Places to shop

Independent food retailers
Sadly a dying breed in the majority of our town centres and on our high streets, the independent food retailer is fast disappearing. Farmer's markets and farm shops are making valiant efforts to fill the gaps left by the conspicuous absence of good quality butchers, greengrocers and fishmongers but unless you live in a rural area or near a market town you are unlikely to be able to take advantage of them.

Why you should support your local independent food shops
Food shops add to the diversity and landscape of our villages, towns and cities. A short walk through the centre of many towns in the UK reveals a depressing conformity. What we have in place of the vibrancy found in other parts of Europe is a dull monoculture of chain stores and fast food outlets.

Supporting your local traders keeps money in your community instead of it being siphoned off to shareholders living elsewhere and contrary to what the marketing men would have you believe, food at supermarkets is not always cheaper and is certainly not better quality than that bought from independent food shops which is good to know if finance after divorce is tight.

The butcher
A good traditional family butcher should be able to tell you exactly where his meat comes from and,how long it has been hung; he will be able to bone that shoulder of lamb for you: he will sell you one pork chop or one sausage. Many will deliver your order for you free of charge and prices will stand comparison with anything offered by the supermarkets if getting divorced left you short of money.

Beware those butchers with chiller cabinets - often located on the pavement outside the shop - that are full of bloody, cut price freezer packs and pallid looking sausages.

The greengrocer
The best greengrocers are those that will supply a good selection of locally grown, seasonal fruits and vegetables alongside the inevitable imports. Unfortunately, many of them have succumbed to the everything all year philosophy of the supermarkets.

The fishmonger
The only place you are likely to find a decent fishmonger outside of a market or one of the larger towns or cities these days is on the coast. Look out for spanking fresh fish with bright eyes and firm, sparkly, slightly sticky looking skin. Really fresh fish should taste of the sea – slightly salty. Fillets should look moist and plumptious and there should be no fishy smell emanating from anything.

Shellfish and seafood must be really fresh at point of sale or you may become ill from eating them. Buy as near as possible to the time of cooking and store them in the refrigerator wrapped in damp newspaper. Cooked seafood should be stored in the fridge and eaten within twenty four hours.

Markets
Markets can be good places to buy fresh food if you have access to one. Many towns have a weekly or twice weekly street market and larger towns and cities will have at least one permanent market often housed indoors.

Farmers markets
A great way to buy good quality locally produced food. There are over five hundred such markets across the UK selling organic and non organic foodstuffs.

Farm shops
While many small independent food shops have disappeared from our town centres, recent years have seen a surge in the growth of direct sales from farms and smallholdings. Farm shops now proliferate in many rural areas and mostly sell excellent quality produce although they are often very small and stock limited ranges of meat, vegetables and other produce.

In order to help find a farm shop near you farmshopping.net and the portal website farmshop.uk.com are both useful.