Hi everyone, this week we talking about supermarkets and can we live without them. There has been a lot press recently about getting people to shop locally but is that actually possible?

Do you have a local butcher, baker, fishmonger and green grocer?

Does it take more time?

Is it too expensive?

Do you think that supermarkets have destroyed community life or have they created a new one?

Supermarkets might be cheaper but what do you think about their power over producers? Fixing prices etc

Do you think that small shops have to move with the times and offer a different service to the supermarkets? - work with local farmers/producers, open later, offer deliveries, sell specialist foods along side the papers.

If you live in a town or city, are their "local" producers to buy from?

Could supermarkets work in harmony with small local shops? How?

Should local shops just give up because, in this day and age, we want convenience, a wide range of products and cheap prices? There is no point in being nostalgic about local shops, if we wanted them, we'd use them and they'd stay in business.

We'd love to hear your views, please do tell us roughly where you live and what it's like for you.

I don't think supermarkets are cheaper. I spend less each month than I ever used to in a supermarket by having my vegetables delivered through a weekly box scheme which also delivers milk and eggs, I buy meat from a local butcher which is cheaper and far better than any intensively reared meat available in the supermarket and we have a local farm shop. The only thing I miss is the fishmonger - supermarkets have eroded town centre shops to such an extent that we are in danger of losing them completely to chain stores, supermarket mini markets and other indifferent companies. The shops my parents used are a dying breed in the community today and we should be supporting those that are left - use them or lose them is the expression! Surely a local shop is more convenient to get to than a supermarket that we have to drive to? Supermarkets aren't super - they treat their suppliers appallingly, support intensive farming and they tell us, the consumer, what it is we want. I have voted with my feet and now only visit a supermarket when I have to which is to buy loo roll, pet food and cleaning supplies! Rant over...

I wish there was more local shops,where I live in scotland (inverekithing) we use to have 3 butchers now we have none and I have to buy my meat at the local supermarket which I feel is too expensive and not the best off quality.I do however have a fishshop and I guy who delivers local fish in a van,but it is the lack of butchers that really annoys me.
What I would really love to see is more farmer markets,there is one that i go to but it is only once a month and I have to travel an hour to get there,and usually all they have on sale is meat which is great but I would love to see more fresh vegtable and fruit on sale.

There is a butchers in Inverkeithing. Brian's by the dentist on the high street. I live in Rosyth and there are 2 butchers here.


Sandra

Supermarkets represent convenience and choice under one roof which appeals to the average lazy mentality of shoppers. Better value for money can very often be had by shopping in the independent shops, if there are any left in your locality. By being lazy and not supporting the small retailer we have lost his trade, his experience and his knowledge. The High Street grocery shop has now given way to the charity shop/building society/bank...you name it. We only have ourselves to blame. Such are the high rental values of town centre commercial retail premises now, there is no way we can turn the clock back. Why is it that in France they have vast hypermarkets and supermarkets and still retain the small independent butcher, baker, and grocer? Support your local trader.

im afraid my local butcher,greengrocer are bakers are far more expensive than our local supermarket. kathy from devon

Hi, when I do watch Great Food Live and pick the recipes I want to cook sometimes I can't get the ingredents I need from the supermarket I have to try and get them from seperate shops and to be honest thats a heck of a pain.

The local shops offer better service, greater experience and dedication to their trade. Our butcher will only sell beef hung for at least 21 days. Not the cheap and tasteless beef with that light pink colour you see on too many supermarket shelves. I would always pay a little more and maybe less often for the expertise of someone who knows their meat and where it comes from, than buy from a supermarket that doesn't care if your beef tastes (as Wogan would say) like chicken!!! Joskin's post is right - the french are brilliant at supporting local shops not because they are cheaper than the big hypermarkets (as often they aren't) but because they value the relationship with the butcher/baker and because with a relationship there is trust that you will receive the very best quality for maybe a couple more Euro's. It really does make a difference and as yet we have not found anyone who prefers the steak served up by the english supermarkets compared to the steak by their local butcher when they have tried it. Also the more your local butcher/baker can sell, the better the price he can sell meat/bread at...just like the supermarkets. It takes people to realise that there really is a difference in service and quality and not take the easy option of the one stop shop. If we don't start supporting our local shops more we may no longer have a choice but to buy what the big supermarkets want us to buy, be it chicken pumped with water and protein (but not marked on the label) or mange toute air freighted from peru?

