Breadcrumbs

[tim]

I think that they also used to rub 2 pieces of loaf together didn't they, Sprout?

PS Wholemeal for flavour?

[tim]

[supersprout]

Oh yes tim, so 'doesn't have two crusts of bread to rub together' would mean too poor to even make breadcrumbs?

[tim]

Indeed!

[Obelixx]

Please explain why prawns are ecologically bad.

Don't often eat them - prefer North Sea brown shrimps - but am curious.  Is it air miles, over fishing??

[supersprout]

No.1 son is the family expert on this. In his absence, I seem to remember:

Unfarmed prawns are low in the food chain, and over-fishing compromises sea creatures further up the food chain who rely on them. The technique of fishing for prawns trawls the seabed and there is a large amount of by-catch - up to 20 times the weight of the prawns.

Because prawns are a very profitable crop, marginal coastline habitats are destroyed to make offshore prawn farms. Few prawn farms are organic, so there is concern for chemicals in the prawns, and leaching into the sea. There's also concern for worker welfare, and child labour is used in the prawn industry. Few prawn farms are locally owned, most belong to multinational companies. So the money you pay has limited benefit locally.

Air miles - because air fuel is heavily subsidised, the price we pay doesn't compensate for the ecological impact of transport

Sorry to be vague, No.1 son would give chapter and verse, but he's away for a couple of weeks. He's not at all fussy about food, but will never eat prawns, hasn't done so since he was in sixth form. This is a really good link for an 'ethical guide' to prawns and other fish:

http://shopping.guardian.co.uk/ethicalshopping/story/0,11951,899658,00.html

Morecambe Bay shrimps for me every time too, when I can get them ;D

[tim]

Well said, Sprout - read our No1 son's book on it!!

And don't forget that the 20% 'wild' prawns' from Mozambique etc- for export -  are fished at the expense of  80% 'real' fish for the local population.

And yet, given all this knowledge, we are the biggest consumers in the world?

[supersprout]

Can you give a link to No.1 son's book tim? :)

[tim]

Slight exaggeration - not 'a book' but 'part of a book!
I'll PM it - or I'll be accused of advertising!

[supersprout]

Thank you tim :) ;)

[Obelixx]

Thank you.  I'll stick to my tasty shrimps.