Supermarkets are like tower block housing: what once looked like the future
now feels mired in the past and what once felt thrilling and new now seems
tired and passé.
I remember wandering around giant French hypermarchés a couple of decades ago
and wishing that British stores would follow suit – 15 kinds of bacon,
perfect, glossy vegetables stretching out as far as the eye could see, rows
and rows of babyfood, clothes, aisles of wine. Today, British stores are
very much in on the act but, to my mind at least, the result induces
consumer nausea rather than enthusiasm.
We are not as naive as we used to be and we notice things. The bacon leaks the
water it has been artificially pumped up with, the vegetables are perfect
only because they have been sprayed with chemicals, nobody much wants to
feed their children jars of nondescript mush, the clothes’ cheapness raises
uncomfortable questions about their manufacture and most wine-lovers would
rather buy their supplies from knowledgeable small shops that care about
their stock. Far from quickening the consumer’s spendthrift heart, the sight
of yet another out-of-town monolith makes it sink like a stone.
But the monoliths keep on coming. Last week the Competition Commission issued
proposals to increase competition in the food retailing market but failed to
issue any kind of blueprint for breaking Tesco’s stranglehold over it – the
so-called Tescopoly that has led to “Tesco-towns” (the company has double
the market share of its nearest rival). Asda, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons may
take heart at the recommendation that planners should explicitly bear
competition in mind when other supermarkets bring forward development plans,
but I don’t think the same can necessarily be said of consumers.
Who really wants to live cheek-by-jowl with some monstrous new supermarket
development? Who is really being helped here? The supermarkets themselves
may speak proudly of job creation and of helping the local economy, but what
about people’s quality of life? What about the disfiguring ugliness of these
buildings? And, most of all, how are small local businesses supposed to deal
with what is effectively a death warrant?
We are complete imbeciles when it comes to supermarkets: we still think, by
and large, that they are doing us a kindness by existing. I don’t say this
wearing an eco-warrior, anticapitalist, down-with-big-business hat, but
rather as a consumer with a family who has, until recently, relied heavily
on the weekly supermarket shop. I realise I am speaking from a fortunate
standpoint: I can afford to pay a little more for organic and locally
sourced ingredients, and I use my local butcher and fishmonger (which I’m
lucky to have: both are a dying breed) because I would rather eat fantastic
meat once a week than mechanically recovered slop on a daily basis. But
actually I question the whole “value” status of supermarkets, not least
because whenever I go to one I end up buying a pile of stuff I don’t
actually need or, indeed, want; stuff that, more often that not, ends up
being thrown away (shamefully).
Far from every little helping, I find every little adds up to a ridiculous
bill, an awful lot of horrible plastic bags (to say nothing of an
infuriating mountain of unnecessary moulded plastic packaging), a traffic
jam or two and a sense of being spaced-out and disengaged. Supermarkets may
strive to feel like soothing consumer oases but there’s so much to take in –
literally: there’s so much brightly lit stuff for the poor eyes to look at –
that the experience is often stressful in the extreme.
Shopping locally, on the other hand, adds up to buying what you set out to buy
– no more, no less – and storing it in a string bag, with change left over
for a coffee. There’s no contest, plus it works out cheaper. I used to think
this way of shopping worked only if there were one or two of you, but I
regularly do it for six people and it works just fine. I can honestly say
it’s one of the few things I’ve ever done that significantly simplified my
life. Sainsbury’s is still there for bleach, cleaning products, loo paper
and huge boxes of washing powder, but nearly everything else comes from the
high street or from markets.
The counter-argument to shopping locally is inevitably to do with convenience
and with the need of lower socioeconomic groups to bulk-buy cheap food – an
artificial need that has been imposed on them by supermarkets, clever
advertising and the use of “offers”. I don’t expect that their grandparents
bulk-bought Sunny D. Besides, I find the poverty/grotesquely bad diet thing
completely wrongheaded. Rubbish highly processed food is not cheap, whereas
you can make enough rice and dhal for six people for about £1.50. Make a
couple of vegetable curries to go with it and you would still get ample
change from a fiver – considerably less than the cost of a bucket of
deep-fried battery chicken and a great deal more nutritious.
