Are supermarkets controlling what we eat?

I might add, I then moved to a big village and caught buses to get to te shops, and friends, with children.

It did get a lot easier when I finally passed my driving test.

M0nica

Sorry, Casdon. Totally disagree. I didn't learn to drive until I was 35. I did all my shopping in a new town walking everywhere, including with two babies/toddlers. Everything was in the town centre - including the corner shops!

In impoverished inner city areas supermarkets are few and far between. Street markets are often more prevalent and easier to access.

Visit a few. You will find a lot of mothers with small children there. Especially in inner city areas where there are more people from ethnically diverse populations who are used to market shopping and prefer it.

I currently shop in the market in a country town. Essentially the market is one large veg stall and a few other associated food specialists. The veg stall has one huge table covered in plastic bowls. Each has: a dozen oranges, 2 lbs onions, a large bunch of grapes, a butternut squash. All priced at a £1.00. It is food getting just beyond selling on the stall. I stock up there. While soft fruit, tomatoes etc may only be good for another 4 or 5 days. If I buy onions, or the squash, or root vegetables, apples, even oranges, they are still good for at least a week. The stall has a better selection of exotic fruit and veg than the local Sainsbury's and Waitrose - and at a fraction of the price.

I can only speak from experience Monica. I don’t know where in the UK you live, but I’d bet it isn’t in a deprived town in the South Wales Valleys, where the experience is as I describe. Which did a study.
www.which.co.uk/news/article/the-most-at-risk-areas-for-access-to-affordable-food-revealed-a9JFe8I1qmyx

No, I lived in Bracknell new town and then 4 miles away.

But surely that is the point, situations vary. Supermarets deserts in the poorer areas of inner cities are common, but there will usually be a market,but these are the extremes. For the major part of the population who live in large conurbations and cities, the situation isn't like this. They have access to supermarkets and they have access to other food outlets. Many big northern towns have huge award winning markets. I visited Bolton market a few years ago and was bolwed away by it.

In the south east we have lots of farmer's markets. Not everything there is expensive, the same with Farm shops. My Farm shop market eggs are cheaper than the supermarket and much cheaper than the village branch of the Co-op.

But the majority of the population are not impoverished, despite inflation, They have to shop more carefully, they are advised to shop around. They will be far better fed if they shopped in markets and at Farm shops selectively.

Markets aren’t a thing where I live in Scotland. Maybe there are some in the Central Belt but in the four towns I’ve lived in further north, there has never been a market. Nowadays there are Farmers Markets but they are only monthly and are really for artisan goods, not day to day foods.

I used to shop at markets down south, fond memories of loading up on the shopping tray of the big pram and lugging it all home.

Supermarkets cater to their audience, from what I’ve observed over the years. The Sainsbury’s I visited yesterday was full of processed food and little fresh produce, but another store further away that I occasionally visit has the opposite.

Monica
Sorry, Casdon. Totally disagree. I didn't learn to drive until I was 35. I did all my shopping in a new town walking everywhere, including with two babies/toddlers. Everything was in the town centre - including the corner shops
I used to walk to the shops too, pushing a pram or buggy to carry the shopping but if I had lived in the village I live in today it would have been the village shop or a bus the two miles to,the nearest small town. When you were under 35, M0nica I imagine public transport was in a rather better state than it is today, I know it was way better even 5 years ago.
I dispute the prevalence of markets, actually there are fewer than pre-pandemic and farmers markets have by law to sell produce from a specified radius so the north of Scotland or deepest Northumberland will not have the same produce as the Home Counties.
Farmers Markets are also - IMO, usually justifiably - rather more expensive which brings us back to cost.
For years farmers have been operating at lower and lower profit margins, supplementing their income by diversifying - remember “Set aside” ? Taking in B&B guests too.
Environmental constraints and governmental aims for Net Zero further reinforce the undermining of our food production in this country.
It is a complex issue with faults on all sides- government, the supermarket giants and yes, the consumer.
But show me one place where the arrival of Tesco/ Asda/ Sainsbury's etc has not undercut the smaller local shops, too often driving them out of business, leaving the Tesco Express or Sainsburys Local free to increase their prices at will.

I live in a small village with no shop, a few miles from a small ‘market town’ - where there is no market. There are two small, expensive supermarkets stocking fancy items - none of the national names. There are an excellent greengrocer, two fishmongers, two butchers and a bakery. Between my village and said town there is a very expensive farm shop/deli. There is a lot of wealth in the area, but also a lot of rural poverty - and little in the way of public transport (none in my village). This leaves many folk with no choice but to get deliveries of most items from the big supermarkets. I’m ok, but very many around here are not.

