I'm heading down to a mill in Macroom this weekend to get a sack of Irish-grown organic rolled oats; we get through a lot and I've been buying weekly small amounts from a local shop - British oats of all things!
If I can convince the shop to start stocking, instead, the Irish ones (they're worried that their customers might not like to change) I can continue buying from them. It'll be a small, positive change if it comes off. Otherwise, it's a trip to Macroom once in a while, which I'd rather not do. Decisions, decisions - support local trade buying British or use fuel getting Irish-grown.
On the way I'm picking up some second-hand goods: a scythe (whoo-hoo) and a outdoor sweeper, the push kind, for picking up leaves etc around the house. I'll be able to add them to the 'human-powered machines' list.
Stocking up on tinned stuff?
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emordnilap
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vtsnowedin
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I'm surprised you do not consider Irish product local. It is a lot closer then my California Avocados.emordnilap wrote:I'm heading down to a mill in Macroom this weekend to get a sack of Irish-grown organic rolled oats; we get through a lot and I've been buying weekly small amounts from a local shop - British oats of all things!
If I can convince the shop to start stocking, instead, the Irish ones (they're worried that their customers might not like to change) I can continue buying from them. It'll be a small, positive change if it comes off. Otherwise, it's a trip to Macroom once in a while, which I'd rather not do. Decisions, decisions - support local trade buying British or use fuel getting Irish-grown.
On the way I'm picking up some second-hand goods: a scythe (whoo-hoo) and a outdoor sweeper, the push kind, for picking up leaves etc around the house. I'll be able to add them to the 'human-powered machines' list.
I passed up a good scythe the other day at a moving sale. I had just bought two good log chains and HRH was giving me the "Look" thinking I was having too good a time bargaining with the young woman that was selling her husbands stuff that wouldn't fit into the moving van. It was only $25 and in good shape and all of mine are well worn and thin. To buy a new one as good will set me back over $100.
So the surprise should be that emordnilap doesn't find the British oats local?
emordnilap lives in Ireland....
(Edit to add the missing word...
)
emordnilap lives in Ireland....
(Edit to add the missing word...
)
Last edited by Keela on 19 Aug 2011, 13:23, edited 1 time in total.
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vtsnowedin
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emordnilap
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Thanks Keela! My post wasn't the clearest but you're right.
The actual region is irrelevant; the point was in this particular case:
Foreign goods are sold locally (a bike ride for me to buy them).
Indigenous goods are sold at a distance (a car ride for me to buy them).
Naturally I want the local shop to buy the indigenous goods if the quality is deemed high enough.
The actual region is irrelevant; the point was in this particular case:
Foreign goods are sold locally (a bike ride for me to buy them).
Indigenous goods are sold at a distance (a car ride for me to buy them).
Naturally I want the local shop to buy the indigenous goods if the quality is deemed high enough.
I experience pleasure and pains, and pursue goals in service of them, so I cannot reasonably deny the right of other sentient agents to do the same - Steven Pinker
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vtsnowedin
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I musht totally agree with you. May we all be of good cheer and grant others room for the foibles of the day. Afters all none of us is going to get out of this life alive.Keela wrote:No no..... the reading is much more fun after a tongue loosener or two. Red wine is my poison and ......vtsnowedin wrote:I suppose I should confine all my posting to before I've had my third pint of the evening. I'm still a nice enough fellow but my reading skills are dropping way off.
P.S. I never met a box of wine I didn't like.
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adam2
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Thought it worth reviving this old thread to report that I have had the first case of tinned food going bad !
A large can of Spam was unfit to eat when opened, it was very slightly yellow in colour, this was not that noticable and might not have been noticed by someone unfamiliar with the product.
It also had a strange smell, not obviously bad though. A bit like damp cardboard, again not that noticeable especialy to someone unfamiliar with the product, or in an emergency.
The product was out of date but only by a few days ! expiry date was December 2013 and it was opened in the first week of January 2014. I think it would have been as bad if opened the week before.
I believe that this was a "one of" other cans from the same carton looked and smelled fine and were eaten without ill effect.
My main concern is what would have happened if in darkness, confusion, or emergency, the Spam had been eaten ?
Shows the wisdom of carefully examining canned goods before consumption. (and not just long stored goods, this one might have been defective when purchased)
AFAIR this is the first definatly bad can of food that I have had.
Previously, cans of chopped tomatoes with garlick have been discarded as the cans appeared "blown" or distended.
Cans of macaroni cheese were also given away as they tasted horrid, but in that case I suspect that they were unpalatable rather than unsafe.
A large can of Spam was unfit to eat when opened, it was very slightly yellow in colour, this was not that noticable and might not have been noticed by someone unfamiliar with the product.
It also had a strange smell, not obviously bad though. A bit like damp cardboard, again not that noticeable especialy to someone unfamiliar with the product, or in an emergency.
The product was out of date but only by a few days ! expiry date was December 2013 and it was opened in the first week of January 2014. I think it would have been as bad if opened the week before.
I believe that this was a "one of" other cans from the same carton looked and smelled fine and were eaten without ill effect.