The supermarkets may provide an embarrassment of choice, but they do the
opposite of educating: they pile their stuff high and sell it cheap,
pretending to be the consumer’s friend while lining their pockets courtesy
of their customers’ naivety.
Meanwhile, the high street is dying – either that or it has become a carbon
copy of every other high street, with nothing to make you think that you are
in Devon as opposed to, say, Hampshire. We’re all agreed that this is very
sad, but not many people seem inclined to do much about it, not when there’s
a shiny new Tesco on the edge of town.
These days, how you decide to shop defines you as much as how you choose to
dress. We treat supermarket shopping as though it were a nonchoice, but it
is as acute an ethical decision as anything else. This is illustrated in
microcosm by the big four supermarkets’ sale of books. They choose only a
handful of titles a year and sell them at such a vast discount that they
have effectively closed down scores of independent booksellers – lovely
shops run by people who care about books – because booksellers simply can’t
compete on price. Supermarkets often sell books cheaper than the
wholesalers: I know independent bookshops that bought their copies of last
summer’s Harry Potter from the supermarket because it was the cheapest
option.
And there you have it. We like the words “cheapest option” and we think it’s
what we want. But is it really? “Cheapest option” means no bookshops, no
butchers, no fishmongers, no bakers. It means no fruit and veg shop, no
cafe, no chemist and Starbucks in their place. It’s not much of an option at
all.
If there’s one thing I’ve learnt through having a child with special needs, it is not to judge other people in a similar boat
Agreed. In my view broadly accurate. However, you can't blame the supermarket brains for their aggressive growth plans - need to have the consumer and the government address that !
paul, barnsley,
isn't it interesting how the standard smear aimed at those who don't like supermarkets is that they're rich and leisured enough to go elsewhere? In fact, many of the surviving clusters of small shops are in areas too poor for the supermarkets to bother with. If you want an example, look no further the Holderness Road and Sping Bank, in Hull - not affluent areas of a poor city. I lived in that area for several years, and the local shops there offered cheaper prices, higher quality and more convenience than any supermarket.
The major supermarket chains have not grown big by giving customsers what they want; they've grown by using anti-competitive and unfair practices to bankrupt the opposition, and then when they've obtained a local monopoly they have abused it for all they are worth, whilst government stands by and lets it happen. It's a complete shambles.
Martin, London,
Of course, small independant retailers never sell anything mass produced, full of additives and water and chemicals and quick frozen etc etc Nor do they ever sell booze on cheap offers so the binge drinkers in the news can have their fill. They also dont ever sell cigarettes, alcohol or fireworks to underage shoppers either! Just because a shop is local doesn't make it any good, more affordable or more conscientious. Move on...
Ashley, Rotherham, UK
What supermarkets do, and local shops don't, is cater for the busy. While it is possible to shop locally for one's family, I rather suspect that it is significantly easier if you are not the other side of the city chained to your desk for 12 hours a day. On the other hand, Ocado delivers and it takes less time to whip round the supermarket (especially one with parking) than it does to visit lots of little local shops. Not only that, local shops very often doo not stock everything you are after. The one thing I would love to buy locally is meat, and we have no decent local butcher.
What would be great, though, would be if supermarkets would stop packaging everything in so much plastic. It's bad for the environment and may well have a negative impact on the health of customers. Local shops tend to wrap in paper which is something the supermarkets should learn.
Anna, London,
The trouble with small urban shops is that they are small, in high streets and there is little or no free parking. We have a very large population in a small space and without supermarkets it would be impossible to distribute enough food. Imagine all those car-using shoppers in your high street! However, there are different ways of doing supermarkets and ours are mostly dire and very expensive. The role of small shops in the future is specialisation, whether that is 'shopping top up' in corner stores or delicatessens or whatever in the high street. Good access is the key as people are busy and won't carry heavy goods along high streets to expensive car parks.
