"Howard Neil" wrote in message
...
For instance, in livestock farming UK farmers have to comply with
welfare standards (quite right too) and have to abide by identification
rules (every cow and bull has to have an individual passport so the meat
on your table is traceable back to an individual animal. This ensures a
high quality product but the costs are massive. There are many countries
in the world where animal welfare is virtually non existent (and where
BSE or poultry diseases, for instance, are rampant) and where the
farmers receive very large subsidies from their government. This allows
them to flood our market with sub standard food.

Sorry to intrude but you cannot get away with that one.
It is funny how I recall British farmers (and feed manufacturers) happily
feeding ground up sheep to cattle (even though cattle are vegetarian but who
cares as long as they get fat quickly) which started off the BSE thing in
the first place. I also recall British scientists saying there was no risk
to humans as the disease could not jump the species divide, even though it
had just done exactly that (from sheep to cows).

So, to rephrase .... this allows *us* to flood *our* market with toxic
foodstuffs .....

I am glad UK farmers have to comply with welfare standards, and some
certainly do ... perhaps the rest would like to catch up sometime.

I buy my food on quality, preferably 'organic' although that is no guarantee
of quality.

(:

Gianna