One of the best ways to save money on food and groceries is to have a great database of recipe ideas at hand that provide simple, cheap and healthy recipes at the click of a mouse. You can effectively access recipes for just about anything that is on special each week giving you an almost limitless range of recipe ideas.

Two grocery retailer websites that provide this are the Independent retailers from Foodworks and IGA and we have provided the links below so you can check them out.

Remember! To save the most money on groceries use our weekly updated comprisons by department so you exactly where you can save the most on any day.

Enjoy.

http://www.foodworks.com.au/recipes 

http://www.iga.com.au/igafresh/index.cfm?page_id=2342

Reading though news articles regarding groceries form all over the world, I came across an article that starts to provide the other view with regards to Animal Welfare and meat exports. None of the views that have been reported in the press from my memory, have brought out the conditions that people live in overseas, all that has been reported in the “cruelty” factor dramatically shown across the screen of the television and the newspapers, painting a picture of cramped cattle and sheep in the holds of ships going overseas and the manner in which the livestock is killed in the respective countries to which they are exported.

In the article “F4AW gains momentum” we start to hear the farmer’s side of the argument. Further research into this topic I found another group on Facebook “Save Live Export” that is attempting to accomplish similar balance to the argument. Both interesting groups attempt to show what the farmer’s perspective is on live exports.

The description of the group Save Live Exports details what the group is about, and I must admit have learned a few things from several of the points contained therein. Have a read

• WHO WE ARE: We are not activists, we do not have a hidden agenda and we are not funded – by anybody. We are jillaroo/jackeroo’s, station managers, stock agents, truck drivers, families, city dwellers, graziers, small business owners, we are the concerned public.

• WHY MEAT ABATTOIRS ARE NOT A VIABLE OPTION:
(i) Indonesia is a wet market. There is no demand for boxed beef. There is no substantial infrastructure or supply chain to support the tonnage required to fill the gap. This live market WILL go elsewhere to source live cattle.
(ii )There is a proven inability to operate and sustain a profitable meatworks in the north. The wet season restricts road usage for half the year. Mustering cattle at this time of year in extreme temperatures poses a huge animal welfare issue.
(iii) Any jobs created would soon be lost at a greater cost to the communities.

• CONSEQUENCES TO AUSTRALIAN FAMILIES:
(i) Increase costs to families on the land having to transport their herd’s interstate for 1000kms for domestic slaughter, devaluing their herds.
(ii) Banks will foreclose within weeks. No income = unsustainable loans. 
(iii) Displacement of rural communities. Shutting down towns, people will be forced to relocate to metropolitan areas. At what cost?

• CONSEQUENCES TO EXISTING HERDS
(i) Properties will become over stocked
(ii) Paddocks will be reduced to dirt, nothing will grow!
(iii) No income to purchase fodder to feed stock.
(iv) Herds will lose their value.

• WE ARE NOT WEALTHY PASTORALISTS: City toys such as quad bikes, helicopters and fully fitted 4WD’s are an expensive necessity for the productive operation of properties. They are not badges of wealth but essential tools of the trade. The general upkeep of these tools is a constant financial drain on the family’s pocket.

• If the trade does not reopen then the Australian investment in the animal welfare in Indonesia will be stopped, we will achieve nothing. Millions of dollars gone to waste.

• By banning ALL Live Export – not just the Indonesian trade - ultimately will affect the whole of Australia’s economy. 

THE ISSUES HAVE NOW MOVED WAY BEYOND ANIMAL WELFARE CONCERNS IN INDONESIA.

I have found over the years that the best conservationists are the farmers themselves, they are directly concerned with their environment, they look after their animals and are a very important part of our society. Countries like Indonesia do not have what we take for granted like refrigeration to store their produce in, in fact much of the population do not have many of the conveniences that we all take for granted like  local supermarkets etc, but we are promoting ourselves as the future food bowl of Asia, just ask most of the politicians they will tell you that is the plan. If this comes to fruition we will not be able to inflict our standards of living onto these people, but it will be expected that we are able to sell them food to feed their populace, and live exports will be part of that. Do we let their people starve, and allow our farmers to leave their lands where they produce so much food, a perplexing thought, one of which we must consider in a logical and balanced manner.

The Made in Australia is often a hazy ill defined description that appears regularly on many products that we buy. There is always an addendum to this statement and usually is followed by made from Australian and imported products. This is so vague I often wonder in what proportions of Aussie verses imported product it contains, is it 10% Australian and 90% imported or is it the other way around.