Colin, Shrewsbury,
Can't buy staples like you could before, and forget getting Heinz baked beans! You have to buy it at a specialty import store! Vegetables are usually tasteless and greatly overpriced. Since when is bell pepper normally $1.99 a pound and one medium sized artichoke $3.99 each?
Yes, Trader Joe's is okay, but nowhere like the value for money of Aldi, which the company that owns TJ's owns in Europe.
Grow your own, folks. And buy rice and vegies if you can from the ethnic food shops.
Paula, Santa Ynez, CA/USA
Thank you thank yo thank you for so eloquently articulating what I have felt since I was a youngster following my mother around our (by today's standards rather small) local grocery store: it totally depresses me! There is too much of everything! Such an excess has always made me uncomfortable. I invariably spend more because of the "oh yeah, I need that" factor of having everything eye level. And forget it when I have the kids with me! The bill goes up 20%! Shopping small and locally keeps the costs down, the food less processed, and the joy of actually knowing the person slicing the roast beef cannot be duplicated in a huge shop. Amen sister!
Lauren, Chattanoga, Tennessee USA
I've noticed that a lot more supermarkets and pharmacies ("chemists" in your language) in the U.S. are open 24 hours, weekdays as well as on weekends than in the U.K.- This is true no only in our major cities, but often in the suburbs and semi-rural areas as well- By contrast, seemingly only a small percentage of supermarkets in the U.K. are open 24 hours, and those few that are seem to be confined to only a few neighborhoods in the major cities- Peoples employment schedules and peoples' travel schedules vary to the degree that enough people shop at night so that it is profitable for many major supermarket chains in the U.S. to remain open 24 hours, with smaller shifts working for their overnight shifts- I might suggest to Ms. Knight that there is absolutely nothing whatsoever wrong with British supermarket chains such as Iceland, Lidl, Sainsburys, Tesco, Waitrose, Somerfield, etc.- To accomodate shoppers of this century, I might suggest that more stores remain open 24 hours-
Scott Benowitz, Rye, New York, U.S.A.
I am in complete agreement. I use online home delivery for shopping now all the time.
It keeps me out of their horrible stores plus it saves me a fortune. Shopping is bought from a list with a rough meal plan for the week and anything else that has run out. It stops the impulse purchases I kick myself for when I get home! Plus living in London I can't get 20 bags of shopping on the bus, if I take the car I can never park in my street to drop the shopping off.
I went to ASDA the other day because it was on my way home from a weekend away. It was a struggle to find anything that wasn't pre-packed, battery farmed or laden with salt and sugar. It worries me that low income family budgets have their diet dictated by this kind of store. Along my road we have four cheap beer and tinned food corner shops, two kebab shops, two thai's, an off license and a 99p fried chicken shop.
You never see cheap food advertised in the windows it is normally '6 cans for £5'.
Ian, London, UK
I loved this article. Everyone I know and speak to is over supermarkets (and the other big, multinational chain shops). I find the question of why we all continue to support them really compelling. I recently quit my job in marketing to promote the best independent shops in London. It's time we did what we could to level out the playing field between the amazing shops and shopkeepers we still have left in London and the big, faceless chains that gobble them up. For the best unchained shops in London visit www.unchainedguide.com
Lea Simpson, London,
I'm right behind you Miss Knight regarding the economics you've mentioned.
It's quite bewildering how large amounts of the public believe that they are saving money with these 'special offers.'
Sometimes, like in the case of a big pack of fish fingers for example, it can work out better if you have many mouths to feed, but in general, if something is on offer, it's nutritional value tends to be non-existent. As you mention, it is very clever advertising in making us believe we need items we often don't.
The lack of quality food outlets is a huge concern nationwide, which is only made worse due to the inflated prices farm shops are forced into.
I live in London, and what I'd give to swap 10 of the asian-run shops for a good butcher, bakery and green-grocer.
