Shopping at Tesco
Oct 4th, 2007 by QuirkyVegan
I have a pathological kind of love-hate relationship with our local Tesco (or Tesco Extra as it likes to be known). It bugs me that this store has an ever increasing monopoly on the grocery scene of Britain and abroad, but it bugs me more that I keep shopping there. It’s like a bad habit that I need to kick but can’t quite manage. I wonder if they make little patches for Tesco addiction?
Maybe I just like the fact that they give you “green” Clubcard points for reusing carrier bags, and using my brightly coloured reusable Lidl bag gives me a weird kick. Tesco, you may have my custom (this time) but you don’t own me! It’s interesting though, as I pushed my trolley full of goodies past the end of the checkouts, I noticed only one other person claiming her extra clubcard points.
Why do I shop at Tesco? I’d really like to do that whole “local shop” thing, which I used to do when I lived in a market town. I think it comes down to not having time. And yes I am aware that when people say they don’t have time, 99.99% of the time the really mean they can’t be bothered. To me, the lure of Tesco is that they have everything under one roof and I can go on the way home from work and by 6pm it’s job done for another week.
I did try and buy organic / Fairtrade things where possible, and the prices are comparable with the “normal” produce. I made an effort to buy local food that is in season, although I was rather irritated with these corn cobs which came in little plastic trays. I picked up a head of broccoli and put it straight in to my trolley without taking a bag. When I got some strange looks I felt triumphant and morally superior.
Perhaps one thing that does keep me going back to Tesco is that they have a rather good “ethnic food” selection. Living in a WASP town as I do, this isn’t always easy to find in many stores. It’s one part of the store which is always empty, so I like to have a little looky-see what there is. Today I bought a falafel mix, which HTB will eat, having tried them in Greece.
Another justification of Tesco shopping is the observation of current socio-consumer trends. In other words, I’m so nosy at what other people are buying. The Christmas shelf has now become a Christmas aisle and there are now sweets and nuts all ready for the festive season. I’m sure if I bought any of these sweets and nuts they wouldn’t last to see the end of the month, never mind Christmas.
I am managing my supermarket shopping by only going once a week. After all, isn’t that enough for anyone?
I know what you mean! I shop locally as much as possible, but not having a car means it’s better for us (and the environment!) to do a once fortnightly massive, huge, scary expensive Tesco shop. Our Tesco is well stocked, so we get bulk amounts of soya milk, freezer veg, canned beans etc all in one go
I’m off to potter around your blog, thanks for stopping by mine!
please help me!
my manager is addicted to tesco’s its taking over her life. its all she ever talks about! any suggestions on how our office can help her through this?