The place you live sounds almost exactly the same as where I live. Co Op does seem to set up shop in food desert type places; a few rural towns in my area have them as the main or only grocery shop. Not saying they have nefarious intentions but it’s odd and very hard on the pockets as they are so expensive! Sure they are supposedly pretty ethical but it doesn’t sit right with me that they are the only option for people who don’t have much (they have also recently downgraded their loyalty scheme from 5% back on own brand to 2%... yes I noticed, where’s my book deal?)I live somewhere that sounds similar to those. The only shop in my town is a tiiiiiiiny Co op and it's prohibitively expensive. We have a fairly large population of elderly and financially vulnerable people. The nearest big Tesco is 50 minutes away in the car (there's a smaller one closer, but that's still a good thirty minutes away and isn't ideal for a varied shop on a budget.) I'm lucky because a) I have a car and b) my workplace is near the big Tesco so I don't even have to make a separate journey, but when the buses stopped over lockdown, a lot of people were very reliant on others in the community, or found their grocery bills went up if they chose instead to shop at the Co op. I was shopping for four people, not including myself, over lockdown. Feel guilty for not doing more but I began to feel like I was living at Tesco
For that matter, the bus service is notoriously unreliable (rural area, out in the sticks) and people are now petitioning the council to provide an alternative.
I still think people here have it easier than in other places (that don't have a Co op fairly central to the town), but seeing how people have struggled through lockdown, and presumably before lockdown too (Covid has been a real eye opener) it really puts Jack's whinging about a 20 minute walk to ASDA into perspective.
Jack is so lucky to have several supermarkets within walking distance, plus more by bus distance, and her parents to drive her shopping back if need be
Also on a random note @Cuileann I love your username because it reminds me of a cute kids’ show on BBC Alba (Piseag agus Cuilean). Different word I know but makes me smile anyway!
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