17th February Sunday Times, India Knight writes:

“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, anti-capitalist, 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 ingredients, and I use my local butcher and fishmonger (which I’m very 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 I buy a pile of stuff I don’t actually need or, indeed, want; stuff that, more often than not, ends up being thrown away (shamefully).

Shopping locally, on the other hand, adds up to buying what you set out to buy..there’s no contest, it works out cheaper”