I’m not a religious type, but I’ve always been fascinated by the idea of giving something up for Lent. I like the idea of denying yourself something you’d otherwise take for granted. This seems a a valuable exercise, especially considering the luxury we live in compared to the rest of the world. However, I’ve never actually managed to decide on something worthwhile to give up and stuck to it.
This year, however, I’ve found the answer. The thing I can give up which will be tough to go without, but which will be better for me in the long run – Supermarkets.
I’ve been getting increasingly uncomfortable about the dominance of the supermarkets in the UK for some time. I used to live in a suburb of London which had a butcher, a baker, a fishmongers, a greengrocers etc. But gradually over the years these have all failed to compete with the introduction of a Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose all within a mile of one another. The independent shops are out of favour and simply can’t compete on price or convenience with the supermarkets. To me, it’s not only a terrible shame for those that own the businesses but also for us as customers.
When you really think about it, food shopping with one of the big corporations is a horrible experience:
I jump in my car, only to sit in traffic to get to the shops. Then I sit in traffic in the car park, waiting for a space. I leave my car, knowing that there is a very high probability that by the time I return, it will have sustained another dent from someone uncapable of controlling a trolley. I fight through the smokers congregating outside the door, search for a trolley which doesn’t have chewing gum on the handle or a soiled nappy in the basket and step into the flourescent lit, air-conditioned rennovated mental asylum (no, really).
I then attempt to buy only what is on my list. Not the 3kg bag of organges for £1.99. Not 3 pizzas for 99p. And not the nine tubes of toothpaste for a fiver. Basically, none of the offers designed to make me think I’m making a saving where I’m really just parting with more money than intended and have extra food which will inevitably be binned.
To get to the food I actually would like to buy I first need to step over the toddler having a tantrum on the floor, slip past the couple having a screaming argument and try to squeeze around the very overweight gentleman with nothing by eclairs in his trolley. Once I’ve managed to fill a basket with my intended purchases I only have the gauntlet of the checkout left before I am free to return to check on the damage to my car.
I’m spoilt for choice with the options for check-out: either a grumpy, rude women who is going to throw my food at me as I try and bag it or a useless computerised ‘self-service’ machine which will repeatedly tell me there is an ‘unexpected item in the bagging area’. As I have inevitably forgotten to bring my own bags, I’m forced to use the environment-damaging plastics, which will either cut off the blood supply to my fingers or split just as I get to the middle of the car park. The fun’s not over yet, as I then have to fight my way back out of the car park onto the road and back home where the lack of ability to park among my neighbours will mean there’s no where in my street for me to park.
And this is considered to be convenience.
Well, I’m not going to fall for the hype. For the next 40 days I’m going to make use of my local, and not so local, shops. I figure this will have a whole bunch of advantages:
- I’ll drive less and walk more. This is better for the environment, me and my wallet.
- I’ll plan my meals more effectively. I’ll eat a more healthy and varied diet and probably waste less food.
- I think I’ll spend less money, even though the local shops are item-for-item, more expensive, I won’t have any of the temptations to buy things just because they’re being offered at a ridiculous price.
- My local shops will have a bit more of the business they need to be able to stay open and there may actually be a personal touch to my shopping experience as i have the opportunity to talk to the people who make up my local community
It is going to be tough and I’m sure I’ll have days where I’ll be tempted. But if I weren’t, then there wouldn’t be any point in giving them up, would there?
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I’m excited to see how it goes.
An interesting idea