Would you take a supermarket siesta? What does that involve?
The supermarket. Love them or hate them? Drag your kids there to do the weekly shop? Or sit shopping online at home, smugly pretending to be organised (then, if you are like me, who is all smug when I press “pay” but then when the shopping arrives and I realize I have forgotten cat food and toilet roll for the third week running and will actually have to go to the supermarket to get them…)
I am not over-fond of supermarket shopping although for some reason I do enjoy it more when we are in France, but there is something to be said for being able to get all or most of the stuff you need weekly, in one place. Or at least in theory.
I recently attended an event in London, all about taking a Supermarket Siesta I got to explore some great brands and suppliers, and hear some very interesting talks on alternatives to supermarket shopping. I also got to tastes some fabulous products.
Some of the brands and companies at the event and learning about how to prepare meat and fish. I learned some new and helpful tips. You can click here of the stalls at the end of my post for more information.
Tea, coffee, gin and chocolate. Need I say more?
I could have quite happily spent rather a lot of time at the Pong Cheese stall, but can you really blame me…? 😉
We’ve brought together a whole community of online partners to support you in shaking up your shopping habits with a #supermarketsiesta.
We’re on a quest for quality and convenience. We believe in cutting out the unnecessary middlemen. And we believe that everybody should get a fair deal.
I like the theory of cutting out middlemen, of sourcing better quality food, and supporting smaller businesses. It is easy to go to the supermarket and pick up everything you need, and not have to think about where things have come from, how long they have taken to get there (did you know that some fruits and vegetables can travel for up to three months to get to us in our local supermarket? I didn’t, that shocked me) and what has gone into their production.
So, I have decided to take up the challenge for a month, to try and cut out the supermarket where possible and source what we need, as a family from different places. I can’t entirely cut out the supermarket, because there are things that I buy there that are not practically easy to get elsewhere (cleaning products, sanitary supplies, etc) but for the most, I will be either shopping online with smaller brands, or trying to source produce locally. I will be sharing a weekly update on how I get on. I like the idea of supporting more local and trying to grow enterprises, and companies that produce top quality products, with better methods.
Some things to consider, from my own personal point of view.
Practicality: I don’t drive, so sourcing fruit and veg that is local, seasonal, and edible, will be something I need to put effort into. We do have a local greengrocer, so I will be visiting them and I will be trying to order our meat and fish online.
Food intolerance issues: My family deals with food allergies and intolerances. Some products we buy are easily available in the supermarket. I am going to look at where I can source those alternatively.
Cost: Supermarkets are cheaper, generally and you can get a lot of bargains or buy one get one offers that help a family budget (although I am not always convinced those are the money-saving offers they claim to be) and I do think that sourcing things locally is going to be more expensive. Better quality meat, fish and other groceries do cost more. We will see how our budget works out.
Convenience: I am pretty busy, and I don’t have time to be running around shopping, so we shall see how easy or hard it is to avoid the convenience of a supermarket.
So, keep up with us, and see how we get on. Would you consider taking the challenge? Why, or why not? What are your thoughts on supermarkets?