Food labelling can be so vague is certain aspects, and needs to be revised to show the truth behind the statement. An interesting article appeared in Farmers Weekly written by Sam Tretheway from a farmer’s perspective and is worth a read. I really think it is time for a major review of the vagueness surrounding some of the rules governing food labelling; we may end up by being very surprised at the outcome.

Here is the article

I MUST admit to a patriotic bias when it comes to food choices - and it would seem 87 per cent of Australians share this leaning, or want to. All they need are the tools to make informed decisions.

After being poked and prodded in social situations about farming processes and techniques I’ve started using food labelling as a protective shield, and I think it’s working.

As soon as it’s made known I’m a farmer the dinner party inquisition follows. The light discussions about fluffy lambs and ewes, cute calves and cows, what they eat, when they sleep always start things off - then later the more political questions and opinions begin to flow, usually at the same rate of wine from the second case.

These sometimes heated discussions stem from a lack of awareness or access to information. Consumers get frustrated when we slam them for making poor decisions and turning their back on producers. But how can we bag their choices when they don’t have the full story?

Consumers can’t back up a well-rounded opinion when the detail on food packaging is as vague as it is small. More than 80pc of Australians have said it’s crucial or very important to know their food was grown in Australia. That’s fantastic! So why are they still buying pork at Coles? Enter food labelling.

Let’s look at the government-initiated “Labelling Logic: Review of Food Labelling Law and Policy (Australia and New Zealand)”. From what I read after peeling back thick layers of red tape, this poorly designed initiative was dragged out over nearly 18 months and treated the Australian public like imbeciles, wrapping consumers in bubble wrap and removing responsibility from everyone.

I guarantee this bland spatter of information that passes for a review will be responsible for rating the “un-apparent” health benefits of a choc-coated caramel bar, “traces of nuts” warnings on a pack of Nobby’s as big as a “smoking kills” label and the use of one-syllable words so the linguistically challenged who live on white bread, chips and Coke can understand that their diet is “unhealthy”.

What it can’t guarantee is accurate origin labelling.

Country of origin, where food was packaged and grown, was mentioned just twice and didn’t feature in one question. I was pulling my hair out reading this drivel.

Only 6000 submissions were made in the eight-month consultation period. That’s .02 pc of the population. And it’s no wonder – the application to voice your concerns and suggestions for the review made a passport application look like a Rotary raffle entry.

All I can say is thank goodness for Choice, that independent watchdog who have long been an advocate of clear food labelling in Australia. They were seconded by the Senate in late 2012 to address an enquiry into the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Australian Food Labelling) Bill 2012 (No. 2).

You’ll love this: Choice grabbed over 3700 signatures on a petition for changes to food labelling in just over a week. They also stated, “We suggest that qualifiers like ‘imported ingredients’ and ‘local and imported ingredients’ be prohibited because they are general and do not support informed decision making”.

And there’s more: “We suggest that ‘Produce of’ be used for primary produce such as fruit, vegetables, seafood and meat, while ‘Product of’ would be used for processed foods where virtually all (90pc) of the manufacturing took place in the country claimed and the significant ingredients were grown in the same country”.

Wow, it’s about time!

So be prepared to see “Made in Australia from local and imported ingredients” vanish and be replaced by “Made of Australian ingredients” or “Made from imported ingredients”. Then consumers can do what they want, eat what they want and even boycott what they want.

As we well know, we do a great job of food production here in Australia. And if we can give that 87pc of the population the food they desire, we’ll be a profitable, healthy, happy and well-fed bunch of patriotic eaters. 

Tip 1.

Make sure you save money by checking the current prices of major items before you go shopping. Switch between supermarkets on a regular basis as you could be missing out on a great special or specials on several products you need to buy at another supermarket chain. Check the products and prices in the MyList section of Grocerwatch before you head to the store.

Tip 2.

Be prepared to switch brands when another one is on special. You may just find the other brand just as good but at a much lower price which will save you money. See what is on special at Grocerwatch.com before you decide where to head.

Tip 3.

Create a list. Know just how much you plan to spend before you go to the shop and stick to it. You can do this and save money at Grocerwatch.com.

Tip 4.

