Supermarketing power to the people

There are 2 very memorable things I recall from my A-level economics class. One is that The Wizard of Oz was an allegory based on the American economic and monetary policy of the late 19th century. It sparked a rarely seen level of excitement in the classroom. Unfortunately it was short lived.

The other thing I remember talking about, in more painstaking detail was the phenomenon of Tescopoly. As a teenager in a two-trolley town I was seduced by the exotic goods on offer when the new supermercado cowboy rolled into the high street. Let me explain: this was a real novelty for Northern Ireland in the 1990s. It suddenly became more convenient to shop at midnight, buy unnecessary 2 for 1 offers and have a loyalty card.

It's still something of a thrill to have the choice of filling a trolley with anything from baked beans to surfboards. But last week I had an invite to The People's Supermarket, a lovely little shop near Holburn which just sells what you need.

This place is amazing. It's a supermarket for the community. A supermarket which sources its produce from local farmers, and volunteers contribute 4 hours a week to working in the store. Result: quality food, lower costs, and the feel-good factor for helping put something back into the community.

But more than this, it's providing honest business for local farms, where in the past the larger supermarkets have agreed to buy produce, then rejected it at the last minute. The lovely chef, Arther Potts who pioneered this ethical enterprise, cooks up a treat with food from the store. It helps reduce the amount of food thrown away. And since we in the UK bin 8.3 million tonnes of food year, (according to http://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/) we could probably do with a bit of help to curb our habit.

So, ok, not everyone can trek into central London to help out at the community supermarket, I hear you. But, if you can, it's good to buy local produce to cut down on food miles. And it's also good to cut out as much waste as possible. Can you compost it? Or freeze it? You might even be able to make a little cake out of your leftovers.

Finally, a word of advice on baking with leftovers. As much as I love innovation and creative cooking, there are certain ingredients which should never be put into a cake/loaf/sponge. This includes fish, meat and vegetables. With the obvious exception of carrots. Jimeoin is the authority on this subject (3min 10s on this clip). Enjoy.