An extract from a recent George Monbiot article on the green-ification of the big supermarkets(click here for the full thing)
"...Today the Competition Commission will publish the initial results of its inquiry into the market dominance of the superstores. One of the issues it is investigating is the “land bank” accumulated by Tesco – a huge portfolio of sites on which the company appears to be sitting until it can obtain planning permission. Many of them are out of town. If Tesco develops them, it will drag even more cars onto the road. Out-of-town shopping is incompatible with sustainability.
So, perhaps, is the sheer scale of the business. Walmart and Tesco can change the world at the stroke of a pen, but one decision they will not make voluntarily is to relax their grip on local economies. It will always be harder for small businesses to work with a global behemoth than with the local baker or butcher; Tesco’s economy will continue to favour the big, distant supplier over the man down the road. And what of the sense of community independent small shops help to foster, which encourages people to make their friends close to home? If love miles are the most intractable cause of climate change, we need to start cultivating as much community spirit as we can.
But there is a bigger contradiction than this, which has been overlooked by both the supermarkets and many of their critics. “The green movement,” Terry Leahy tells us, “must become a mass movement in green consumption.”(10) But what about consuming less? Less is the one thing the superstores cannot sell us. As further efficiencies become harder to extract, their growth will eventually outstrip all their reductions in the use of energy. This is not Tesco’s problem alone: the green movement’s economic alternatives still lack force.
The big retailers are competing to convince us that they are greener than their rivals, and this should make us glad. But we still need governments, and we still need campaigners."
Thought provoking. What do you think?
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3 comments:
Insightful indeed, I've enjoyed reading Monbiot since he presented a lecture at Queen's a few years back. The supermarket issue is tricky as it's apparent that every decision is being made by fat-cats in ivory towers. I think the way we can redress the current balance and influence our future direction is by supporting local farmers. Claire and I hve started doing this and now get all of our vegetables from Helen's Bay Organics - an organic farm in County Down, N. Ireland. The vegetables come weekly and are incredibly fresh (soil included!), a welcome change from vacum packs. So, as much as we can I feel that we need to support our local farmers directly - cut out Tescos et al. That's the 'green' option.
what about those on lower income?
the option to go local is not made available to them, surely there is a deeper issue of inequality at work here.
The 'local farmer'is simply cashing in on the niche market made available to him by the corporate cats as the ethics of buying local becomes fashionable..
I say get dirty and grow your own..and give your money to the poor..or invest it in starting an alternative supermarket..take on the giants by becoming a bigger ethical one.
Or..are we just bad at adjusting to change?..how did the farmers markets cope with local grocery shops opening up years ago..maybe the BIG supermarket is just a response to population growth and globalisation..should we just recognise that they do what they do very well, we get our needs met..admittedly at a cost to others around the world..the deeper issues of trading standards etc need to be addressed..use your consumer power to demand change.
Tesco etc. are actually at our 'beck and call' they only provide for what we want; cheap convenience, so we can get home quickly to eat our ready meals in front of our advertising machines in the corner of the living room
telling what we should buy next.
I say get dirty and ban tvs.
I welcome both your comments on this issue. It is a tricky one - its not easy to 'buy local' at all at the supermarkets meet our needs with an all under one roof drive - their buying power means their prices can be at a more competitive level for consumers.
Growing your own is an interesting idea, but not all of us have the land option to grow vegetables.
A bit like government, pd we have to accept that big supermarket is here to stay - our buying power is the best fulcrum for change?
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