There was a time, before 1800, when the main source of food in Barlick was local. Meat and dairy from the local farms, vegetables from local market gardens (Butts area mainly) and flour from the Corn Mill. Nothing had changed for centuries because transport was so difficult. Exotic things like tea, salt and sugar came in by pack horse or the local carriers. The first change was the advent of the canal after 1800 followed by the railway in the middle of the 19th century. It then became possible for the big flour mills at the ports to get their products into places like Barlick economically. That plus the advent of modern sea transport meant that our diet changed, we had access to the world and the local retailers took advantage of this and sold a far wider range of goods. Towards the end of the century refrigerated ships meant that we could even import perishable items like exotic fruits, meat and dairy products. Barlick had a butcher's shop selling exclusively Argentinian beef. We had arrived in the 20th century and on the whole, because of economies of scale and a wide variation in suppliers, food prices fell. The advent of the Co-operative movement raised quality as well and they were the first to bring the supermarket concept into the town in the late 1950s. On the whole, because of their greater buying power the supermarkets drove prices down and were the death knell for all the corner grocer's shops. So far so good! We were progressing and diet was improving steadily in variety and quality.
This was when the first small dark clouds appeared on the horizon. Once there was an outlet the food processing companies started to grow and in the process of chasing higher sales, profits and longer shelf life they modified the ingredients in many staple foods. It is no accident that the rise in obesity started with these 'improvements'. All these factors combined and a small number of supermarket operators gained a virtual monopoly of the retail food market. They used their buying power to force down farm gate prices and the main victims were British farmers. Think of milk and dairy products, English fruit farmers and meat. We now import far too much of these at the expense of home industry. The search for cheaper ingredients lowered the quality of many products which were pushed on the public by massive advertising campaigns. Of late we have seen the rise of the more basic supermarkets, pile 'em high and sell 'em cheap, and this has forced the original giants into a deadly price war.
On the face of it this is a good thing, many prices have fallen and it could be said that the competition is a good thing. However, what is going on behind the scenes is that the lower prices are in many cases financed by the producers who, in turn, have to reduce expenses, wages and standards. In the end, the consumer will suffer from these practices and the funny thing is that while this is happening the weekly food bill seems to be rising....
The shopping revolution!