Whether people agree with me or not on this matter, I have not seen more than a couple of corner stores in London that have provided me with quality produce.
This then means that you go down to the supermarket!
Alex Tuck, London, UK
If Ms Knight is so threatened by a supermarket who carries a very narrow title selection, even though discounted, perhaps she should pursue another business. Supermarkets cater to a different clientel if she hadn't noticed. And they capture a customer who most likely wouldn't even enter an independent bookstore for fear of being intimidated by the self-deemed intellectual elites. Ms Knight, please stop whining and selll some books from your competitive vast selection!
Anne Reder, Stamford, US/CT
I am lucky enough to live near a shopping precinct which has all the shops I need on a month-to-month basis.
We have a Co-op and a Somerfield; 3 newsagents/local stores which stay open 18 hours a day; 2 alcohol shops; 10 or so charity shops; pubs and fast food bars.
Unfortunately in the last year we have lost the green grocer, the baker and the hardware store but the butchers is thriving at least.
Alex McGregor, Plymouth, UK
Agree totally! when our last car died a happy death we didn't replace. Yes we are lucky to llive in a part of London with good transport links but I don't use them to shop. We have a wonderful butcher, health food shop (both award winners) a new fish shop and a "corner shop" which has a wonderful range and sells superb fruit and veg! If you want 1 carrot so be it. Older people and those on their own can buy just what they need without endless packaging and waste. Plus they will deliver for free if asked. The other benefits are walking to the shops (often more than once a day) and meeting people I know from experience that this doesn't always prove an easy option for everyone but who ever said life was easy. Do we really want a country where all we have is the big supermarkets and endless chains of coffee shops? The situation in the countryside is even worse, often people have no option but to try and get to a supermarket on non existant transport.
Lynda Bracey, Richmond, UK
What will the perpetrators of the Northern Rock fiasco, i.e. the directors and managers, get? I suspect a nice fat bonus, whilst the investors get stuffed.
Wolfgang Weber, Derbyshire,
One very simple problem - parking. If we could park in or near the high street we would shop far more at local shops. It is the single biggest thing that stops me and my friends shopping there - and yes, it is too far realistically to walk at 1.5 miles.
Bruce, London,
I use an organic vegetable delivery service and I find the quality and price excellent value for money. I recommend this service to everyone who is tired of the poor quality, over-priced, warehoused for over a week, stale produce offered by supermarkets and sold by produce managers who don't know one end of a carrot from the other. And don't care, either.
Also, supporting local producers makes me feel good when I hear about the bully boy tactics supermarkets use both on small suppliers and on local governments. Finally, the money supermarkets generate does not go to support the local economy. It goes to the shareholders.
Small is beautiful, folks.
Max , London,
Thank you, thank you for your editorial. Supermarkets such as Tesco and Wal-Mart are presently moving our culture in the wrong direction. We suffer from diminished quality in our kitchens and bodies. Also, where is there a place for the improvement of “community†in the big box supermarket model? Bring back the local merchant.
Perhaps as you suggested if we eat more grain and vegetable, which I believe you intimated in paragraph 9, we’d all be far healthier. The local merchant would be an affordable alternative, with an improved diet the result. I am eating organic, eating less meat, feel far better, and I believe as a lower middle class citizen who watches my nickels and dimes, I am spending less on groceries. I do not desire to return to my old shopping habits. Thanks again for your opinion. I believe this rhetoric encourages us to move as a people in the right direction. Lets move toward improved diets and better local communities.
Peter Kisner, Garland, Texas, USA
Great article India, back to working Mums next week then?
Chris Allen, London,
I used to think that I prefered a local shop and the markets and used to go daily and supplement with an occasional bulk shop in the supermarket, however I now live in US in the centre of Boston and I miss the UK supermarket so much.
They are friendly and act as a focal point in a community, you can post adverts, find new groups to join. They have cooking demonstrations and tasting samples and idea cards.
I cook the majority of food from stratch and find in the US the supermarkets are full of asles of proccessed food.
