Congratulations to our winners

This month Time Out announced the winners of their shopping awards.

Of course, no list of the best shops in London would be complete without a liberal sprinking of Unchained stores.

We'd like to say a big congratuations to all the Unchained stores who were nominated for the awards. You make us very proud.

For the full list visit http://www.timeout.com/london/shopping/features/4879/Time_Out_Shopping_Awards_2008.html

Don't forget to add recommend your favourite Unchained stores to us if they're not already in the guide.

A right pig's ear

Following on from Lea's last post, this is how bad things have got for pig farmers. I don't know if you've seen the above poster recently, or even been compelled to visit their site pigsareworthit.com, but the situation these guys are in is awful. Many of the farmers have been struggling on because the farm is their inheritance. Their great grandfather started pig farming over a century ago and if they quit they will be letting several generations down. But how can they continue when they're losing money on every pig they sell?

The farmers are in this situation because the price of grain has more than doubled in the past year. And yet the supermarkets are keeping the pressure on the farmers to keep prices down while they still make a healthy margin.

I don't see how this situation can continue. Are we going to lose our agricultural industry in the same way as we lost manufacturing? And what can we do about it? Is this our government's responsibility or do we need a different approach?

What shape is your food chain?

I remember learning about the food chain when I was a kid.

I grew up in JHB so my education may differ slightly from the British way, but I'm quite certain the principles that underpinned the food chain were the same: all creatures enjoy the abundance of the land and then become part of this land for creatures that are bigger, stronger and wiser.

In the year 2008, in the first part of what looks set to be an enduring recession, I see a food chain that's very different. And big business is perched right at the very top.

Most of us (certainly every person I know) rely on business for their most basic human right to food. In fairness, I am yet to meet a self-sufficient allotment-owner, (and if you are one do drop me a line). As for everyone I have met, we rely on the businesses around us to stock (or over-stock as the case may be) our fridges and feed our children.

For as long as I can remember this has been part of life's natural course. No big deal. But now, in this bizarre climate (both literal and economic) this little fact is making me feel more about more vulnerable.

Without these businesses, I would literally have no food. Other people I talk to are feeling the same. The lack of self-sufficience is scary enough. It's even more scary when viewed in the context of our current international economic meltdown.

Yesterday The Observer reported the huge and petrifying thrust of it:

Butter - up 60% since 2007
Beef - last year farmers lost £150 on every animal they sold
And bread - 7p in 1990 but you'll pay £1.15 for the same loaf today

If there's one lasting thing that I've remembered about the food chain it's the shape.

Not a graph with ups and downs, nor is it a big fat arrow pointing out of the local community.

The food chain was always represented as a circle. Human beings have seemed to have forgotten that they are part of a dynamic eco-system. What we put out there comes back to us - so it only stands to reason that by putting money in big business that takes our money away from us and towards shareholders in another country will reveal a shorfall sooner or later.

What do you think? Have you noticed things getting unreasonably more expensive? Where do you buy food and why? I'd love to hear from you.

Not my words

The Truman Brewery area on Brick Lane is a haven for independent shops and market traders. I noticed at the weekend that UniQlo opened a shop there. And I wasn't surprised to see that a budding street artists had something to say about it.

Tipping the scales of injustice?

The news today is awash with talk of an independent ombudsman that has been appointed to resolve disputes between the big supermarkets and their suppliers.

My personal opinion is that their approach to planning permission and the 'competition test' leaves a lot to be desired. Many parties (including Friends of the Earth) felt this was a missed opportunity to do someting for local shops.

I think it's a missed opportunity to use the planning system to achieve greater diversity and vibrancy on our High Streets.

But when it comes to protecting suppliers, this appointment seems to have already taken great strides in the right direction:

• The ombudsman will investigate any complaints made by suppliers
• It will levy financial penalties on those who don't comply
• And most importantly, it will receive information confidentially from suppliers, so there's no concern about ruining business relations by speaking up.

Of course, ASDA's not pleased. Andy Bond, their CEO said, "The commission's proposals on the new code and an ombudsman could cost the industry hundreds of millions, leading to higher prices for customers which will hit families hard at a time when they are already feeling the pinch."

Yes, Andy, instead we should definitely keep prices down at the expense of the planet and the nation's producers. Man, doing the right thing really sucks. Read more on the BBC website.

This week saw this adition of our lovely little delicious and Facebook buttons on the site. You can find it on the bottom of every shop page as shown in the picture below.


Now when you see something you like you can immediately bookmark it or add it to your Facebook news stream.

While we're on the subject of Facebook, if you haven't joined our group yet you're missing out on competitions, news and other delightful things. Take yourself to Unchained - for the love of great independent shops and become a member.

Let us know what you think of the feature and if there's anything else you'd like to see us include on the site.

The trouble with man-flu

There's a lot of trouble with the man-flu, especially if you're me.

Not only does it put you out-of-action for a week, but that means that a lot of emails, blogs and things just never get written. Not good.

It also means that when one attends meetings that absolutely cannot, under any circumstances (sans death) be missed, one may take too many Sudafeds thereby making it impossible to swallow anything dry for days.

Yes, dear reader, it has been a tough week for my head, nose, throat and I.

And in case you were wondering, the man-flu is the very reason why the blogging has been rather thin.

I thought the least I could do was drag my germs to the laptop to share a great piece of coverage we enjoyed in London Lite this week - thank you chaps. Click on the image to read what they had to say.

Stay tuned for lots of exciting gossip next week - there is much to make up for.