Thanks George – Food prices to increase yet again!

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20%, Budget, food, george, hot, increase, osborne, price, vat

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2118479/BUDGET-2012-The-takeaway-tax-How-price-hot-lunchtime-snack-20-cent.html

 

Is the ‘Fat Tax’ just obese?

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fat, fatty, food, fried, government, nhs, obese, obesity, overweight, tax

In a time when we all need to tighten our belts, it seems the government is planning to definitely bring forward a plan to tax us on the fatty life style. So what does this mean? Well if we are to follow the route of our European neighbours we can all look forward to even less money in our pockets. Will it actually stop people from buying fatty and junk food?  Probably not. Will it raise the chancellors trove? Certainly! If we’re talking about a few pence per portion,  are we really going to miss those couple of pence?

We’ve had the carrier bag charge for a while here in Wales and sure, there’s been a decrease in usage, but we still use them! At the end of the day we don’t mind paying 5p for another one. The bill to the environment was estimated at 31 million and is hoped will recoup around 5 million by applying this charge. That’s about one sixth, so why didn’t they put the charge at 30p per bag and not 5p ?  Was it a serious attack on all us terrible bag throwers? For sure we would think twice about using a bag twice if it were more expensive to buy a new one.  So the same ‘charge’ is thrown at the fat tax;  if they really had a serious concern for our welfare then why not ban fast food outlets, sell healthy food only. We obviously all need to eat and a penny or two charge is not going to be paid by the restaurants or take aways, it will be passed on to us.  If McDonald’s is the only place that sells food in a town where there’s nothing else around, we’ll eat there, guaranteed, regardless of what content or the price!

In a strange comparison, in the mass advertising campaign for anti smoking, the pictures on the fag packets, the reduction of advertising on billboards and public places,  maybe a pointer to how raising prices and charges simply does not work. It simply makes the poor poorer yet again. There has hardly been much of a dramatic slow down in the number of people who smoke over the last few years after all that campaigning, but of course, still been steady tax rises.  This can really be an indicator to where the fat tax is actually heading. Will all proceeds from the Chinese takeaway really be thrown towards the NHS to help thin it’s own expanding waist line? And if by some miracle it does have an effect on putting us off fatty foods, then where next? With no money coming in – as everyone will be eating healthy, what do they tax next? Exercise machines, joggers, cyclists ? Surely they’ll think of yet another worth while cause we all have to contribute to. Maybe a smiling tax!  It will be very interesting to see where this extra money is actually allocated. Looking into the future, if there’s less fat people to serve, and lets face it, that’s what we’re talking about, like some alienated zombies from another planet, there will be less required on NHS treatment, but then less tax collected. The cost of obesity for the NHS, employers and related services is only a tiny fraction of the cost of alcohol related incidents, illness and associated crime, but that still seems to go relatively unpunished – yet again no rise in the budget. Of course this doesn’t affect just fat people, it will make all of us a victim of another tax. Cigarette smokers pay their tax, carrier bag users pay there’s, but we’re all going to be paying a fat tax, even the thinnest and healthiest of us. Now that doesn’t seem right.

It is without doubt that some fatty food is in fact good with us and although a burger and chips is considered unhealthy, there are a proportion of good nutrients in all kinds of meals. So will the fat tax really help contribute to the cost of the snorter porker to the NHS? Doubt It! It will probably have to be reallocated to people who will become homeless, malnourished and anorexic due to their lack of affordability to eat. Another winner!

 

Meat stays fresher in LED-lit cabinets, say researchers | News | Refrigeration and Air Conditioning

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fresh, keep, meat

Meat stays fresher in LED-lit cabinets, say researchers | News | Refrigeration and Air Conditioning.

UK Curry Capital 2011 And Favourite Asian Restaurant Awards

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curry capital 2011 asian restaurant year awards

The idea arose from the bad publicity following racial unrest in parts of London, unrest that has been repeated in other cities since. The intention was to provide a showcase for selected cities in United Kingdom with large ethnic communities through the medium of food and drink, focusing on what the cities do for their ethnic communities and, in return, what the multiracial community brings to that city.

The last Curry Capital of Britain before 2010 was held in 2007 when it was won by Leicester. The competition was re-introduced for 2010 but as part of the 13th National Curry Week sponsored by Cobra Beer and CurriesOnline.co.uk in November 2010.

Previous holders are :

London West(2001) : Glasgow(2002) : Glasgow (2003) : Bradford (2004) : Birmingham (2005) : Glasgow (2006) Leicester(2007)

Competing Cities & Dates for 2011:

Cities to be invited to compete for 2011 by the organisers as follows :

Southall/Ealing(London) – Tower Hamlets(London) ; Birmingham ; Leicester ; Cardiff ; Bradford ; Manchester ; Sheffield ; Newcastle ; Edinburgh ; Glasgow ; Liverpool ; Leeds ; Wolverhampton ; Nottingham ; Luton ; Northampton.

Other cities are welcome to apply.

The winner of the title for 2011 will still be the title holder for London 2012 Olympic Games.

Votes for team restaurants are now closed but you can still place your vote for your favourite Asian restaurant anywhere in Britain to be “Customer Restaurant of the Year 2011″ at vote@fedrest.com***

* Year’s supply equals one a case of Cobra per month for twelve months

** Year’s supply equals 12 jars of Patak’s Tikka Masala, 12 jars of Patak’s Korma (or other flavours), 12 packs of plain naan, 12 packs of plain poppadum, 6 jars of Mango Chutney, 6 jars of Lime/Brinjal Pickle.

***No personal information (email or geographical address) gathered during voting will be passed on to any third-party.

Dates :

National Curry Week runs from 9-15 October 2011. The winner of Curry Capital of the Year 2011 will be announced on 1st November.

Final voting for teams 26th August;
Teams announced 5th September
Final voting for city 22nd September
Final date for receipt of Council submissions 26th September.

THE JUDGING PROCESS

Step 1 : is to choose four curry restaurants in each competing city to represent the city and on which the judges can focus their attention. This is achieved by votes on the dedicated website and through Mood Food Magazine as well as in cooperation with regional newspapers, and radio.

Step 2 : is for the organizers to build up dossiers on each of the four team restaurants in each city for eventual presentation to the judges who will have carried out their own, independent appraisals with the help of a small army of volunteers.

Step 3 : is to build up a dossier on each competing city based on what the ethnic community does for the city and what the city does for them and the importance of their curry community-once again for presentation to the judges.

Step 4 : Invite all team restaurants to hold a special dinner during the month of the event with proceeds going to The Curry Tree Charitable Fund to help the poor and undernourished the world over.

Step 5 : is to encourage the public to vote for their city via the website.

Step 6 : is to receive the submission (written or electronic) from the Councils or marketing entities as to why their city should win the title. (very important)

Step 7 : is to present the final dossiers to the 13 judges for voting and verification by the organiser.

SCORING

Scoring for the title by the judges is based in three areas :

(a)The standard of food and service of the four team restaurants chosen and their role in serving their community and city . (40% marks)

(b)The input from each Council or representative in their submission advising why their city should win the title given the criteria to add to the organiser’s confidential dossier. (40% marks)

(c)Standard of Health & Cleanliness of curry restaurant within each participant based on ‘Scores on the Doors’.(10% marks)

(d) The support of team members and/or Council of the event’s charitable aims. (10% marks)

via About Curry Capital.

 

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