http://www.pledgebank.com/ShopLocally Comments on 'do all my shopping locally and NOT in a supermarket chain for the month of July' en-gb team@pledgebank.com 1901-01-01T00:00+00:00 2 hourly http://www.pledgebank.com/ShopLocally#comment_344552 Fresh local produce for one and all. Keep it up! Fresh local Veg box scheme in Stirlingshire and beyond. You can also pay using the new healthy start vouchers. Great for eveyone. Visit www.mylocalfarm.co.uk http://www.pledgebank.com/ShopLocally#comment_322932 Your Local Farm suppy local produce through out Central Scotland. Hope your pledge goes well. If you want an alternative to supermarket fruit and veg along with many other products and you live in Central Scotland please visit http://www.yourlocalfarm.co.uk http://www.pledgebank.com/ShopLocally#comment_223969 Well done everybody! If anyone would like an organic box delivered on a regular basis in the Worcestershire or Gloucestershire area. We are a small scheme operating just outside Malvern and our produce is delicious and fresh (as well as organic!) Our website is in the process of being updated & redesigned so apologies if you visit before it has been but our number is 01886 881097 and email orders@skylarkboxes.co.uk for more information. Good luck with the shopping - Vicky at Skylark http://www.pledgebank.com/ShopLocally#comment_211311 I have been avoiding supermarkets for nearly a year now and Like all of your correspondents, I feel completely liberated. I enjoy shopping locally and have found some gems of local suppliers alll of which are cheaper and better than anything supermarkets can offer without comparison. Why should I be surprised? We have been moved to a place so removed from local suppliers that we have forgotten what the food chain should be and we should be shouting this fromthe rooftops at every opportunity! If only Food programmes on TV would stop giving the Supermarkets a mention and ignore their blandishments, as we have, and maybe our case could move forward. http://www.pledgebank.com/ShopLocally#comment_79553 We think this is a great idea and have been trying to promote it for the last 2 years at http://www.shoplocally.co.uk Hope you find it useful. http://www.pledgebank.com/ShopLocally#comment_15981 I love this web site, you have to check it out, nothing but the purest healthiest food in the world. http://www.pledgebank.com/ShopLocally#comment_9368 The reason that local shops have withered is our dark criminal establishment which supports all things for themselves (the big corporations) and ignore the needs of the people that they claim to represent. Local shops reduce fuel requirements and take monopoly & high prices away from supermarkets. Slavery is no longer about shackles, rape & plunder. It is far more subtle and the slaves are now happy to work hard and buy their on shackles. The ultimate aftermath of cyclical criminal establishment control is a major war used to reduce a population and grab their assets. Whether driven by Hitler or Blair, the true leader lie behind closed doors truly ptotected whatever the outcome. Look dep into your heart and recall how you wished to change the world before the institution got hold of your very thoughts. http://www.pledgebank.com/ShopLocally#comment_3151 try Fresh and Wild http://wholefoodsmarket.com/stores/freshandwild/index.html there is one in Bristol... ok i know miles away from Worcester but if you ever in Bristol you can stock up on non persishables ... but yeah we could so do with a trader joes over here ... http://www.pledgebank.com/ShopLocally#comment_3141 There was a lot of interesting debate about the Channel 4 Dispatches and on supermarkets and food in general here: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=75770&page=1&pp=10 You can also enter your postcode on bigbarn to find local producers: http://www.bigbarn.co.uk/ - http://www.pledgebank.com/ShopLocally#comment_3139 Havng just got back from California I am starting to miss Trader Joes already. Is there an equivalent shopping chain in the UK and as close to Worcs as poss http://www.pledgebank.com/ShopLocally#comment_2678 watch Dispatches on Thursday 28th July - 9pm Channel 4 supermarket secrets ...http://www.channel4.com/news/microsites/S/supermarket_secrets/index.html sounds interesting http://www.pledgebank.com/ShopLocally#comment_2048 Came across this interesting article by the author Jeanette Winterson --> extract: "...This autumn I checked how many English apples were on sale in my local Waitrose and Tesco - the answer was one variety, in one of those stores. At the height of our own apple