How do you shop for food?

This is a survey set by Jillmurphy and Can Can all about food and shopping...take part and let them know when you have!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Q1: If your yearly food budget was £100, how much would you say you currently spend in big retailers – eg supermarkets? Explain why you spend so much or so little there?

I know what the ‘right' answer here should be, I know that supermarkets are in general bad for small producers and the environment etc. and locally grown produce should be bought if possible but I’m afraid that in the end convenience does mean that the supermarkets get quite a lot of my £100 budget…say £70. I do tend to buy bread, meat, fish and vegetables from smaller retailers when/where possible but it’s not always possible. I do try and buy fair trade and organic if I can from the supermarkets.

Q2: Are you aware of any food produce(s) made in your area specifically?

Yes plenty. There is locally caught fish from the fish market and there are plenty of farm shops some organic including the organic meat company that trade locally. Although fairly close most our slightly out of town so getting to them on a regular basis is difficult.

Q3: Within the shop or shopping place where you spend the greater part of your food budget, can you find those area specific produces which are not mass-produced? Do you buy any? Why?

Since I spend most of the budget in the supermarket I suppose most of it is mass produced although the supermarket where I do mostly of my shopping does make bread in store as well as having a good Deli and fish counter…I don’t tend to buy processed food if I can avoid it so generally I make food from basic ingredients.

Q4: Have you ever been to a street market around your area? If so, what did you like/dislike there?

We have a very good fish market and a decent fruit and veg. market fairly near us. I do go there form time to time and the experience generally is good; cheaper prices and mostly better quality than the local supermarket. The drawbacks are it does take longer to dot he shop and parking is not so convenient.

Q5: How far is your nearest supermarket? How far is your nearest frequent street market?

The nearest supermarket is about 1.5miles away the nearest market is 2miles away.

Q6: Have you ever bought bread at an independent baker? Do you have any independent baker nearby? What do you think of these?

Generally most of the bread I buy is disappointing, there are a few good bakers around but they are expensive and the quality although better than the local supermarket is not that much better to justify the price. Making your own is the bets idea.

Q7: Do you eat ready meals? If you do, is it for convenience, taste or other reasons? If you don't, why don't you?

No, we tend to make everything form fresh ingredients. I think the convenience is a bit of a red herring. Most home prepared food doesn’t have to take that much longer to prepare than throwing a plastic packet containing plastic food in a microwave. Ready meals are not good for you! They are usually full of salt even if they are from a ‘good’ brand, one leading brand of luxury organic soup was found to have more than the RDA of salt in one carton. You also find high levels of fat, chemicals and preservatives…. anyway in general home cooking tastes better.

Q8: Do you eat together as a household, or separately?

Yes we do always. There’s five of us three growing children all at school with plenty of after school clubs and activities, both I and my partner work full time so it’s not always easy to converge to the dinner table at the same time but we do and when we do the TV/radio goes off and we talk…

Q9: How do you do your food shopping? Online or offline? Why is this?

Offline once a week, it all takes about an hour and half and then it’s over for another week. I have tried online but I find it a hassle and I generally like to look and feel what I’m buying. I’ve also found that online we invariably get replacements that we don’t want for stuff we have ordered which is out of stock.

Q10: Do you eat the recommended five portions of fruit and vegetables per day?

Yes just about most days. Fresh fruit with breakfast, usually chopped up in cereal. Fresh fruit at lunchtime along with fruit juice and green veg with the main meal in the evening…it’s not that difficult really.

Q11: Are you on a diet? What sort of diet? A lose weight regime? An allergy regime?

No. I do a lot of exercise and eat what I want but sensibly; I've recently tried to cut salt from my diet as much as possible but I've never had a weight problem and I don’t have food allergies.

There you go...it's as easy as that. Go on have a go!