The Manx Meat Monopoly

[TheTool]

Well seeing as nobody has picked up on this i thought i would start this topic

 

What are you views on the manx meat ban of imports from the UK ?

 

We have been paying over double for our meat for the last 28 years and do you think it is time we got more value for money.

 

I know last time i went to the UK i could get meat for 60% cheaper than here, the meat is as good as here because we tried it, so is it fair we carry on paying over the odds.

[manxchatterbox]

on non exotic agricultural products I belive each country should be as self sufficient as possible and should only import as necessary to make up temporary demand shortfalls..

[Slim]

The answer is to handle meat like other countries do. If the government wants to support local farmers they should do so with subsidies. This would allow manx meat to compete against imported meat. Putting the burden on the population by creating a monopoly isn't smart.

[Lonan3]

Local farmers, believe it or not, are certainly not making any fortunes from their livestock.

The only way to make local meat cheaper is for the government to subsidise it - which only means that we'd be paying the extra indirectly instead of directly.

It is important that we have a degree of self sufficiency in our food supplies, and it's perfectly logical that we can't compete in price terms with major producers.

Ultimately, there are good things and bad about living on a small island such as this one. The price of meat may be seen as one of the 'bad' ones, but I don't think it's a major concern.

[Alex]

I agree with manxchatterbox - we shouldn't be importing things we can produce locally and should be buying local argicultural products, it's better for the environment, the animals, the farmers, the economy, the Island in general.

 

Subsidies imo is a no-no, it just means we all pay rather than just the end user.

[thebees]

I know last time i went to the UK i could get meat for 60% cheaper than here, the meat is as good as here because we tried it, so is it fair we carry on paying over the odds.

 

Do you really believe cheaper meat is better? Someone has to suffer. We have free-range organic meat (always) it may be more expensive but 'meat is a treat' - I've said it before and will no doubt, say it again, there is something very wrong with a £1.99 chicken or 2Lb of mince that costs £1.50. Who takes the loss? Mr Tesco? dont think so. The farmers and the animals are the ones who suffer.

 

Why do we live in such an affluent society where everything has to be seen to be cheap or a bargain? Shame on all the people who queued for the January sales.....nice.

[Slim]

Subsidies imo is a no-no, it just means we all pay rather than just the end user.

 

Everyone pays yes. The residents pay, the businesses pay, the visitors/tourists pay, funds and trusts pay, everyone who benefits from our island helps pay for its self sufficiency. That's better than this cost of living charge on the meat eating residents only.

 

Subsidies work everywhere else, why not here?

 

You a veggie alex?

[=^..^=]

Personally I'm against the cheaper is better argument.

 

I know TheTool thinks that UK meat is acceptable and of a similar quality to the IoM but I would say that is not what I have found.

 

I haven't travelled that extensively but there has only been one place in the world where I can catogorically say that the meat has been better and that was Canada.

 

Farming on the island is no-where near as intensive as in the UK and Europe, the land (up to recently) has not been subjetced to the same level of environmental poisoning that the UK and Europe 'enjoys' so the meat is going to be less ridden with toxic by-products.

 

We have a product (Manx Meat) that is superior to just about anywhere else in the world. GM free ? Too right. Our normal meat is probably the equivalent of the UKs organically reared. Our organic stuff is incredibly good.

 

We should be marketing manx meat as a high quality product to be exported.

 

I suggest you get out of the bigger shops and visit a proper butcher, or a decent restaurant where they will serve you meat as it is meant to be. Aged properly and cut correctly.

 

Pay what it is worth and enjoy every mouthful !

[=^..^=]

Everyone pays yes. The residents pay, the businesses pay, the visitors/tourists pay, funds and trusts pay, everyone who benefits from our island helps pay for its self sufficiency. That's better than this cost of living charge on the meat eating residents only.

Could be a difficult mouthful for the vegetarians to swallow at the end of the tax year

[manxchatterbox]

I always buy my meat from Fenton's in Duke Street - this must surely be the best butchers on the Island....where else could you get a capon for Christmas??

[Alex]

Everyone pays yes. The residents pay, the businesses pay, the visitors/tourists pay, funds and trusts pay, everyone who benefits from our island helps pay for its self sufficiency. That's better than this cost of living charge on the meat eating residents only.

