For ex-pats missing English food...

[hyperD]

Do we need more illegal immigrants to bring up the quality of food here?

No, less supermarkets and more local farmers markets offering local seasonal food for local people.

In France, Spain and Hungary, for example, it is the norm to go to the local shops and markets to buy food. Here it is just the bullyboy tactics of the big supermarkets paying into the Liebour coffers to get away with monopolistic practices... and offering the worst quality food ever. Oh, but it's priced aggresively so chav's lap it up.

The good news is that when people actually try decent food they are often surprised at how flavorsome fresh seasonal vegetables taste and how cheap they are - often cheaper than a supermarket.

Kids love going to farm shops and Pick Your Own farms - it's educational (i.e. food is seasonal and peas don't come in tins) and a good afternoon out for them. And of course, fresh asparagus, peas or strange shaped carrots taste wonderful. Kids will even eat their greens!

[Francko]

But that was a supermarket, full of tins and processed crap in packets. A supermarket isn't cuisine. British supermarkets are pretty dire by world standards.
What are supermarkets like in Italy?

Way above the UK standard for quality of food. Ditto for Spain, France and even the baltic countries. :-) Perhaps only Holland has the worst supermarket in Europe (damn Albert Hein....)

[WageSlave]

Way above the UK standard for quality of food. Ditto for Spain, France and even the baltic countries. :-) Perhaps only Holland has the worst supermarket in Europe (damn Albert Hein....)

Russia has good supermarkets too, and their processed meals aren't bad. Certainly their Siberian pelmeni was nice.