A couple of weeks ago I finished a brilliant, but thoroughly unenjoyable, book - "Not On The Label" by Felicity Lawrence. One by one, it examines how common foods get to the supermarket shelf, and details the horrors that have taken place on the way. Sometimes what shocked me most was what's done to the farmer or the environment in the name of efficiency, but for most it was the adulteration of the food itself. As a consequence, I vowed to be more organised about my shopping and to buy from a much wider range of suppliers than supermarkets. I did do this when I first stopped working full time, but I'm afraid I've got a bit lazy recently.
Luckily we still have a proper butcher, deli and greengrocer in our local town, and this is my third week of using them. It does take a bit longer than trudging with a trolley, but I don't end up with a bin full of packaging, I do get a walk, and, as I have to carry everything I buy, I don't end up with so much veg that it goes runny before I get round to eating it. I can also point to anything in the shop and get information on it, like voice-activated googling, but without the adverts.
Here's what I learned today:
+ The piggies who provided my bacon spend their days outdoors and go to sleep with taped music in their shed.
+ My tomatoes were grown in greenhouses heated by composted waste
+ Cauliflowers keep better with their leaves on
+ My lettuce was grown by an 85 year old in a nearby village
+ Health & safety regulations don't allow egg boxes to be reused
Admittedly, none of these facts will change my life, but I enjoyed finding them out!
