British supermarkets

INSANE.

That is the only word for British supermarkets.

From a distance I had been really envious of how "green" supermarkets in the UK seemed - creating demand for Marine Stewardship Council certified fish, giving information on food miles, stocking organic food ...

Then this is what I found when I got up close:



Yes, that is four apples on a black plastic tray sealed in a plastic bag WITH A LABEL proudly claiming that this is LESS PACKAGING.

That's just bonkers.

And did you notice the little label at the bottom left? South African apples.

I bought picnic lunches at the supermarket a few times and tried really hard to find fruit that was grown in the UK. There was stuff from Spain, Italy and France but the only thing I could find from Britain was strawberries in plastic punnets.

OK, I figured, it's June, it's still only late spring, not really a good season for fruit. Maybe I'll get some vegies instead. I turned to the vegie aisle. There was an amazing variety of vegetables on display. Salad greens, lettuces, cucumbers, I think there were tomatoes. There were little plastic packets of green beans from Africa that must surely have been air-freighted. But the only vegetables from Britain were peas.

And everyone else was shopping like this was COMPLETELY NORMAL.

I was gobsmacked.

All those things that I had admired - the recyclable packaging, the Forest Stewardship Council certified cardboard, the country-of-origin labelling - now I just see it as a big greenwash.