Although I live in a small village it still had a greengrocer and fishmonger, a butcher and a baker but now we dont have any - just a high priced convenience store. My trip to the nearest supermarket is about 15 minutes away which isn't too far but it's usually a very stressful experience because its always so busy. I think there is too much choice these days and far too many convenience foods. I would support local shops if there were any left to support.

Ok I live in the Liverpool area, suburban with no car,you know and I've looked everywhere, web included, for a company that does local deliveries of fresh fruit and veg. Not a one. There is a farmers market in the city but it's more expensive than the supermarkets. Then we've got to carry it home on public transport. Has any one tried that ? not easy. So if anyone knows of a delivery service let me know. I don't mind the extra cost..

I live just outside of Portsmouth, and most of our "local shops" have now been transformed into mini supermarkets, so the prices have risen.
I do believe that the big supermarkets are responsible for price fixing suppliers because if the supermarket chains dont buy the produce etc then the suppliers would be out of business and the supermarkets know this so exert undue pressure on suppliers.
I am lucky that i live in an area where we have farm shops, regular markets, and the occasional farmers markets..
I dont mind paying a little bit more than at a supermarket for fresh good quality produce or meat or fish,
I have seen the decline of several Local shops basically because of supermarkets buying pressure, we used to have 4 butchers shops now we have 1 we used to have a local bakery sadly no more, also a fishmongers but luckily we have had a new one open with supply direct from the boat.
Supermarkets virtually hold a monoply on all supplies only by people voting with their feet and going elsewhere (if they can) and making sales figures drop will the Supermarkets realise that Quality should not be compromised for convience.
IMHO the local shop is doomed to disappear in to history because the Supermarkets wont let them live .
End of Rant.

I absolutely hate shopping in supermarkets, although I do it most weeks for "store cupboard" items. The aisles are crammed with shelf stockers, it takes ages to queue at the checkout, the lights are too bright and I am exasperated by the time I leave. I now go to the local butchers (I am lucky enough to have a choice of 3) the local bakers and to a smallholder who sells fruit and vegetables (some of which he has grown himself) and keeps hens for free range eggs. It is so much more pleasant, I will always support local traders, it is only a fraction more expensive and the quality is far superior.

In theory, yes. If everyone was willing to go here and there and everywhere for their shopping each week. Stop jumping on the Band Wagon and labelling Supermarkets as evil. I'm all for having a favourite local shop for buying a certain item, but tell me you have never thought "Hmmm...I really fancy/like (popular brand of whatever), I can get some at the Supermarket."

People seem to think that just because a brand is hugely popular, that it's Corrupting the Food industry - It isn't - They're Huge, because they have stuck it out, in many cases for decades, and established themselves as good! Many a Chef have a range of products out nowadays, where do you buy them? The Supermarket!?

I believe that supermarkets are a great boon. Many items that I would never have discovered, I have found in supermarkets. Our local farmers markets are real rip-offs. Poor quality and expensive. We do have a local farm shop that has excellent produce but little better than our local tesco. Ploughing round from shop to shop on the high street is fortunately a thing of the past. Our butchers presnt most of their meet alreday processed in some way. Try to get something out of the ordinary and ione gets a blank look.

It is true that the supermarkets, too, have little in the range of meat. English pork,lamb and beef. Just try for venison, ostrich, duck. Not easy to find! Well done super markets when it comes to foreign foods. I just wish that they would have a larger range of cheese. Visit a large French supermarket and see how it should be done!

