On Sun, 3 Aug 2003 13:38:08 +0100, "Jim Webster"
posted:

"Moosh:]" wrote in message
.. .
On Fri, 1 Aug 2003 10:53:24 +0100, "Jim Webster"
posted:

farmers are now an insignificant proportion of the electorate in the UK,
in
any constituency. So you can ignore them and just stuff the party coffers
with supermarket funds

Don't you have those bumper stickers "Without farmers we starve and go
naked"? Seems like a little factual "propaganda" should work wonders,
although you don't have compulsory voting there, do you. That's a
bummer. You could convert a dozen villagers, and they will not likely
bother to vote if it's raining.

The trouble with compulsory voting is that it allows people to vote who
otherwise couldn't find their backside with both hands.

Of course, it's not perfect, but rain hail shine or a forecast
landslide, folks still turn out. The "backside unaware" will likely
balance each other out.

If someone only
votes because of the law, should they have a vote in the first place? :-))

The vast majority cast a thoughtful vote. I always cast a thoughtful
vote, but when voluntary council elections roll along, I often have
other pressing matters that prevent my voting. Even with postal voting
now, I sometimes miss the deadiline. I may say to myself "it's only
one vote".

Trouble is that food is largely bought on price and any cheap imported stuff
will do. There is a niche organic and nice quality food market but
everything else is lowest price possible.

Yep, I've got no answer to that, other than if Britain wants
indigenous farmers, it must protect them by some form of welfare so
that lower standard of living countries can compete on a level playing
field (although they won't think so. Like they do in Europe).

Also a three month strike at the right time of year, even if possible
would
lead to a collapse of western society because people would starve.Even
if
they imported the food, there isn't all that much food on the market
(see
what UK fmd outbreak did to beef prices in the first couple of weeks
of
the
outbreak and UK is not a big beef producer in world terms)
In the UK with a lorry drivers strike there was a panic and the
supermarkets
were nearly emptied overnight. I doubt there are the stocks of food in
the
country to stand a two week break in supply.

Yes, I believe London has only a short survival time if food imports
are cut.


I suspect very few major cities actually have meaningful food stocks.How
many public authorities actually do have any food stockpile?

None that I know of, they leave it to the supermarkets. I have a
couple of Woollies and Coles pantech barrelling up the road every day.

With 'just in time' and companies unwilling to carry stocks because of the
cost of keeping that capital tied up, it would be interesting to see just
what stocks are available in country

Yes, although many supermarket here apparently "lease space" to
manufacturers. Thus a manufacturer might better store his surplus in a
supermarket where it can be sold rather than in his warehouse. The
ideal of course is "just in time".