Supermarket-Free Me: Lent 2014 Challenge

For Lent 2014 I will be giving up supermarkets. This new challenge evolved out of my 28 day experiment last year to go supermarket-free. I blogged throughout the four weeks and thoroughly enjoyed the experience – and yes, I’ve finally forgotten about juggling buggies with baskets and narrow aisles! It was definitely an effort for me at the time, but I learned a huge amount about what I eat and where I want to be spending my money. I’m keen to keep learning!

I set my original challenge after Fife Diet last year came up with the idea of a supermarket-free lent. Then my children were tiny and I had limited shopping time so that seemed unmanageable, but I wanted a taster. For 2014 I’m doing it the way they originally proposed.

I like the idea of choosing a time of year when many people set themselves a worthwhile challenge. An added bonus is that if others are giving up supermarkets for lent then there is suddenly some ‘consumer power’ being exercised that no doubt the stats people at supermarket HQs will pick up through the (scarily huge) amount of information they glean through loyalty cards!

Shortly after the start of the ‘horsemeat scandal’ Fife Diet wrote last year:

Let’s support farmers, local shops, small retailers and help demand real change.

I applaud that sentiment. I want support those who can offer positives such as local produce, trustworthy practices and ethical trading to the food industry and further, I want to help drive change in a society that is monopolised and manipulated by supermarkets.

I intend to be blogging regularly over lent, which starts on 5 March and I will be ‘warming up’ with some introductory posts such as this one.

If this is something that you might be interested in then please join me! Whether or not you will be going supermarket-free for lent I warmly invite you to read my posts as I progress and share with me the highs and lows of this experience.

For those interested in giving up the supermarket, you can look forward to banishing the associated negatives that shopping there involves (I’m talking unethical treatment of suppliers, food waste and aggressive marketing to name but a few) plus you might discover some new positives, such as:

• Learning about the providers of food (and other key items) in your neighbourhood
• Trying to ‘Grow Your Own’
• Finding new, more personal and pleasurable shopping experiences
• Experimenting with cooking, baking or making
• Realising there are alternative products to supermarket brands

This year, I will also be considering the financial costs or gains of giving up supermarkets. There are different approaches that can be taken to changing your grocery-acquiring habits and you don’t need to find yourself out of pocket.

If this post has got you thinking then please do take a look at my previous Supermarket-Free Me posts and may I recommend http://ayearwithoutsupermarkets.com/ which documents the adventures of a family who not only gave up supermarkets last year but saved lots of money in the process!