Shopping - Make it a Family Matter

We (the whole family) popped into Altrincham today for our fruit, veg and cheese for the weekly shop.  I was very pleased to be able to visit One Small Step, and meet the new owner of the zero waste stall.   We stocked up on dried bananas and almonds for our home made muesli mix. We also treated ourselves to some yogurt covered raisins.  The new owner is fantastic, full of lots of enthusiasm for her new venture, keen to know what she should have on the stall and ultimately spread the word on living a zero waste and plastic free life and share experiences. 

I love Altrincham for my weekly shop, the food part of the market is open on a Tuesday, Friday and Saturday.  I use the experience as an activity for the whole family.  I feel it is so important to not only teach my children about unnecessary plastic and waste but also give them the tools to do this, and what better way to do this than showing them where we buy our foods.  At the fruit and veg stall today we were given two children's baskets to get the whole family involved in picking our food.  When we came to pay one of my children helped with weighing out the fruit, typing in the codes necessary, helped with money and counting out the change.  I think this level of interaction and personal touch is something you only get when shopping at independent businesses.  Kids love playing shop and what could be better than playing than doing it for real.    We also got some cheese while we where there which I forgot to photograph as it was already in the fridge. 

At the market they also have two butchers, a couple of cheese counters and a fish counter.  It really is everything you need for a weekly shop, all under one roof, just without all the plastic.