Sainsbury’S And ‘Night Soil’...

[Smowball]

Sainsbury’s have admitted to growing their vegetables (but not their fruit) in night soil which is manure from human faeces! I have to confess I’ve never even heard of this and am shocked. Did everyone else know about it, and what are your thoughts??

[Old_Geezer]

Checking out the link suggests it's being used too soon. I reckon, if nearby folk complain of the smell it's probably been allowed to break down sufficiently before use. Compare with manure, it smells awful until it's well rotted. And only 99% of the pathogens killed ? Not to mention the heavy metals/chemicals issue (what have folk been eating ?). Anyway, IMO the use needs further investigation to sharpen up their practices.

[Smowball]

Omg lol

[Old_Geezer]

...probably NOT been...

[Smowball]

I agree OG. (And thru OMG lol wasn’t to your prev answer - it was to the comment before x)

Whether this is legal or not it’s certainly not been made public knowledge.

[Mamyalynne]

Of course it's legal, I gave you a link from 2008 that states it has been since 1998.

Do you mean they didn't do public information announcements?

They don't about everything I'm afraid.

[Mamyalynne]

A good article here from 2015.

https://sustainablefoodtrust.org/articles/human-manure-closing-the-nutrient-loop/

[Smowball]

Sorry Mamya, I missed that bit. Think it’s just the whole idea isn’t it - it’s one thing to think of pigs etc roaming about in fields, all nature etc, but it’s another to think of a human whipping their knickers down and sitting on a toilet. ...