No it's not. Meat is a luxury, like cigs, alcohol, petrol etc. You don't need it, it's not essential, if you want it, you pay. Not everyone, you.

Subsidies work everywhere else, why not here?

Because the end result isn't good for anyone. Imported meat won't be farmed, killed or treated in a way we can control, energy is used getting the meat here, and if we lose any farms the land will be more dandara villages before you can say "6 bacon and sausage baps please.".

 

I bought a local free range turkey this Christmas from my local butchers. It was £35. I don't expect it to be cheap, I want the farmer and butcher to make on the deal. I don't expect other people who didn't buy turkeys to subsidise my buying it, and I don't expect the price to compete with turkeys from huge turkey factory farms in the UK or elsewhere.

 

Pay more taxes so we can subsidise farmers whilst meat is imported, wasting energy getting it here and other countries are getting the benefit of our cash just so some people can buy cheaper sausages? Sounds stupid to me.

 

Care to expand upon your theory of everybody pays some more? Got any reasons or anything?

[manxchatterbox]

I agree with Alex... imported meat veg and dairy is economics of the global mad-house...think of the environmental costs transporting stuff to processing plants, packaging and then storing and transporting... whereas local produce can't travel more than a handful of miles and provides an economic benefit to all areas of the economy..

[Slim]

No it's not. Meat is a luxury, like cigs, alcohol, petrol etc. You don't need it, it's not essential, if you want it, you pay. Not everyone, you.

 

I think you're concentrating on the product, which is what the monopoly on meat does too. What this is really about is the farming industry as a whole. The use of land, the employment of farmers, the products, the community, etc. This isn't about sausages.

 

You bring up examples of cigs, alchohol and petrol. None of those things are controlled in a monopoly, so they're irrelevent. Cigs and petrol aren't produced here, so are also irrelivant as a comparrision.

 

Because the end result isn't good for anyone. Imported meat won't be farmed, killed or treated in a way we can control, energy is used getting the meat here, and if we lose any farms the land will be more dandara villages before you can say "6 bacon and sausage baps please.".

 

I'm not saying we should encorage the import of meat. I live on a farm, I support the farming community. I travel quite far every weekend to make sure I buy local veg directly from the farmer. But the inflated meat prices isn't helping the local farms, because people buy less meat as a result, and it doesn't help veg at all. Far better to subsidise the farms to make them more competetive with imported produce, allow imported produce and healthy competition, and increase the sales of local meat as a result. You also give people the option to buy cheap shite if they like, I wont, but you can if you want, bosh.

 

I bought a local free range turkey this Christmas from my local butchers. It was £35. I don't expect it to be cheap, I want the farmer and butcher to make on the deal. I don't expect other people who didn't buy turkeys to subsidise my buying it, and I don't expect the price to compete with turkeys from huge turkey factory farms in the UK or elsewhere.

 

i'm not disagreeing with you. My locally reared turkey (all 24lb of it) was over £70. I'm happy to pay that, I've alwasy bought local. I want a local farming market. A local farming market benefits the whole island, so the whole island should pay. It does in most other countries.

 

Pay more taxes so we can subsidise farmers whilst meat is imported, wasting energy getting it here and other countries are getting the benefit of our cash just so some people can buy cheaper sausages? Sounds stupid to me.

 

Cheap sausages come in already, cheap joints come in already in frozen food packs in supermarkets.

 

Care to expand upon your theory of everybody pays some more? Got any reasons or anything?

 

Done. Also worth noting, if local farmers were subsidised, they could also export meat cost effectively, something they can't easily do currently.

 

There's also some fuckups to fix on the branding/grading of local meat, beef in particular, but that's another subject.

[ans]

I would rather pay a little extra to support local producers. It shouldn't be in the form of a subsidy though.

[Slim]

I agree with Alex... imported meat veg and dairy is economics of the global mad-house...think of the environmental costs transporting stuff to processing plants, packaging and then storing and transporting... whereas local produce can't travel more than a handful of miles and provides an economic benefit to all areas of the economy..

 

Fully agree, so if we make our farming economically competitive, we wont have to import.