Lately I reflect on some items I buy and I am infused with guilt. Never before has shopping involved so much introspection and deliberation. Bargain hunting is selfish these days. We must consider the plight of others.
First of all: online book shopping. Many book lovers I know use a UK-based bookstore which sends cheap books, postage free. I have bought books from there once or twice, but guilt, impatience and a preference for shopping at a local haven has stymied massive bargain hunting online. I don’t want to wait the usual three weeks to receive a book and nothing beats a coffee and a wander around the local bookshop. My personal preference means I pay up to $20 more for each book purchased in the sweet old-fashioned way.
My gesture is too little, too late. Several weeks ago I received a plaintive email from the local bookshop proprietor who cited a convergence of crises plaguing the industry, including the online shopping boom, the strength of the Australian dollar and the proliferation of e-readers as her reasons for closing.
She hopes the industry survives this state of flux and signs off with the heart-rending “I love my bookshop and I’m sorry we don’t have a home now; I’ve loved every second of it”.
I feel sad about the loss of her business. Not to mention that every shopping precinct large or small is enhanced by a bookshop and the landscape around here doesn’t need another convenience store or homewares outlet.
Now it’s milk. Personally I can’t stand the stuff. I drink it because it’s good for my bones and because calcium tablets make me feel ill. I pour it into my tea and order it skim in the daily flat white, but don’t wait for me to guzzle a glass. One whiff and I feel queasy. My friend who feeds soy milk to her chubby baby says we shouldn’t drink milk because we are not cows. It’s evil stuff really. I only ever drink small amounts, but I still have a cholesterol problem. And no, it’s not the butter cheese, cakes or biscuits that sends my “big C” rising. I’m a dietary saint. I don’t eat that rubbish (very often).
It’s not enough that I drink milk because apparently I need it. Now I feel guilty about it. Last time I filled up the car, the very pleasant chap behind the counter interrogated me.
“Gum, lollies, chips? What about a drink?” Just as I almost barked “if I wanted to buy junk food, I would, with or without your kind invitation” I spied the chilled section, and contained within it, the bargain of the moment: Milk: two for the price of one.
This is a saving of $4, and it’s rare these days to save that amount on a single food item. I grabbed two. I should have grabbed four, given the number of banana smoothies the beefed up 19-year-old consumes.
I drove home wondering where the golden infused moment went. You know, when you snare a bargain and feel pure joy; a light, floating sensation, as if you’ve won Lotto, not that I ever have. I felt it this morning, birthday shopping with the baby. Whilst she threw chunky scarves around her pretty neck, I grabbed a “three for $10” offer on exotic bubble bath, usually retailing at $24.95 a bottle. Pretty, sweet smelling and always good for presents. Eureka! But whose livelihood have I compromised, pouncing greedily on this fabulous little bargain?
Back to the milk. With the senate inquiry into milk price wars starting this week, I wonder about the rhetoric flying around at the moment. Coles would blame the multinational milk processing companies but isn’t sure that lower milk prices will hurt the dairy industry anyway. For them $1 a litre is a magnanimous gesture, giving best-value milk to customers.
Coles and Woolworths may practice blinkered vision but I cannot imagine how those bargain bottles of milk in my fridge can help our farmers, battling to stay upright in this vicious market economy.
Fortunately Independent senator Nick Xenophon agrees. He initiated the upper house inquiry.
"The risk is that the Australian industry is at the tipping point of having mass walkouts from farms around the country, particularly in North Queensland," he said.
"Coles needs to explain themselves to the Australian people in terms of their conduct and behaviour."
If a bargain is all you care about and bugger the farmers, don’t expect your daily caffeine dose to drop in price any time soon. Baristas aren’t happy about cheap milk which they believe is watered down and decidedly dodgy. Nothing froths better than the expensive stuff.
I have always needed an excuse to support the local grocer. Wasting my valuable time driving to the supermarket mall, guzzling petrol and polluting the air has never felt enough. Now I can happily say I’m supporting the farmers. I am also supporting a local treasure: Sam, father of four, sports lover extraordinaire and keeper of all good things, including his mother’s home made baklava and all the local gossip.
Guilt free shopping. Expensive, but worth it.
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