My main concern is what would have happened if in darkness, confusion, or emergency, the Spam had been eaten ?
Shows the wisdom of carefully examining canned goods before consumption. (and not just long stored goods, this one might have been defective when purchased)
AFAIR this is the first definatly bad can of food that I have had.
Previously, cans of chopped tomatoes with garlick have been discarded as the cans appeared "blown" or distended.
Cans of macaroni cheese were also given away as they tasted horrid, but in that case I suspect that they were unpalatable rather than unsafe.
"Installers and owners of emergency diesels must assume that they will have to run for a week or more"
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RenewableCandy
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It would have been catastrophic...a bit like someone believing one of "ralph" 's postsadam2 wrote: My main concern is what would have happened if in darkness, confusion, or emergency, the Spam had been eaten ?
But that is why Mother Nature in Her wisdom endowed (most of) us with senses of smell and of taste. Those who, for whatever reason, don't have them must get into the habit of asking for help from those of us who do.
Anyway thanks for the heads-up!
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vtsnowedin
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Funny reading your own posts from two and a half years ago. I wonder if any of the archives on the web will last a hundred years so our descendants might read our thoughts. American civil war diaries etc. are poured over by historians and it can be enlightening reading an original letter from the period. I hope those in charge of the computers keep it safe somewhere. On the canned goods front it just shows the wisdom of rotating stock and having a variety of supplies on hand.
99 times out of 100 a healthy adult taking a mouthful or two of rotten meat will suffer no more than a dose of the runs. Back in the 1970s I remember a rusty tin of salmon killed 4 pensioners with botulism. I think the case is almost unique in history. A friend of mine used to be mad for Indian curries. He went on holiday to Pakistan where he saw street traders pouring water scooped out of the open sewer over their meat stall to keep the meat looking fresh. I never got him into a curry house again.
I should think the worst risk is damp grains with ercot, ricin or some other lethal horror. At least rotten meat goes straight through. Just to add thoughts because I have some stores.
Tinned fish, I always buy away for the pacific or asia. We really don't know the full Fukishima outcome. You can get good Azores tuna. Poundstretchers had a load of John West Tuna from the Atlantic/Africa. I know that Tuna is a miserable fish to eat ethically, but variety of tasty food is key. Breakfast cereal has a 1 to 2 year life, so it seems obvious to rotate 1 years worth. Oats I avoid because there is nowhere ideal to keep from the damp, otherwise I would stock up. Couscous because it takes very little cooking versus rice or pasta which are no use in powercuts. Lots of Mackerel, some sardines. Lots of ring pull tomato tins - not much to go wrong for poisoning. Tinned beans of many types. Not much dried beans except in normal cooking. Soya mince by the sack 15kg takes very little cooking. Tinned fruit salad used to be cheap in Aldi with added vit C to preserve. Apart from normal veggy seeds which are limited on a garden, this year I will be trying black sunflower seeds which make a fast edible plant - eaten from shoots in a tray like cress, and brown mustard seeds which are also an edible shoot and can be composted into the soil as an organic insecticide. I don't mind eating dandelion leaves or ground elder either. It seems pointless buying Spanish lettuce.
Tinned fish, I always buy away for the pacific or asia. We really don't know the full Fukishima outcome. You can get good Azores tuna. Poundstretchers had a load of John West Tuna from the Atlantic/Africa. I know that Tuna is a miserable fish to eat ethically, but variety of tasty food is key. Breakfast cereal has a 1 to 2 year life, so it seems obvious to rotate 1 years worth. Oats I avoid because there is nowhere ideal to keep from the damp, otherwise I would stock up. Couscous because it takes very little cooking versus rice or pasta which are no use in powercuts. Lots of Mackerel, some sardines. Lots of ring pull tomato tins - not much to go wrong for poisoning. Tinned beans of many types. Not much dried beans except in normal cooking. Soya mince by the sack 15kg takes very little cooking. Tinned fruit salad used to be cheap in Aldi with added vit C to preserve. Apart from normal veggy seeds which are limited on a garden, this year I will be trying black sunflower seeds which make a fast edible plant - eaten from shoots in a tray like cress, and brown mustard seeds which are also an edible shoot and can be composted into the soil as an organic insecticide. I don't mind eating dandelion leaves or ground elder either. It seems pointless buying Spanish lettuce.
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adam2
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IIRC, a respected member who has worked in the food industry suggested that tinned tomatoes might NOT keep a very long while.
Should be fine up to the date on the can, and probably a bit beyond that date but not perhaps for too long.
I believe that the concern was the acidity of tinned tomatoes that might in time perforate or otherwise damage the can.
I take care to use tinned tomatoes within 12 months of the date on the can.
For most other tinned products I allow 24 months.
Should be fine up to the date on the can, and probably a bit beyond that date but not perhaps for too long.
I believe that the concern was the acidity of tinned tomatoes that might in time perforate or otherwise damage the can.
I take care to use tinned tomatoes within 12 months of the date on the can.
For most other tinned products I allow 24 months.
"Installers and owners of emergency diesels must assume that they will have to run for a week or more"