Hell

I hate shopping. I really do. If I need something from a shop I'll go straight to what I need, pay and clear out. I know of people, possibly in need of medical attention, that like to go into shops say for a pint of milk and come out with garden hoses, kitchen sinks, wankle rotary engines and what ever else useless junk they happen to glance their eyes across, a large percentage of my friends of the opposite sex tend to be more guilty of this in my experience though there are a few exceptions.




Anyway, it happend to be grocery night last night so off to the supermarket I went. The supermarket in question was Asda, although if you are from the other side of the pond you will probably know it as Walmart, for it is the same company. Well....let me give you a bit of background.......last year I found a farm shop....locally produced meats, locally produced fruit and veg really cheap.....in fact shopping there threequartered the house shopping bill. Sadly the farm shop shuts at 6pm and I dont normally have time to get there from work and get the stuff in. So reluctantly, because there was no food in the house and we've been too busy, we went to the supermarket.




Walking round several things struck me:-

• In the farm shop you get wholesome misshaped veg, you know like carrots that look like penises and turnips with noses, however the fruit and veg in the supermarket was depressingly uniform....all the carrots same length and thickness, apples all the same colour, no blemishes....the organic stuff....exactly the same only with a bit of mud in the bag. The meat....all uniform prepackaged shite, the fattier the cheaper, the more lean the more expensive. No wonder the UK is becoming a nation of fatties.


• People walking round the supermarket all looked sullen and depressed. Ashen faced. Cumudgenly. Their kids bored and restless. In the farmshop your fellow shoppers are much happier and say hello and smile and the kids are happy and can look at the animals etc


• The unhealthy foods are prominent on the displays. Frozen pizzas, frozen burgers, a huge selection of chips. In the farmshop you get none of this as its all fresh stuff although they do have some nice frozen pies

I felt really guilty walking round the supermarket for not supporting local businesses.




I'm starting to take stock of my health again. I've slipped back into the "can't be arsed to cook lets have fast food" routine. I have stopped having my 20 minute walk about the campus. I'm smoking more. Of course I'm not blaming the supermarket for that, but I am blaming it for the food thing. We all need to take stock of what we eat. Stop eating shite go back to what we should eat which is plenty of fruit and veg, vitamins and if you are an omnivore a balance of meat, lean and not injected with crap and chemicals.




Arrrrgh sensible stuff........




PARSNIPS!