As I have said before I am a huge fan and supporter of shopping for your groceries locally. Not only is it good for those businesses on your doorstep, it keeps your pounds out of the pockets of greedy supermarkets who don't need it and (best of all) is much better for you both your health and your money.


Since moving, I am very lucky to have the amazing Barleylands Farm shop on my doorstep. It is open seven days a week, has a garden shop and most importantly of all, has fresh products for reasonable prices. The staff are amazingly friendly and chatty in there - I don't think I have paid for my goods in there once without having a good old chin wag! (Something you don't normally get at a supermarket check out).


They have a huge selection of fruit, veg and meat. They also have tinned goods, sauces, condiments, pastas, well known brands and products for the home and for cleaning. (Great example of savings is a tin of John West tuna for £1 and four tubes of tomato puree for £1! There is much more!) The first time we shopped in there was two days before payday so we were counting the pennies a bit but me being me went a bit mad and loaded up the basket.  When it came to paying I started to have a few regrets about what I had picked up as the basket was quite full and even the lady on the till was impressed by how much I had been able to hide away. Meat, cheese, lunch stuff, tinned goods, veg, fruit, pasta, juice....uh oh! £17 it came to though. SEVENTEEN POUNDS!!


Crazy savings.


If you have a business like this near to you, please please PLEASE go and shop there. You will notice the difference in the quality of the purchases you make. The meat will never be as good in supermarkets as it is from the butcher. The veg is never as tasty and fresh in the supermarkets as it is from the greengrocer.


The fish you buy locally will be from nearby shores and not the Atlantic only to then be flown to china for packing and then onto the UK for selling (That is some carbon footprint!). You won't  find ready meals listed as containing beef when it contains horse and is from an unknown source tucked away in Europe that then travels from country to country before arriving here in the UK.


So instead of second guessing what's in your food and where it might come from why don't you shop locally this weekend and make a small change to your cupboards and a big change to your high street?

FARM SHOP: Barleylands in Billericay.