Supermarkets

A comment on one of the allotment forums got me thinking. Someone said that most people buy veg. from supermarkets  because their prices are unbeatable.

I would have to take issue with the idea that supermarket prices are unbeatable. They are always beatable by our local greengrocer, often by a considerable margin. As an example, last spring I looked at iceberg lettuce in two supermarkets and the prices were 89p and 99p. At my local greengrocer they were 69p and this is normally true for everything else. Of course, local shops don't have the range of fruit and veg. flown half way round the world that supermarkets do but I really don't want to buy strawberries in January. I find the anticipation of waiting for the taste of that first strawb of the season almost as good as the fruit itself. This is why I very rarely buy veg from a supermarket (I grow most of my own but there's always the hungry gap). It’s not just a question of not knowing what you’re eating or where it's come from but the almost obscene profiteering of supermarkets and the way they treat their suppliers.

What we really need to do is educate the public as to the alternatives to supermarkets.