But the majority of the population are not impoverished, despite inflation, They have to shop more carefully, they are advised to shop around. They will be far better fed if they shopped in markets and at Farm shops selectively

I am speechless. Are you totally unaware of the dependence of so many families - and indeed the elderly, on food banks ?Let them eat cake, eh? .

I’m similar speechless. Shopping around in rural areas is frequently impossible. Shopping more carefully is patronising in the extreme.
Yes, my ‘market town’ has a food bank too. How silly of me not to have mentioned that alongside the shops.

Sago

Yes they do control what we eat and the way we shop.
There is a big correlation between obesity in the UK and the growth of supermarkets in the 1980’s.
If you broke down the square footage in a supermarket that’s devoted to processed and ultra processed food it’s frightening.
I do use a supermarket but primarily for tinned goods.
I have access to a great market for fruit, veg, eggs etc and a brilliant butcher.

There's a difference between correlation and causation.

You might as well say that there's a correlation between obesity and the decrease in the number of sparrows.

It's equally possible that the increase in ultra-processed food is due to developments in technology and the change in people's lifestyles - most people don't have the time to tootle round a market or go to an independent butcher. By the way, tinned foods are processed.

The areas I was thinking of couldn’t by any stretch be considered as market towns, they are ex mining and industrial communities with high levels of poverty, no market, often no larger supermarket, poor bus services, isolated, and locals are reliant on the Co-Op, or Spar/Mace or other small convenience stores - which are expensive, and sell very few vegetables. There are plenty of other parts of the UK like this, it’s not peculiar to South Wales.
I live near a market town, and it’s another world in terms of access to food. Another important thing, I have a garden and my soil can be used to grow vegetables, millions of people are not so fortunate.

MOnica Did you have two or three part-time jobs on minimum wage while you virtuously dragged your children round the small shops and markets?

we went to market this morning and they had such a wider variety than the supermarket vegetables and fruit, fish and cheese

Germanshepherdsmum

I live in a small village with no shop, a few miles from a small ‘market town’ - where there is no market. There are two small, expensive supermarkets stocking fancy items - none of the national names. There are an excellent greengrocer, two fishmongers, two butchers and a bakery. Between my village and said town there is a very expensive farm shop/deli. There is a lot of wealth in the area, but also a lot of rural poverty - and little in the way of public transport (none in my village). This leaves many folk with no choice but to get deliveries of most items from the big supermarkets. I’m ok, but very many around here are not.

The country is dotted with areas like that.

MawtheMerrier

^But the majority of the population are not impoverished, despite inflation, They have to shop more carefully, they are advised to shop around. They will be far better fed if they shopped in markets and at Farm shops selectively^

I am speechless. Are you totally unaware of the dependence of so many families - and indeed the elderly, on food banks ?Let them eat cake, eh? .

Indeed.

Apart from time, transportation to "shop more carefully, shop around, slectively at Farm Shops" - why do people need patronising attitudes?

Germanshepherdsmum

I live in a small village with no shop, a few miles from a small ‘market town’ - where there is no market. There are two small, expensive supermarkets stocking fancy items - none of the national names. There are an excellent greengrocer, two fishmongers, two butchers and a bakery. Between my village and said town there is a very expensive farm shop/deli. There is a lot of wealth in the area, but also a lot of rural poverty - and little in the way of public transport (none in my village). This leaves many folk with no choice but to get deliveries of most items from the big supermarkets. I’m ok, but very many around here are not.

GSM describes the problem well.

I add - living even further (many nore miles) from any shop, is where we and many live. There are food deserts all over the country.

It's just as possible to eat healthily as it is to eat unhealthily by buying 100% from a supermarket. It depends what you put in your trolley.

The issue for many is that there isn't an accessible supermarket, never mind farmers' market or individual food shop.

Thank goodness for online shopping! I hardly ever put any food item in a trolley!

