THE SUPERMARKET, A PLACE OF PLEASURE OR PERIL

When I was a child, admittedly in the distant past, mothers and their offspring would head off to the “mobile market” to purchase vegetables, fruit, baked items, and honey plus homemade jams and more brought in by farmers.

With time, the mode of purchasing changed, and on the horizon was the “family store” suitable for a weekly purchase, but with an inevitable future, todays Giants emerged to be known as “Super Markets”.

These massive structures were unpredictable, especially to the more placid shoppers and the familiarity with suburban stores disappearing – one had to deal with rushed shoppers with trollies speeding from one aisle to another. For some, shopping in these Giants, became a nightmare; few interactions with others and sensory overload amidst a mass of strangers, ultimately anxiety triggering anger.

Furthermore, scientific research guides our decision-making to be impulsive and less emotional on our supermarket journeys.

Even store managers, despite being trained to be amicable, display a sign of irritation.

On the purchasing side, there are many traps such as leaving with more items than intended as we are hard-wired to react to cues on our journey.

Despite the negatives thus far mentioned, Super Markets are here to stay, they supply us with thousands of choices and the answer is precision when creating a shopping list and arriving with a positive attitude.

In comparison to the fresh produce of the old “farmer’s markets” ethics are at times lacking such as human rights violations, the right of animals, and abuses of food waste.

Many changes are now apparent as farming is not as productive as in the past, but technology has certainly upgraded old, stale methods. In conclusion, shopping need not be mind-boggling, it’s all about the human attitude!