Please don't let this happen in UK - keep them nice for when i get back. Please
Lyndsey, Boston,
Hypermarches don't sell bacon.
That's why they can't compete with English ones.
alan maddox, wirral, england
Aren't you the lady who no longer eats carbohydrates because your vanity is more important?
There is plenty of non supermarket food around but then again if we all went to that nice little shop we would be queuing for hours.
You should always allow people to decide their preferences and the commerce will follow. If at this time people choose price over quality then good for them.
Incidentally, in my view, ignoring carbohydrates is a big mistake as far as one's health is concerned. But it is your life.Please show the same respect to others.
Marek, London,
Supermarkets have their place, and are great at allowing you to get things quickly and pretty cheaply.
But if you can get off the hamster wheel from time to time, you will find that shopping at places that are run by the owners are infinately better to go to, and improve your quality of life. Plus they differ from town to town. But perhaps I just take too much pleasure in the simple things in life.
Tim, London, UK
Hmm, Big Brother, shoppers too dim....etc. Get real. At least in Tesco and Tesco Express there is edible food and drinkable wine, more than be said for the grim local shop. I wonder how Tesco can be so profitable given that it is viewed as the spawn of the devil.
Maybe shoppers not so dim after all.
Anne, Liverpool,
It's funny how people always say that introducing a supermarket into their town will ruin their much loved local shops.
When the supermarket gets built, where do the customers come from ?
yes, you've guessed it - the great majority are those who swore they preferred this local shops. Actually, they didn't - otherwise the supermarket would have closed, having an uneconomical number of customers.
Basically, people say one thing, then do the other.
Local shops are OK if you're rich enough and you enjoy spending hours trudging from one shop to another for a few articles, that you could have got cheaper in less time at the supermarket.
Clive, Surrey,
It's v easy to suggest shopping at local shops if you have the time to get there when they are open. If, however, you work 9-5pm-ish (usually later for me) and prefer to use weekends for activities other than grocery shopping, it can be quite difficult to get to these local butchers and bakers and grocers - that is IF they exist in your local area at all. I don't know how I'd manage without using evening and late-night opening at supermarkets on a regular basis. Don't get me wrong - I like the small independents (mostly - some can be questionable quality) - but most just aren't open late enough.
As for buying bulk items we didn't plan on - surely that's OUR fault for being taken in by the advertising? I try to only take advantage of offers I know will use. But maybe that's too logical of me? Men definitely don't have such a problem with this as we women do.
LondongirlinManchester, Manchester, UK
All right, so we dont really like the way they operate, but how can we change supermarkets to what we want?? If one of them stood up and said they would buy ethically, from local sources but we may have to pay a liitle more, they would be respected for that, but would we shop there?? I would, so would lots more.....but India, we need a front woman!! Why not put pressure on Sainsburys, to stand up and be different, Tescos is a lost cause...
Rosemarie Watson, Cirencester, Gloucestershire, UK
Who's this "we"....If it's you , 'be a you'....I enjoy the suppers...great bargains.....nice folks.....fresh vegs/fruit/meat....the wonderful smell of coffee from the coffee aisle....
Mr Tim, sab marcos, U S of A/Ca
Chic little wine shops run by people called 'Crispin' and 'Alexandria' are very well for the slick Ted Baker'd masses flitting through the N1 streets with their curly haired tumble tots bouncing along behind, but your average brit can't afford such luxuries. Supermarkets are an example of a shopping environment which allows all demographics to mix like few other places in the current food market; surely this is one aspect of the diversity so absent from the high street?
you go some way toward adressing this ,and yes, supermarkets have fed us all kinds of pap down the ages; Sunny D, sodium-pumped ready meals and bloated, oozing manchild jame oliver to name a few. It is true that poor people are forced into offers they don't need, but this does not mean a total lack of supermarkets is the way; surely we need to take the many positives (eg increased range of goods compared to, say, 50 years ago) and just phase out a lot of the e-numbered crap. As ever, change, not boycot, is the answer
Josh Lowe, London,
"Everyone makes time for the things that are important to them." Indeed, and I will continue to shop in the supermarket on a week night in order to make time for friends and family at weekends.