I actually like my local supermarket. I work long hours and have to drive a long way to get to and from work, when I get home I have a hundred things to sort out and I am very tired. My local shops aren't the greatest, there are no butchers, bakers etc just mini supermarkets. The supermarket makes life easier for me, they are friendly and cheap and I also get to recycle all my waste at their recycling centre, something a local shop can't offer me. I certainly wouldn't say I was lazy for shopping at a supermarket as pointed out in an earlier message. I have friends who are single parents and work 2 jobs to make ends meet, they have no choice but to shop at a supermarket purely for convenience and to save time. Obviously people have more time on their hands than others... it totally depends on your lifestyle.

i live on the kent and sussex border and so regularly shop in tunbridge wells and crowborough
it has been announced that both these towns safeway/morrisons stores will close down before the end of the year, this in m,y opinion is good news in that it is overdue.
recently in tunbridge wells the excellent simply wild and also herb and spice kitchen closed their doors due to lack of trade which is such a shame
crowborough recently had the refurbishment of the local farm shop spillards and started selling good quality breads something that crowborough lacks if you dont buy supermarket pap. they ended up giving the bread away at times just so it didnt go in the bin.
why dont people buy these better quality products?
I went to farmers markets in both these towns yesterday and they were both buzzing.
it is great to talk to the farmers about their products and learn about fruit that has been left on the tree longer .
I have stopped buying vegetables in supermarkets and now have a box from riverfords which i would recommend highly. you get different veg that you would not normally think of buying, the food is fresh and seasonal.
i buy apples and pears from laurel tree farm on the A26 bypass at boars head they are amazing.
the fruit is fresh juicy and very tasty i never ate apples until i found this little orchard. amazingly they are only 70p per kilo-try selling them that cheap supermarkets.
lets all start gradually moving away from these monsters and support the few local resources left.

I think that we need both supermarkets and local shops in our society. I use the local shops for my fruit, vegetables and meat, and then the supermarket for store cupboard ingredients. My local market has an excellent selections of fruit and vegetables and there are numerous stalls to buy good quality meat from. However, some items cannot be bought locally, for example branded items such as pasta, bread, tinned products etc. I don't beleive that supermarkets are evil, but I do believe that where we can shop locally we should, therefore giving a fair share of business to both the local shops and the supermarket. The only thing I would like to see more is the amount of farmers markets in my area.

I can agree that we need both supermarkets and local grocers and butchers etc as some people cannot afford to buy all there produce from their local suppliers and therefore are forced to eat tastless intensly reared meats, perfectly formed & sized fruit and veg as sold by supermarkets, however what is this teaching the next generation our children when if they go to a supermarket they see all this blemish free fruit and veg or is all meat this colour or tastes the same. Super markets push local producers out by exerting on them that the fruit an veg they supply must be of a perfect size or quality or they wont buy it, they also give suppliers no choice but to bow to these demands as if they dont they could lose a lot of business. I would rather pay a bit more for my meat, fruit and veg because at least I can trust my butcher and know that the meat is of good quality and will taste better, I can go to my grocers and buy apples with acne, carrots that are`nt all 65mm long and have not travelled hundreds of miles and a fishmonger that has fish that is fresh and not passed off as fresh like some supermarkets do. I can also ask my local producer any questions about their produce and know they will be able to answer my question and wont look at me as if they havent got a clue as is the case with some staff whom I have asked in supermarkets. I think there will come a day when there wont be many local produce shops as they will be forced out and we will have very little choice but to either shop in the supermarket or travel to a farm to buy direct to have the quality......I could go on and on as this debate is so wide ranging with lots of impacts and different view points but all we can do is try to support our local producers and shops and vote with our feet...BUY LOCAL

Don from Maldon Essex

We have a great local butchers and greengocers who provide locally sourced produce. My gripe is with the Local Council who do very little to encourage additional local food outlets into the High St. Every time a shop becomes vacant planning permission always seems to go to yet another national Card Retailer, we now at least seven of them ! The Council need to be far more proactive in encouraging local producersinto the High St.

