A trip to London

I used to live in London so I've just returned from a long weekend in the city catching up with old friends. Everyone was keen to talk about my blog (they've all been reading so it's apparently not just my mum's friends on here!) and it got me wondering how easy it would be to avoid supermarkets if you're living in the capital.

Of course, one of the things you notice when you're walking around the various districts and neighbourhoods is that there are smaller branches of the main supermarkets, such as Tesco Express and Sainsbury's Local, everywhere. But there are also quite a lot of other options, such as independently-run convenience stores, greengrocers and markets. But do my friends use them? The responses I got where mixed.

One friend, who lives with her partner just a five minute walk from a large Sainsbury's near Vauxhall, said that she always uses the supermarket. It's close, it's easy, the prices and good and its one of the only places she can find her favourite Laughing Cow cheese. This lovely lady has been filling the fridge with these cheesy triangles since were lived together at university and she treated me to some Laughing Cow on toast this weekend for old time's sake.

Another friend was keen to avoid the supermarkets but not quite sure how to fit it into her busy working day. And as much as she dislikes supermarket veg, she made the excellent point that most of the independent greengrocers in London display their wares on the streets outside their shops, and who wants to eat vegetables that have been exposed to the notoriously poor quality city air, traffic fumes and smog, all day? She was keen to try having an organic vegetable box delivered but worried that if it arrived during the day, while she was at work, there would be nowhere secure to leave it outside her flat.

Of course living in a village on the outskirts of Chesterfield this simply isn't an issue for me - we have a garden and our veg box is left behind the back gate.

However, the two friends mentioned above did take me to visit a lovely little food market snuggled into some back streets just behind Waterloo station. I was amazed to find that just minutes away from the South Bank, where crowds of tourists were talking photos and queuing to go on the London Eye, market traders were selling hot snacks, vegetables and cheeses. I stopped at a Greek stall for a halloumi wrap and the stallholder immediately recognised my Sheffield accent, having once worked at a steel plant in the city. We got chatting and he loved the idea of spending a year avoiding the supermarkets.

But despite these little oases of food heaven, the overwhelming conclusion from my London friends seemed to be that balancing life's demands is even harder in the city and more often than not convenience is king. At one point I was gathered with a group of old university pals for a meal and one of them had bought a Sainsbury's cheesecake for dessert. She explained that while avoiding the supermarkets was a wonderful idea in theory, there was just no way that shopping local would fit in with the demands of her career and motherhood.

What is very clear is that if we, as a society, want other options besides the supermarkets then we need to address the issue of convenience. And unfortunately, at the moment, it's very much a vicious circle. Local shops need our custom to survive, and if they are busy and bustling it then makes good business sense to extend opening hours and expand product ranges. But while ever they are not convenient (in terms of opening hours or stock) many busy folk will feel they have no choice but to go elsewhere - and this is normally to the one-stop-shops, open all hours, yep you've guessed it, the supermarkets....

My lovely London friends dig into their Sainsbury's cheesecake