Buying food

Most food from Sainsburys and Marks & Spencer with an occasional foray to Waitrose. A large Ocado delivery once a month - this is a recent development and very helpful for large or heavy items for someone without a car. An occasional visit to the market for fruit and veg - I would like to go more often but it's a bit out of my way. Irregular visits also to smaller food shop.

We buy veg from our local greengrocer, fish from the incomparable Steve Hatt, meat from our local butcher, cheese from our local cheese shop and bread from our local baker. We might go to a supermarket once a month bu that's mostly for non-perishables.

We are quite lucky - we have local greengrocers, a corner shop and a local market, all of which are comparatively cheap... there are also a couple of butchers and a couple of bakers in Poplar, although if you like lamb it is difficult to get hold of, even in the local supermarkets...  It is rare we buy fruit and veg from the supermarket, and I try to buy them without plastic if I do. 

Chrisp street market is pretty good, although our favourite fruit & vegetable stall has been absent for several weeks. There are two butchers, one of them Halal. There is a fresh fish stall but we usually get our fish and chips from an excellent chippy nearby. We also have the Stratford Centre which is only three stops away on the wonderful DLR. That also has a choice of fruit & veg stalls. Other shopping is largely at a supermarket, particularly the local Tesco Express for convenience. There are not many restaurants in the vicinity but why eat locally if you can make it yourself. We do have the option of Canary Wharf, also only a few stops away and with plenty of pubs and restaurants.

Over the years I have bought food from a variety of sources - local greengrocers, butchers, markets, supermarkets, vegetable box schemes etc. Looking back I think this has mostly been dependent on cicumstances e.g. where I lived, what was closest, having small children. Nowadays butchers tend to be very expensive, although greengrocers tend to be better value, not being so trendy. Farmers markets are also good but some markets seem to be expensive if they are in fashionable areas or trying to be upmarket (no pun intended). Large supermarkets have a lot of variety, but there are none where I live so are no better than local shops. Greengrocers and markets use a lot less packaging. You can get much more variety from fish markets, than supermarkets. I am now trying to grow much more of my own and use local community growing schemes. The produce tastes much better and is more organic. There should be more of this. We also need to have spaces for allotments and prioritise gardens over car parking spaces. There is no need for so many cars in London, where transport links are good. I guess peole have to do whatever they can within the limits of what is available locally. Could the Mayor encourage more local shops? I know business rate increases are killing off a lot of small businesses on the high street in favour of mobile phone shops. How many of these do we need? Perhaps we could have discounts for shops promoting healthy food and fresh produce.

I shop at Chapel Market (fruit and veg), the Sunday Farmers market there (mainly raw milk, bread and meat, some veg), Brunswick/Islington Waitrose for anything else. I think the GLA should support more street markets for fruit and veg, despite Chapel not being the cheapest (if I went up to Dalston or down to East Street it would be much cheaper) it is important for people like me who are on a tight budget to be able to get healthy food without too much packaging. We should also watch for any move to put benefits on a cash card, this would mean people would not be able to get so much healthy food.

I buy from small High St or corner shops (mostly Turkish round here), and the small Sainsbury and Tesco on the High St. The nearest larger supermarket is a Morrison's 20 minutes walk away, and I don't get there more than once a month. We also have Wholefoods (which I avoid) and Harvest (similar stock but not owned by Amazon) which i do use, maybe every couple of weeks. Eating out round here is getting fancier - it's easy enough to get a good cup of coffee, and one place (owned by French North Africans) does its own excellent cakes, but there used to be more straightforward breakfasty places. Every time one of those gets "refurbished" it becomes a more evening-oriented restaurant with a pricy menu.  That goes with the house price inflation round here, I suppose, but sooner or later there are going to be too many places chasing the same business and those will start failing. Hoping they might go back to the cheaper breakfasts, but it would probably be more expensive breakfasts. Nothing ever gets cheaper.

I have a car so I'm fortunate to be able to have a choice where to shop for food. About once a week I stock up on most things at Aldi. Not only are savings to be made compared to others but they stock 90% of my basic requirements and I can complete a shop in much less time it takes to walk around one of the large Sainsburys or Tescos. Thats another advantage Aldi has. I'm rarely tempted by impulse buys simply because they dont have the range the big ones have. However I do do some shopping at a small local sainsburys mainly for bread and milk and at one of their large stores too. I also buy some frozen food from Iceland and call in to a small local Coop from time to time. If I didnt have a car I might have to have home delivery. In that case I'd have to choose Sainsburys for most of the shopping.

I buy my fruit and vegetables from Enfield Market on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays - excellent quality and value - always seasonal.  Also supports local businesses - if you don't use them, you lose them.  Always other things to look at on other stalls including fresh fish on a Thursday.

All other shopping is from Waitrose - actually cheaper/better value than Sainsbury, and also M & S for quality and innovation.  Never Lidl or Aldi - if it's that cheap there has to be a reason.  I like to know where my meat comes from.

Many supermarkets are unclear about whether their meat, fish, and dairy products are outdoor-reared and/or grass-fed and/or fished in a sustainable way, even when I email them to ask. it's not just about animal welfare standards it's also about factory farming, the over-use of valuable antibiotics, rainforest destruction, the inefficient use of protein (including GM crops), and the use of agricultural land in Less Economically Developed Countries which denies proper nutrition to their own population. So I tend to prioritise the Co-op whenever I can (and Waitrose on occasions). Others need to have a more open policy of labelling and other information.

Vegetable delivered by Farmaround. Bread made at home or bought from a local supermarket. Nuts and seeds bought from whole foods online. Plant milks from supermarkets,pulses and lentils from health food stores , spices from market.

Locally a couple of small supermarkets or travel. We are vegan

Restaurants mostly closed at the weekend here but can reach other areas by public transport easily 

I get most of my food from a supermarket where I can get all my essential food needs for the week ahead in one swift 20 minute trip. Then buy fresh meat/fish/veg as I need them, but usually from a supermarket also. Artisan markets are really too expensive but I do buy stuff from authentic old-style markets (like Tooting, though that's now being gentrified). I enjoy cooking at home - I only eat out occasionally as it's just so darned expensive. Restaurants can be very hit-or-miss and they're a bit thin on the ground once you get out of central London, so I prefer to only go to places that are recommended, then I remain loyal when I find a good one.