Try and choose the lowest prices on the essential items you use very week. If you can get that part of your grocery spending down and keep it down the rest will follow. At grocerwatch.com we focus on the staple, essential products that you have to buy every week so you can save money on groceries.

It sounds repetitious I know but that is the key message we want all Australian families to know - you can shop smarter, better and save money with Grocerwatch.

GW

Woolworths 24hr Trading

I see that Woolworths is trying to get the Queensland Government to open trading to an all day and night event in Brisbane. Funny they have decided to open their Supermarket on Brisbane Airport land, which is Commonwealth property and not subject to trading hour rules for the rest of Queensland. So here we have a store that is at least 5kms away from where people live, hoping that people will drive past several all night garages to get the bottle of milk they need. If you are familiar with Brisbane, people there tend to relax at home and pretty well settled by 9.00pm, they would be reluctant to get out and go to Woolworths to do their shopping.

It really is not a place to open a supermarket up 24 hours a day.

At the Movies

To get the family together and go to the cinema to see a new movie, you pay for your tickets and buy a few refreshments like drinks and snacks and generally at the back of the counter you will see a big machine popping corn ready for you to eat during the show, nice hot popcorn. Ever wonder where that corn came from, well here is the story of some farmers who specifically make corn for popping. Interesting article.

Avocado year round

For those that love to eat avocados, farmers have banned together to form a new company called The Avolution and have formulated strategies to supply the consumer with Australian grown avocados all year round. It just shows that the Aussie Farmer is innovative in their approach to meeting consumer demands. Great work guys and girls.

Bits and Pieces 2

Coles Freshly Baked Bread

The saga has just begun to unfold regarding Coles “freshly baked” bread with revelations that the bread that is par cooked and frozen comes from Ireland. Even the Irish have reported it, here is the news article from the Irish Times. Interestingly I notice in my local Woolworths store that they do not seems to have enough equipment in their baking section to produce the volumes that are in house baked, maybe they are doing the same thing.

UK opens gates to GM foods as Australia bolts and bars the door

The debate on GM foods is of international concern. In the UK it has been reported that due to political and commercial pressure, they want to relax the restrictions on GM produce for human consumption. In my opinion, the safety of food is well in front of any political and commercial pressures especially with regards to the food we consume. Occasionally pollies here seem to get it right, until there is irrefutable evidence that GM produce is safe to eat direct from the farm, it should remain behind a closed, bolted and barred door.

 Australian Government touting star system for healthy foods

The Government is considering changing food labelling rules to show how healthy food products are as you buy them at the supermarket. This is an idea put forward to overcome the increasing problem of obesity within our society today. The more stars that appear on the product the better it is for you. But wait there is more; it will not be applied to confectionery or drinks. In my opinion one in all in, including carbonated drinks. One other thing, if many parents fail to teach their children the benefits of eating healthy foods and a balanced lifestyle, it should then be taught in schools, as stars alone will not fix the problem, it must go hand in hand with teaching future generations how to live a balanced and healthy life. Obesity problems will not be fixed overnight.

Farmers Markets

Many of us, including myself, buy our fresh fruit and veggies from market farmers. Why, well it is fresher, tastes better and provides us with a reasonable amount of certainty in that what we buy from the local Farmers is better for us. These markets are slowly evolving from the stall at the side of the road, into the Farmers Markets that we have today.  From the Chicago Times is an article about what is happening in the USA, interestingly it is happening here in Australia too.

Would you like Cocaine with your Banana

Faux par of the week. Talk about poor quality control from the shipping company with a dramatic mix-up with a delivery of Bananas. In a Danish supermarket a shipment of bananas was delivered to the store, the staff proceeded to unpack the stock and found 100kg of cocaine hidden in the shipment, obviously incorrectly delivered to the wrong people. Investigations are ongoing; bet the shipper will be looking to move too.

Save Money - Bits and Pieces

Smart Phone App for Toilet Paper

Toilet paper is one product that nowadays we cannot do without. An ingenious person in Venezuela has developed an application for smart phones to help people buy this basic of items, Toilet Paper. When you walk into the local supermarket here in Australia, you see several metres of toilet paper, and you may think big deal, but in Venezuela there is a major shortage of this commodity, read the article and see.

How fresh is fresh

Coles and Woolworths promote in house cooked fresh breads and cakes regularly in their advertising, but how fresh is fresh. The ACCC is taking Coles to task due to their interpretation of freshly baked. Apparently some of their product is partially baked overseas, frozen then shipped to Australia where the cooking is completed in store, just like cooking frozen meals in the home. This will be interesting to follow to see what the outcome will be. It raises more doubts in my mind on how deceptive advertising can be in the application of specific words like fresh. Here is the article.