Ruth Comer, Reading, UK
I don't like the major Supermarkets because they are using their marketing power to dictate our lifestyle. It's Big Brother by the back door. Insidious!!!!!!!
christopher king, norwich, norfolk
Let the critics of supermarkets show their honesty by proving that they do a weekly shop, without a trolley, visiting and queueing at the butcher's, the baker's, the green-grocer's, the stationer's and the off-license, in all weathers.
Edmund Burke, Kingston upon Thames, England
We all have a choice where we shop. I buy my eggs, cheese, fruit and veg in the city market; my meat from an organic butcher and all the routine things like loo roll from the supermarket (Waitrose, because they have some sort of conscience). I never buy convenience food because it tastes dreadful and costs a fortune too.
I can't accept the myth (convenient for the supermarkets) that the poor can't afford to shop this way. The difference, if you are poor, is that you have to shop more carefully and it pays to plan ahead - but you can feed a family very well on a lot less than people might think. I know, because I did it for years on a low income.
Then there's the argument about time. Everyone makes time for the things that are important to them.
Supermarket shopping? Not for me. I get a better experience every time from the small shops and the market traders - and far better quality. Lower prices too, and I'm supporting my local community. Well worth the car park ticket...
Jane Chittenden, Norwich, UK
What amazes me is that even with 40,000 lines I still can't the variety of products that I want. I want good quality, ethical products at a price that a family of 7 can afford? Apart from buying online I have yet to find a mainstream UK retailer that can help me :-(
Andy, Gateshead, Tyne and Wear
timpeI have 6 supermarkets within 5 minutes of my house. A meag 24 hour Tesco, that I avoid as the worst shopping experience. A large M&S that I only use iof I want a sandwich. Otherwise I selectively use Aldi, Sainsburys and Lidl. I know what I think is best at each, and exploit at Sainsbury's the date stamp deals. Many items in the luxury ranges when they arrive at date stamp discount are just about worht buying, but are often very poor quality relative to the price at normal price. I almost never buy meat in a supermarket as the quality is poor and far better quality can be sourced from independent butchers for the same money locally. I am far from convinced thsat supermarkets are doing a good job, especially in their "luxury" brands.
timpe, Camberley,
Parking costs and lack of spaces have driven me to supermarkets. I find it outrageous that I have to pay by the hour every time I want to shop or use a service in my local town. We have some lovely coffee shops but I rarely visit them because my parking ticket time will expire and I am unwilling to pay for more than one hour. I also buy many goods on-line to save the hassle of speed bumps, traffic congestion and parking fees. Sad! Overpopulated, overrestricted, overregulated congested Britain.
Sue, Cheshire, UK
I agree that supermarket shopping has become an unpleasant experience. What should be an enyoyable - or at least bearable - visit has become a chore.
The niche brands are fast being replaced by the ever-expanding ranges from the usual suspects, making a mockery of choice and originality.
Civilities are left at the door of the supermarket, with consumers barging past with trolleys and blinkers on, everyone looking harassed.
Finally when it's time to pay, you end up racing against the usually unsmiling/ bored check-out employee. You break up a sweat stuffing your bags like a mad person to keep up with the scanned items that keep piling on top of each other, bottle of wine crushing the box of eggs etc.
It seems that somewhere down the line, in their price wars and their quest for supremacy, the top guys from the supermarket world have forgotten what really makes the consumer tick: a good service and a pleasant experience. Why would they care? We'll be back next week...
Nathalie Hachet, Manchester, UK
"That is not the fault of the Supermarkets. That is your fault for failing to exercise self control and common sense. "
That's a ridiculously inane comment.
Supermarkets spend millions on consumer pyschology consultants and design to ensure the entire experience gets as much money from you as possible.
