Jembella Farm: The supermarket

Tuesday, 24 June 2014

The supermarket

Today I went to the supermarket. This is not something I do every week, or even every two weeks. I go when the list on my fridge starts to contain things that I really need to have before I can cook another meal.
So it's been approximately three weeks since my last shop at the supermarket.
I was flabbergasted to be standing in line behind a young woman who was doing her fortnightly shop. She had two monster trolleys and into them she had loaded more than four huge packs of disposable nappies, chocolate bars, jars of meal base mixes, packets of biscuits, chips, sugary fizzy drinks, some trays of plastic wrapped meat, boxes of breakfast cereal, shampoos, soaps, liquid washing detergent, but hardly any vegetables. Her and the checkout lady were chatting about "well... it was a two weekly shop and therefore is bound to be big."
There was I with a small bundle of items in my trolley that wasn't even going to fill two shopping bags and my eyes were goggling. As I stacked my things on the counter I sneaked a look at the monitor to read the total of her shopping. $639..!!! She didn't flinch. It's all the shopping for two weeks, of course it's going to be big!
This is entertainment for me. Obviously I need to get out more.
Is this for real? Is this what people buy and do they spend this much on their food and necessities out there in the real world?
She, and her family, are spending per week, equal to half of my wage on their food and household things.
I wouldn't mind betting that she wonders why they just can't get ahead, save any money or pay off their mortgage.
As I became included in the end of their conversation I couldn't resist making a comment that this is my three week shop. I didn't want to sound smug, but I just couldn't let it pass. For two of us plus two teenage boys who eat with us two nights per week my shopping totaled $38.75.
A conversation followed as she asked how I could do that, so I told her that I cook from scratch, make our soaps, shampoos, washing detergent, grow a garden, have a few chooks and generally live sustainably.
Their jaws dropped & both agreed that they would love to know how to do that.
OK to be fair, she probably doesn't have a cow in the back yard to supply all of her family's dairy foods. Nor would she have a few sheep and cattle in the paddock to supply their own meat, but anyone can learn how to cook a few basic things to feed a family healthy food on a realistic budget.
I don't want to start a rant about disposable nappies being a huge waste of money. That is already clear to everyone and I don't need to talk about the environmental effect of their disposal.
Is she the norm?
I wonder if she, and others like her, would really be interested to know how to save money, have more control of her family's future and eat healthy food.

1 comment:

Liz24 June 2014 at 21:34
I can't help but feel a bit sick when I see people buying all that crap. And knowing that they're feeding it to their KIDS! I know most people just don't know any better, but something needs to change in this country- you only have to look at the supermarket brochures to see all they advertise is absolute junk. It shouldn't even be allowed to be sold! Oh don't even get me started...
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About Us

Whether you're living in an apartment, in a house in the suburbs or on acres, you can live frugally and sustainably. There are many things you can do to save money, eat ethically and healthily, reduce waste and live an enriched life.
We are Sally and Brian and we live in the Barossa Valley (South Australia) in a 100 year old house on sixteen acres with 2 dogs, 7 cows, 2 alpacas, 5 geese, 35 chickens, 78 sheep and a few bee hives.
Our way of life takes team work and dedication, but over the years we've learned to be more productive without seeming to put in quite so much effort. We've learned through making mistakes and taking a different approach to what the conventional ways would be. Still learning every day and constantly researching old and new methods, we believe that our lives are greatly enriched, we are healthier and we couldn't imagine any other way of life.
Considered to be living The Good Life, people love to visit us on our small farm to learn about our simple living philosophy.

Why do we do it?
Our love of good food, concern for our health and respect for all animals. The further we got into living on the land the more aware we became that most of the standard practices of growing food were not satisfactory. We couldn't eat with a clear conscience.
Milk from sad cows, pasteurized and homogenized into white liquid. Meat from distressed, hormone and antibiotic pumped livestock. Vegetables and fruits grown and sprayed with chemicals. What to do? Grow our own!
Slowly we grew our knowledge and took one step at a time, becoming proficient in one skill before moving on to the next. The learning curves were steep. We fell over and got back up again. There has been some derision and criticism of our approach from a few, but that's life when you swim against the tide.
If we are not the "norm" then so be it. There is nothing "normal" about growth hormones fed to beef, anti-biotics and chemicals fed routinely to chickens, cruelty and disrespect for farmed animals, meals in a box, GM foods, strawberries and tomatoes in winter.
Thankfully the World is waking up to cleaner and more ethical food. We didn't know back then that Organics and Bio-dynamics would become the "new black". The tide is turning and our swimming is becoming easier.