Pigs and GM grains

A recent study was held into the effects of GM grain being fed to animals, the poor pig, and the effect of the product on their health. Apparently, I have been told, the poor old pig’s physiology is very similar to humans, so they won the prize of being picked for the study. As a result several were selected for the study, the usual control group that was fed on normal grains, and the others fed on GM grains. The results can be read here, but again, for the writer, it raises more doubts about the health benefits or lack thereof of GM crops and the resultant effects through the food chain.

Recycling fishing nets

Do my carpet tiles that I have just laid smell like fish? Could be, as in the Philippines they are collecting discarded fishing nets that will be recycled and made into carpet tiles. An innovation that can be useful in getting rid of those old fishing nets that are regularly found lying around.

One of the interesting articles that I have found in recent times on GM crops is that insects like humans evolve. Part of this evolving is that there is a tendency in the evolution of all living things that the cycles learn how to adapt to the environment, in this case pesticides. Apart from the possible side effects to GM crops of making humans ill, or livestock after eating some of the grain, absorbing the genetically modified products and is passed down the food chain into the food that we eat, raises more doubts in the writes mind.

Back in the good old days when there was no GM, we look at how healthy we were, and as time progressed, and GM product came into the food chain, more and more of us tended to get ill quite easily, as if our resistance to various bugs like flu has fallen. Is it that a combination of so called modern methods has destroyed the natural inhibitors in processed foods or somehow GM production and resultant food chain products have assisted in this process. An interesting thought that goes through my mind, all I know is natural foods feel better, look better, taste better and aids in a healthy lifestyle. Have a read of the article below; it raises more questions on my mind on the benefits or lack thereof of GM foods.

More pests resistant to GM crops: study The Australian June 11^th 2013

MORE pest species are becoming resistant to the most popular type of genetically-modified, insect-repellent crops, but not in areas where farmers follow expert advice.

The study delves into a key aspect of so-called Bt corn and cotton - plants that carry a gene to make them exude a bacterium called Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), which is toxic to insects.

Publishing in the journal Nature Biotechnology on Monday, US and French researchers analysed the findings of 77 studies from eight countries.

Of 13 major pest species examined, five were resistant by 2011, compared with only one in 2005, they found.

Of the five species, three were cotton pests and two were corn pests.

Three of the five cases of resistance were in the United States, which accounts for roughly half of Bt crop plantings, while the others were in South Africa and India.

The scientists found big differences in the speed at which Bt resistance developed.

In one case, it took just two years for the first signs to emerge; in others, the Bt crops remained as effective in 2011 as they were 15 years earlier.

What made the difference was whether farmers set aside sufficient "refuges" of land for non-BT crops, said the study's authors.

The genes that confer resistance are recessive, meaning that insects can survive on Bt plants only if they have two copies of a resistance gene - one from each parent.

Planting refuges near Bt crops reduces the chances of two resistant insects mating and conferring the double gene to their offspring.

"Computer models showed that refuges should be good for delaying resistance," study co-author Yves Carriere, an entomologist at the University of Arizona at Tucson, said.

Evidence of this is shown in the case of a cotton-munching pest called the pink bollworm.

Bt crops in the southwestern US, where growers work closely with scientists on refuge strategies, do not have a resistance problem.

In India, though, pink bollworms became resistant within six years because farmers did not follow the guidelines or get this support.

The researchers cautioned that resistance to Bt crops was simply a matter of time, as all pests eventually adapt to the threat they face. But refuges were the key to braking it.

Farming groups have been furiously debating the value of refuges, and in recent years the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) relaxed its refuge-planting requirements.

In 2011, Bt corn accounted for 67 per cent of corn planted in the US and Bt cotton for between 79-95 per cent of cotton planted in the US, Australia, China, and India.

Transgenic crops are opposed in Europe and other parts of the world where green activists say they are a potential threat to human health and the environment

Does this sounds like it happens here

We hear quite regularly that protection of Australian businesses is falling away rapidly, we used to have a vibrant clothing industry here employing over 250,000 workers, nowadays there would be lucky to be 25,000 people employed. We had a vibrant manufacturing business in grocery products; now a lot of it is imported, or owned by overseas companies whose only interest is in profit and not the well being of Australian industry.