season, we were importing our apples from New Zealand and the USA. The label on the lone UK apples said 'ripened on the tree.' Are we going mad, or is it just me? I went to my local organic shop, and there were eight English eating apples on sale, and two cookers. All were sourced from nearby Worcestershire farms, and all had the delicious taste of a true apple. Sadly, only 4% of the fruit we eat in the UK, is produced here; the supermarkets say it can't be done cheaply enough. Meanwhile, Tesco who has a staggering 25% market share of all food sold in the UK, has just announced profits of two billion. For my money, this just doesn't add up. I don't shop at supermarkets - not least because I hate the sensory deprivation. Supermarkets have lost us the tastes, textures, scents and excitements of real food. The bright lights and packaging are there to hide the fact that there are no wonderful smells, no chances to pick up lovely earthy potatoes, or find mushrooms that hit the nostrils with the whiff of warm straw, The wet fish counters in supermarkets are dismal affairs of farmed and previously frozen products, with dull sunken eyes and flabby flesh..." The full article can be found at: http://www.jeanettewinterson.com/pages/content/index.asp?PageID=310 http://www.pledgebank.com/ShopLocally#comment_1506 Good luck Simon - looking forward to hearing how you get on ... maybe you will find shopping less horrible in more local shops - more friendly ... and there are some good online food sites as well ... and not tesco.com!!! http://www.pledgebank.com/ShopLocally#comment_1453 Ok - I signed up. I'm male, single and hate shopping at the best of times, so generally use Tesco or Sainsbury's. I've nothing particularly against them - they're businesses, and businesses are there to make money. I generally try to buy British, or Fairtrade, organic etc. But I signed up to see how dependent I am on this way of life. Will keep you posted on how I get on. http://www.pledgebank.com/ShopLocally#comment_1445 Hi All just to say that the Pledge starts tomorrow on 1st July - do post up your thoughts and experiences here ... where you shop, how much more interesting it it, if you encounter any problems and so on ... and if we all keep a log we can compare and publish afterwards... Go to it and enjoy being part of our pledge - thanks for signing up Ellie ps - you might find http://UKVillages.co.uk has info on local shops and services ... or try http://www.BigBarn.com for farm shops etc http://www.pledgebank.com/ShopLocally#comment_907 OK, the benefits of shopping in local, non-chains: (1) Many supermarkets have appalling ethics, particularly in their relationships with third-world farmers (2) Not buying from supermarkets keeps non-chain shops flourishing, thereby increasing the diversity of your town or city. (Anyone heard of clone towns?) (3) The less far your food has travelled from farm to plate, the greater the benefits to the environment. (Hmmmm ... could Booths be considered exempt? They're local to the North West of England, and they make a feature of showcasing locally-produced goods.) http://www.pledgebank.com/ShopLocally#comment_408 Great, it's succeeded! Ellie, can you email us at midnight on July 1st to remind us of our pledge? Nikolai, the pledge is only asking you to try it for a month. I do shop in supermarkets, but I also get an organic vegetable box delivered. To my surprise, its main benefit is not that is local or organic. The best thing is that it is delivered, somebody choose seasonal vegetables for me, and I do more and more interesting cooking. Local shops and local food have lots of things to offer, we've just forgotten what they are. http://www.pledgebank.com/ShopLocally#comment_330 Why would you want to do this - local shops are more expensive, have less choice, and are less convenient in general? This is why supermarkets have been so successful, at the expense of local shops. http://www.pledgebank.com/ShopLocally#comment_287 This is a great pledge. In Scarborough we've started a local food group and produced a local food guide to make it easier for people to find local food. Visit our website www.topfield.org.uk/localfood/ to find out "What's in season", and lots of reasons to buy local food. http://www.pledgebank.com/ShopLocally#comment_263 You star, Ellie! This is something I've been doing for a while now, and find it scary how the word "Tesco" is becoming the generic word for 'shop'. And I'm not sure, but Duane, I reckon if the Co-op counts then maybe Whole Foods does too - it's impossible to get EVERYTHING local. What do the rest think?