It's a complete fallacy that the supermarkets are cheaper, if you buy a good sized joint from a decent butcher, it doesn't tend to shrink half as much as a supermarket joint. Plus a good butcher will usually throw extras in for a few more pence and sometimes for nothing, so you can make stock, enrich a gravy etc. My favourite butchers had to close down and relocate due to competition from a pile it high, sell it cheap operation that doesn't seem to know what a free range chicken is. I'm still fuming 3 years later.

I think that people who use supermarket every week without exploring other options are just lazy. Very few areas have no produce available locally. People should purchase food that is from a known source and in particular, where animals are concerned they should purchase only organic, free range produce. Supermarkets treat their own suppliers very badly. I would encourage everyone to read "Shopped, The Power Of the Supermarkets"

i shop with a local butcher and find much better than supermarkets however my only other local store is a lot more expensive and doesnt even stoke the milk i need which i may add is only 4 pints of skimmed not a hard request yet only availble in 2 pints for the same price as 4 in a supermarket. simple thing like bread are 95 pence for a loaf. the choice of fruit and veg is so basic and of poor quality so it seems that although i would love to use local shops i can not afford to.

I would just like to point out that although I do think supermarkets are handy and convenient I am all for the local shops too. Unfortunately there are no decent ones where I live as they have all closed down. There used to be an amazing Italian shop at the end of my street that sold beautiful bread, cheese, pasta, sauce etc but it closed down. Sometimes we have no alternative but to use the supermarket. Some people are lucky enough to live in areas where there are great local shops, farmers markets etc. I just live near a car wash, dry cleaners and video shop!

I have to admit that when I have bought food from a farmers market, like lovely homemade chutneys or good quality sausages, amazingly fruity jams and fine tasting ham, I enjoy cooking with these much more. I don't know why really, I feel like they make the meal more special. I would welcome more of it in my area.

I live in rural Yorkshire my husband uses the car for work so I use a supermarket home delivery service for most of my shopping, as do most my neighbours.

We do have a village butcher and green grocer, the butcher is very, very expensive - even when he sells the meat he has sourced locally. The village greengrocer is very limited in what he stocks and most people here know not to buy from him between Monday to Thursday because he re-stocks on Fridays and after Monday his veg gets very 'tired' (wobbly carrots and yellow cabbage). Apart from that we have a van that comes around on Mondays and Thursdays which sells groceries and bread. The van is run by a village shop about 15 miles away and it charges village shop prices plus extra making it astronomically expensive - anywhere between 5p and 30p per item more than a supermarket. I only buy from the van if I'm desperate but a lot of the elderly people in the village without computers are forced to use it. Yes, I could get a bus to the nearest market town but they've cut the service to twice a week.

If I've got the car and if I'm passing I occasionally go to a farm shop three or four villages away where I can buy organic veg but they only open when they feel like it so its not something you can rely on. We buy free range pork, chickens and eggs from our neighbours - and we go to a farm further up on the moors to stock up on lamb when it is in season - and we also grow and freeze some of our own veg.

As far as I'm concerned supermarkets that deliver are a blessing. They are very cheap in comparison to the alternatives available to me and the quality is so much more reliable. As for their ability to negotiate prices with producers - that surely is up to the producer? The producers aren't forced to offer their goods to the supermarkets. Within a fifteen mile drive we have got several farms where they have signs up saying which supermarkets they are growing for and NONE of those farmers are hard up.

I was getting quite cross about this topic - surely there is room for everything - I live in a town with a well renowned Butcher which is far too expensive for me to use to feed my family on a regular basis and we do not have a greengrocer due to the fact that the Council made the rent etc., too expensive. I tend to buy my meat in Waitrose, veg from the farmers market which is only in our town once a month or Tesco. I resent being called lazy because I shop in a supermarket - my main concern is to feed my family the best food available at a cost that I can afford - I would love to buy only organic but unfortunately, it is still very price prohibitive. I would like to know William Sitwell's view considering he is or was Editor of Waitrose Magazine!!!!!!