From Tim Bradshaw
Mick Hamer is right to be thinking of ways that we can reduce vehicle
emissions of carbon dioxide and other pollutants
(Forum, 30 May, p 53). But he
is clearly in the minority when it comes to shopping.
Yes, online shopping and home deliveries could have a little benefit in terms
of saving trips to the supermarket for some people, but will the effects be
measurable? That I doubt.
You see, people actually like shopping. They like to go out and touch and
feel and smell the produce. You only have to walk around a big supermarket to
see that food shopping, for instance, is a real family affair: the kids and even
grandparents can come along for the ride, be entertained, have a snack and get
the feelgood buzz from “retail therapy”.
But even if shopping wasn’t the top leisure activity in Britain, people would
still be thronging the supermarket aisles rather than leaving it to computers
and hard-pressed staff to select their goods. It is still the only way to
guarantee getting what you want.
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The mental processing power required to do a weekly shop would, I suspect,
defeat most computers.
For starters, have you ever watched how long it takes some people just to
select a bunch of bananas? How many shall I have, is this bunch too ripe, is one
of those ones bashed or is it just a natural marking, are they too big or could
I get more for my money by picking a bunch with slightly smaller ones, and what
about the bunches at the bottom of the pile—have they sat there longer or
are they fresher because no other shopper has mauled them, oh, look, conference
pears are on special offer, I’ll have some of those instead…
It will take more to reverse hands-on behaviour of hunter-gathering in the
supermarket than a little tax on parking spaces.
Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire
