consortium, or wouldn't that help?
Back on the Co-op, my Somerfield now has a lot more Co-op stuff, which is nice, but still no wine marked vegan. I guess they must have a lot of Somerfield wine to shift.
I'm involved in a local members co-op which does a monthly bulk buy direct from SUMA the veggie wholefood wholesaler (another co-op).
Recently SUMA had special offers on nakd stuff so I bought some.
But later my friend saw them even cheaper than the wholesale special offer price in one of the big supermarkets.
See my local diary ... http://herbwormwood.blogspot.com/
I have a question for you Co-op lovers. Our local Somerfield-in-transition-to-Co-op has started offering their membership card and I wondered whether you thought it was worth joining? I'm not all that keen on loyalty cards because of the privacy aspect, but then this is a co-op so perhaps a bit more appealing?
Harpy (with memories of sticking old-fashioned Co-op stamps into a book and then losing it )
I've got one, always forget to use it but it's nice to get a letter telling you now and again that you've got some extra money, plus I think having it makes you a shareholder so gives you some say in the company if you wanted to.
"I don't want to live on this planet any more" - Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth
I agree, it only costs £1.00 to join and as well as getting dividend on everythibg you buy there, you also get dividend if you use any of their other services such as the bank etc.
They also send the magazine, and you can become active in your local branch of the society if you want to. They don't sell, or pass your details on, ether. Neither do they bombard you with junk mail or monthly statements.
As I do the majority of my food shopping there I usually end up with a fairly decent amount of dividend to spend.
I keep the card in my walet and as the checkout staff aslways ask me if I have my card I never forget to use it!
The other day I noticed Newgate Street Co-op had a trolley full of bread on or near the sell by date, 20 pence per item. I saw a fruit loaf and a hovis seed sensations!
See my local diary ... http://herbwormwood.blogspot.com/
I had co-op midlands membership a while back when I did all my supermarket shopping there. Was a complete waste of £1, don't think I ever go any money off/back. It was the biggest Co-op store I've ever seen; they've knocked it down and built an Ikea there now instead
"Mr Flibble - forum corruptor of innocents!!" - Hemlock
I wonder why you didn't get your money back Mr Fibble?
Perhaps you either didn't use your card or they did not have your correct address to send the dividend to?
One of these must apply because the way it works is that using the card causes points to be earned, which get posted to the member's address twice a year.
If you put the wrong address when you filled the membership form in it would not work properly.
Also some years ago customers only got dividend on own brand products, so it was a bit restrictive.
See my local diary ... http://herbwormwood.blogspot.com/
Their computers probably weren't wired right or something. I got them bumpf through the post, but no moola.
"Mr Flibble - forum corruptor of innocents!!" - Hemlock
Doesn't even really cost £1 herb, that just gets taken from any dividends you may earn.
"I don't want to live on this planet any more" - Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth
I seem to remember handing over a shiney £1 coin for my card
"Mr Flibble - forum corruptor of innocents!!" - Hemlock
I get mine free cos I turned 16 and hold an account with Britannia
I think the coop is great and have a dividend card too. Their labelling is honest - eg if they put eggs in their products, they say if they have been battery farmed. I'd rather they didn't use eggs at all, but if they are going to, then I think that approach is best. They label their own brand alcohol really clearly to say if its vegan or not (come to think of it, that is a major reason why I shop there!). I get quite a significant amout of savings because of the card - about £30 or £40 a year - because you get it if you use the coop bank and insurance, which I do.
They do seem to listen to what their customers say.
Must've changed.
http://www.co-operative.coop/help/membershipingeneral/Why do I have to pay £1?
Joining The Co-operative Group costs £1 which is taken from your first share of the profits, and is paid only once. This is your share in The Co-operative Group and gives you the same rights as all our members. It is an investment but it is interest free. You are free to close the account and and withdraw your share at any time.
"I don't want to live on this planet any more" - Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth
Thanks for the opinions. I might invest £1 and let you know what happens. I have a Smile account and the website suggests you might be able to clock up some points or whatever with that - also from their Funeral Service, now how does that work I wonder?
They have Co-operative Funeral Services which is one of the related businesses or co-ops, so if someone dies you can get them to arrange everything to do with the funeral and associated deathly stuff.
These things can be very expensive but a lot of people don't think about anyone close to them dying until it happens.
See my local diary ... http://herbwormwood.blogspot.com/
Yes herbwormwood, I have arranged a couple of funerals through the Co-op myself actually, as I feel vaguely that they're likely to be more ideologically sound than purely capitalistic undertakers (though they don't cost much less AFAIK).
I was just thinking that even as a Co-op member I'm unlikely to collect any dividends from my own funeral - though who knows?
Could you let your family know that you want your funeral to be arranged by Co-op, then fake your death?
"Mr Flibble - forum corruptor of innocents!!" - Hemlock
That's the answer! Not sure how I'd spend the proceeds afterwards but there's bound to be a way. Perhaps I could leave you the balance in my will - no that wouldn't work if they won't give you the money
You can buy a funeral plan with them. I know someone who had one. When he died, his relatives only had to pay a small amount because he'd already paid the majority. They only paid for some optional extras they wanted which were not included in the plan.
I've been considering something like that myself. It gives us a say in how our body gets disposed of... can specify no embalming, cardboard coffin etc. Then as we've already paid for it, it's a contract which has to be fulfilled.
Maybe going a bit of topic here I know.
See my local diary ... http://herbwormwood.blogspot.com/
It's a good idea - certainly the bit about specifying what you want, though you can also do that by putting a note in or with your will I think.
The funerals I've arranged have been paid for out of the dead person's estate, so the relatives didn't have to pay anything out of their own pockets.
If the deceased has an estate the funeral can be paid for from that.
However, from what I have read:
legally once we die as we cease to be a legal entity, we can't have ownership of our body, so anything specifed in our Will related to disposal of our body isn't legally binding, which is why a solicitor will advise the wording "I desire that... XYZ".
A funeral plan overrules any disagreement about what happens because its a legally binding contract.
Personally I have a very strong aversion to anything related to embalming so I don't want my body embalmed, but I haven't got around to settling this legally yet. As embalming is so common, I really should do something about it.
Sometimes people do die with no funds at all and no one to accept responsibility for the debt incurred (happened to someone in my social circle recently) so in the UK the local authority will usually pay for a very basic funeral, but no memorial or whatever, so sometimes other people end up paying for such optional extras. Its amazing how expensive it all is.
Does this make sense, I don't seem to have bee very clear?
See my local diary ... http://herbwormwood.blogspot.com/
Here's a link to the co-op funeral bond, to make sure thread stays on topic!
http://www.co-operativefuneralbond.c...bond/index.php
See my local diary ... http://herbwormwood.blogspot.com/
Yes it's a good idea if you're particular about what happens to your bits after death, although of course you would have to make sure people knew about the existence of the plan.
I have now signed up for Co-op membership online, so I just need to work out how to use my immense power to get the local branch to stock vegan wine and other stuff. They seem to be selling a lot of Somerfield wine off cheap now so I'm hoping that means they are clearing room for the Co-op stuff.
Bookmarks