A Comparison...

We shop at a market, a farmers' market in Blackburn, Lancashire, and we typically only shop at a supermarket when we cannot find what we want at the farmers' market or it's closed. Why? The food at the farmers' market is better, the shopping is faster, and it's cheaper.

For me, supermarkets are too big, with too many choices and too crowded - and (especially important for a foodie) the food isn't as good. For the past several years, we've comparison shopped and taste tested, and the food simply isn't as tasty. And I think it's because supermarket food is designed to last on the shelf.

Here's an example:

Two pieces of brie cheese, one bought from a supermarket and one bought from the farmers market. The supermarket cheese is a sharp edged well shaped wedge of brie, it keeps its look and shape both in the fridge and out - you can whack it on the table and it retains its shape - it tastes like eating cheese-flavoured paste. The farmers' market cheese doesn't hold its shape at all once removed from the fridge and 'melts' into a brie puddle - and it tastes divine.

My trips to the market are enjoyable. I'm not battling my way through crowded isles searching to find the things I need (supermarkets are organised so that we spend longer in them otherwise the bread, eggs and milk would be located together at the front of the store). At the market, I see stall keepers who know me and I know them, they know what they're selling and how to prepare it (without having to call for a manager). The food is fresh, not laden with preservatives and in the main cheaper. Overall it is cheaper simply because there is less choice, I can't buy the extras that I used to toss into the basket - fancy sauces, the interesting gadgets, the 37 different versions of something - because they simply aren't there, which makes for a significantly cheaper long-term food bill.