Imelda, London,
The market where I shop lists specials and sales online.Twelve pages each week.It lists for current week and coming week.It makes grocery shopping so convenient that it doesn't make sense to shop elsewhere.The prices are lower than other area markets as well.I fail to see a problem here.
ron, topsham,
I completely disagree with Ms. Knight. I fell in love with the hypermarkets when living in London for 5 yrs. Back in Norway, the rage of goods and opening hours are horribly limited. The reason why Tesco is having great success is because they are giving people good value. Should we smack down anyone who is successfull in order to help the mediocre? That's deeply immoral.
I do like local shops and markets as well. But the onus is on them to be relevant and offer (perhaps another) value for the costumer. If they are worth it they will survive, if not they will die, and good riddance.
William Hagerup, Trondhjem, Norway
Sick to death of all these well-off middle class chatterers slagging off supermarkets. They are where the vast majority of people get good food and an interesting variety of it at affordable prices. If independent local shops were offering anything like the same service they would not be under threat. Farmers' markets in this country are the places where the affluent go to get ripped off - they are nohing like their continental counterparts which provide excellent food at reasonable prices for all sections of society.
FR, Basingstoke,
To the contributor who asks why, if they are so bad, do the supermarkets do well?, one could only point out that lots of bad, harmful, socially damaging things have paid very well long after the dangers had become clear.
Tobacco is one obvious example. Inefficient insecure computer operating systems and appalling public transport systems are others. Many of them have have similar characteristics, they are: presented as beneficial (usually by using words like choice, convenience and competitiveness in an Orwellian orgy of misrepresentation); massively promoted and advertised; and protected by an army of political lobbyists.
There are also access problems in towns and, sadly, mainstream small shops are often poor communicators and marketers. It's no surprise the supermarkets do well.
But we could certainly curb further development, impose parking tax , intervene on behalf of suppliers. and curb their reprehensible alcohol promotions. It would make a start on harm reduction.
Patrick Duffy, Glasgow, Scotland
"...I end up buying a pile of stuff I don’t actually need or, indeed, want; stuff that, more often that not, ends up being thrown away (shamefully)."
That is not the fault of the Supermarkets. That is your fault for failing to exercise self control and common sense.
bob, brighton,
I go into town on a Saturday to buy ten quid's worth of fruit and veg from a market stall - a staggering amount of fresh food, which has no packaging at all. It isn't a "farmer's market", but there is very little flown-in exotica, apart from the occasional tray of mangoes or pineapples and the ubiquitous boatload of labelled bananas.
Spend ten quid in emmaness, and you've hardly got anything to eat.
Dion Per Sona, Cardiff, UK,
The thing about supermarkets is they will eventually destroy all choice. Over the past ten years I have watched niche products disappearing from the shelves in favour of mass-market products that the supermarkets can shift in large quantities. I like a particular Indonesian brand of soy sauce, but it is no longer available in British supermarkets. I have found an alternative supplier in a local health/whole foods shop, but this was only one of several examples. Any product that the supermarkets cannot shift quickly and in quantity is a no-no as far as the bean counters are concerned. So eventually we will lose first this almost-nich e product, then another. Then the supermarkets will collectively decide that we only need one kind of potato; the various other varieties maybe with a shorter shelf life will be quietly removed. In 20 years from now, if the supermarkets are not checked in their tracks, we will see the Standard Supermarket Chicken, the Standard Supermarket Loaf, and so on.
Mike Mitchell, Spalding, England
I live a stone's-thow from Asda at Brighton Marina, and I can add another reason to avoid supermarkets - the grotesque people who shop in them. As if it's not bad enough that the meat is fatty and gristly, the own-brand bread is like rubber and the store management insist on playing "Asda FM" (a pretend radio station specialising in teen 'music') at full volume, it's that the place is over-run with fat chavvy genetically suspect angry-looking mouth-breathers in cheap clothes, shouting at each other in mockney accents while trying to unload fully-laden trollies at the "ten items or less" [sic] counters.