MawtheMerrier

Monica
Sorry, Casdon. Totally disagree. I didn't learn to drive until I was 35. I did all my shopping in a new town walking everywhere, including with two babies/toddlers. Everything was in the town centre - including the corner shops
I used to walk to the shops too, pushing a pram or buggy to carry the shopping but if I had lived in the village I live in today it would have been the village shop or a bus the two miles to,the nearest small town. When you were under 35, M0nica I imagine public transport was in a rather better state than it is today, I know it was way better even 5 years ago.
I dispute the prevalence of markets, actually there are fewer than pre-pandemic and farmers markets have by law to sell produce from a specified radius so the north of Scotland or deepest Northumberland will not have the same produce as the Home Counties.
Farmers Markets are also - IMO, usually justifiably - rather more expensive which brings us back to cost.
For years farmers have been operating at lower and lower profit margins, supplementing their income by diversifying - remember “Set aside” ? Taking in B&B guests too.
Environmental constraints and governmental aims for Net Zero further reinforce the undermining of our food production in this country.
It is a complex issue with faults on all sides- government, the supermarket giants and yes, the consumer.
But show me one place where the arrival of Tesco/ Asda/ Sainsbury's etc has not undercut the smaller local shops, too often driving them out of business, leaving the Tesco Express or Sainsburys Local free to increase their prices at will.

I did the pram-pushing way of shopping too when they were babies but I didn't work full-time then.
Then I could drop one child at playgroup, jump on the bus into the city, shop and be back in time for pick-up.

Young parents today often both work full-time. Walking around the town to different shops for food with small children in tow is just not feasible after a day's work. Local shops and markets don't stay open until late, either, like supermarkets do.

I don't know where our nearest ordinary fruit and vegetable market is, although there are markets held occasionally which sell artisan foods, crafts etc, everything certainly far more expensive than supermarkets.

growstuff

It's just as possible to eat healthily as it is to eat unhealthily by buying 100% from a supermarket. It depends what you put in your trolley.

The issue for many is that there isn't an accessible supermarket, never mind farmers' market or individual food shop.

Thank goodness for online shopping! I hardly ever put any food item in a trolley!

Ours had fruit, veg, muesli, honey, organic yogurt, milk.

An unsliced white loaf 😲

And, even worse, a readymade fish pie because we were too shattered to cook last night.

I did moan that we should've done an online order.

I think it's also something to do with the message that shopping is some sort of hobby, it's not it's a chore, trekking round a variety of shops with children sounds not a great way to me to spend time, if you are lucky enough to have the financial resources there are many other things I would prefer to be doing.

I think many young people with families might tend to do an online shop too.

When I trekked around with a pram all those years ago, it was a necessity as we had no supermarket. If DH was home we went to the farm and stocked up the freezer, most shopping was done locally.

I can remember the excitement when a new Co-op was opened by Henry Cooper.

I go to different supermarkets for different, U.K. grown foods. There’s a lot of Irish minced beef in Asda, but they do usually have some U.K. origin as well - or I go elsewhere. U.K. apples - can usually find those in Sainsbury’s or M&S. Ditto mushrooms.

I will never buy any Danish, Dutch or other non U.K. pork or bacon - more a welfare thing than anything else - Denmark in particular is notorious for appalling factory farming. Ditto butter - always U.K. origin for me.

I have to go to Waitrose or M&S for strictly higher welfare UK origin pork. Asda does have U.K. origin bacon though.

I do appreciate that I’m lucky to have various different supermarkets close by.

Callistemon Where do you live? I have three small towns all within 5 miles in different directions. All have markets, none big, as I said, one little more than a large greengrocer stall.

When we lived in London there were local markets. I used markets in Soho, Camden town and Streatham at different times/ There was a huge and vibrant one in Brixton. Reading has a market as did Bracknell. DD used to haunt Lewisham market, now goes to Letchworth market.

By the time I went back to work when DD started nursery i could drive and still kept shopping as before. I shopped in my lunch hour, one day the supermarket, the next day the market. One big shop a month with small top ups each week and no midweek shopping. Every three months visit the butcher to restock the freezer. I spent less time than most shopping It requires organisation to shop as I did/do. but that is all. It is only a hassle if you make it such.

When I first moved to this area we had a local butcher, greengrocer and bakery. The nearby town had a large market.
They have all closed now leaving out of town supermarkets only. I have to drive a long way to get to a market now and that is costly and not good for the environment.

Monica. I am told that markets are not like they used to be. Twenty years ago in Kings Lynn the whole Tuesday market place was covered with stalls now only a few.
Now that I am housebound and in a village where not every supermarket delivers I have little choice in what food I am able to get from Sainsburys
No English apples even when in season. Practically all their FRESH fish has previously been frozen and processed in the (polluted) Mekong delta so am forced to. buy Scottish salmon and that is farmed!
When asparagus last year was in season they were selling that from Chile. It is grown in fields near me.
Tomatoes are now grown in poly tunnels and are tasteless.