When we look at individual industries over the years, we see that many have closed, been taken over or moved overseas, the result, increased unemployment and many supporting industries struggling as a result. We have been told by successive governments that the removal of various tariffs is important to our overseas trading partners, and the increased competition would be good for the consumer. Our clothing industry has disappeared replaced by garment industries as that in Sri Lanka, India and other countries, who employ people to make clothes as cheap as possible, of poor quality and pay those people a paltry amount for their long hours. Similar stories can be applied with house brand groceries, Philippines, Thailand and China are just a few of the countries that we import groceries from.

I found an article from England, The Yorkshire Post, expressing similar concerns about the government decisions having been made, that is of no benefit to the English worker, all in the name of competition and decisions being made by politicians that really are not in the best interest of the British people.

Although referring to different industries in England, the underlying theme rings a bell with what is happening here in Australia. I continue to support Aussie Product, well before imported goods wherever possible.

 Have a read of the article here and make up your own mind.

This article was extracted from Farm Weekly regarding the proposed and now withdrawn idea of selling Animals Australia shopping bags.  

THE backlash over Coles’ in-store promotion of Animals Australia ‘sow stall free’ shopping bags continues to undermine the retail giant’s relationship with producers and farm lobby groups.

Coles withdrew the shopping bags from sale on Wednesday after only two days on sale in response to what Animals Australia described as a "vicious campaign" against Coles and Wesfarmers.

While the National Farmers' Federation (NFF) wrote to Coles chief executive Ian McLeod earlier this week urging the company to seriously reconsider its position of support for Animals Australia, cattle and sheep producers discussed withdrawing support for levy funding for product marketing in Coles’ retail stores.

Cattle Council of Australia chief executive officer Jed Matz and Sheepmeat Council of Australia CEO Ron Cullen said their levy-paying members were upset by Coles’ support for Animals Australia.

The two peak national producer representative bodies hold key advisory roles within Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA).

Mr Matz said under MLA’s domestic marketing program the beef industry plans to spend over $2.7 million of grassfed beef levies next year working with retail and food service providers, to raise standards of presentation, quality, merchandising and promotion.

He said a large proportion of this expenditure is directed to “major retail accounts” including Coles.

Mr Matz said levy funds may be better invested with retailers that “choose to support and work with Australian beef producers”.

“How can an organisation like Coles, which has 35 per cent of the retail beef market in Australia, partner with an organisation that encourages people to not eat meat at all?” Mr Matz said.

“At the end of the day, Animals Australia is an activist group and lobby group and we actually invest in animal welfare.

“If Coles were serious about animal welfare they’d invest with us and not Animals Australia because they only invest in campaigns.”

Mr Cullen said his members were also extremely disappointed to learn Coles had entered into a partnership with a radical activist group.

“Coles have made statements about being concerned for their suppliers - but teaming up with an activist group that wants to close down Australian livestock production seems to be inconsistent with that previously stated support,” he said.

“Our members are incredibly concerned that Coles is moving closer to an activist group with an agenda to end livestock production.”

“We’ll use whatever mechanisms we can to get lamb onto the Australian consumers’ plate and if that results in people going elsewhere to buy their lamb, my levy players would think that’s a fair cop given how Coles have acted.

“We’ve got the best animal welfare standards in the world and we deserve some acknowledgement for that work,” Mr Cullen said.

“We’ve been working on animal welfare a lot longer than Animals Australia has and we’ll continue to do so.”

Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture Sid Sidebottom said there needs to be greater understanding of farming and food production amongst the Australian public, rather than continued driven by high emotion over animal welfare issues.

Mr Sidebottom said the furore caused by Coles’ attempt to partner with an animal activist group on a promotion to help raise funds this week generated “mixed feelings” for him personally.

“I find that an odd decision frankly and hopefully the consumers will make their own minds up about it,” he said.

“I don’t want people to run away with the idea, that because an organisation is supporting something, therefore that organisation they’re supporting has the high moral ground or is, in terms of values, more important than others.

“We have a challenge as a community and we need to work through the values we have as a community.

“But sometimes I despair that we can’t have a sensible debate on these types of issues.

“We have a wonderful farming industry in Australia and I hate to see activists denigrate this industry, for the sake of what I’d regard as often minority value opinions and I’d really counsel them very carefully about this.”