Mike, Brighton Marina, England
I agree about the ugliness of many supermarket buildings and feel they should stick to selling groceries. I also agree you can end up buying more than you need, but that's the customer's own fault - perhaps more men should do the shopping, we simply take a list of what we need and buy it.
True, our town no longer has a butcher or greengrocer but, frankly, the produce from our local Sainsbury's is better and fresher, and we can pick and choose it at our leisure. I can also get a reasonable bottle of wine there to enjoy with a meal at a lower price than from a specialist shop.
In short, India's criticism goes far too far.
Barry, Wallington, UK
Extortionate car parking charges (if you can find a space) and car parking fines await you if you shop locally.Plus the supermarkets are open in the evening after I've finished work or they will deliver to your door.
The local council not only wants sky high council tax, but wants to 'tax' you each time you go shopping as well.Any wonder we've all fled to out of town stores ?
Noel Hanna, Burnley, United Kingdom
Not all supermarkets have to be bad. Trader Joe's in the US has a community minded ethos and their slightly zany stores feature loads of funky guidelines to the produce, with lots of free tastings. They seem to hire a lot of odd-ball eccentrics too, which adds to a general sense of theatre. Did I mention that the prices are excellent as well?
James Kantor, Mortain, France
I agree the supermarkets seem OK when they are shiny and new - but what happens when they start to get a bit shabby ?
The answer seems to be home deliveries - one van doing what 5 cars normally do - and more efficiently than each individually - has to be the future.
However they need to get their product right as well - our conscience won't stand ripping off people in other countries. We have to be able to trust the supermarkets not to do that.
Alan Chesterman, Bournemouth, UK
If they are that bad, how can they make the business pay?
Anthony Price, TRURO,
I have to use a car because of age and health. Local councils have made parking both difficult and expensive. Never ending measures to make like unpleasant for the motorist.
I go to supermarkets outside town, where my car and I are welcome. No competition at all!
Why can't people see this connection?
Malcolm Dale, Worcester, England
I currently live in Italy and I do my shopping this way, because it is easy and not significantly more expensive. But italy is set up for this way of life: most people work until six and the local food shops are open until seven or half past. In Britain, I used to work 9-5 - and so did the butcher/fishmonger/veg shop owner etc. It simply isn't practical to do a week's worth of shopping for 'fresh' food on a Saturday. Not all of us have the privilege of setting our own work schedules as India does.
Lisa, Italy / Wirral, UK,
You get a hotwater pot and plenty of soups from your trusty asian grocer. Maybe England could use Big Box food outlets like Aldi, Walmart and Costco.
oliver, bern, switzerland
I agree completely, India, but living in the US with these vast spaces doesn't make it economical. There IS a baker closeby (within 4 miles) but the nearest butcher I know is 15 miles away, the nearest greengrocer is 7 miles. I actually spent a month doing both the traveling and the right thing. I drove nearly 90 miles, spent 140 dollars on groceries of various sorts, 9 dollars in gasoline, and untold traffic aggravation. This was per week... I wish it wasn't so... Hillary Clinton may be right, ' it takes a village...' but there are no villages in America any more. Good luck there.
Stephen, Fayetteville, USA
Thanks for an interesting article. I'm trying to re-enforce your point of view.
I'm lucky to live in an inner suburb of Melbourne (Australia) which means lots of independent shops and small businesses, fishmongers, butchers, health food stores, etc. Also, there are many small restaurants and cafés.
People from the outer, supermarket-driven, shopping estancias, places called Caroline Springs and other water -named estates, in this, the driest continent on earth, come here for a nosh up. And, what do they order to eat, these amiable, but tending to be obese families?
They order every calorie filled, as soaked in fat as it-can-get substance. This bears no relation to the cost; It may be the most expensive item on the menu, but as long as it is loaded with calories, it will be ordered.
Thus my point is: does this "cheapest option" become a complete mind set? Unbreakable? Depressing.
Venise Alstergren, Melbourne 3142, AUSTRALIA