The Dilemma

I have a dilemma, I'm innately lazy, I don't long for the good ole days where we went to the local butcher and the green grocer to buy our food. I love supermarkets I think they are one of the great inventions of the 21st century. I try to ignore that they are part of the consumerist problem and just thank my lucky stars I can plonk 2 kids in the trolley and get everything I need in one place without having to deal with to many people.

My dilemma is this, I think that both Woolworth's and Coles are trying to take over the world and I feel that by spending money in their establishments I may as well be saying I agree with their business practices.

I'm a Woolies girl so all of the following comments are directly about Woolies but I have seen and heard that Coles are doing similar things.

A few years ago Woolies brought out their Select range, it was their range of products that were better than the old black and white super cheap off cuts brand. The Select brand was meant to be able to stand next to other brands and offer a cheaper price for a good product

Then one day I went into Woolies with the Byron Bay Chili Sauce on my list and there was none to be found, not to mention, that there was no spot where the sauce should be, but there was a smattering of new select brand sauces. I went up to the customer service counter and was told that they were no longer stocking the Byron Bay Chili Sauce range.

I thought nothing of it but over the last year or so there have been many products that have gone the same way, our favorite ginger tea, our frozen spinach, and recently i have noticed that Select brand legumes have made their way onto the shelves and I cant seem to find the brand of chickpeas we normally buy.

That's four products that one person has noticed I am starting to wonder how many products have been taken off the shelves to make room for Select branded products. Its not like the Select products are better, organic or Australian made generally they are yuckier products made in a country that is cheaper than Australia with questionable farming practices (not that I'm saying all Australian farming is tip top)

But what does one do in the face of such injustice, what can you do, who would listen, this is where I am stumped, will my one voice complaining or shopping elsewhere make any difference and if not then what's the point of doing anything?

Well of course I plan on doing something, I don't know what yet (any ideas would be happily taken on board) but something I will do, amazing what the loss of chickpeas will do !

Ohh by the way, Miss Sparkle turned out to be a very fluffy Maltese, who has a beautiful house in Killcare that was a joy to be at and has me now very excited about the idea of a kitchen that shiny new and easy to clean. I have attached a few photos of out weekend, Andrew caught fish, the kids played on the beach and I got at least 20 pages of my book read in the middle on the day (previously unheard of in my time as a mum). My only criticisms, the mangroves and therefore crabs, and the fact that there was a 1m x1m photos of Miss Sparkle gracing the lounge room wall.

This is the bay that the house was next to, when it was high tide it was beautiful, when it was low tide all i saw was crabs and mud, but all Andrew saw was good fishing so maybe i need some of his rose coloured glasses

At every turn Hamish proved he was his mothers son, he hated the sand and sat perched on a towel with me while Andrew and Jack rolled in the sand, he also showed he had the biggest mouth on the beach :)

On these family holidays its always a fine line to see who enjoys themselves the most the kids or the dogs?

Hamish being Hamish

Jack being a very tired Jack

It was a beautiful part of the world and the local Deli made a great cup of coffee, i can imagine going back there and visiting Miss Sparkle again ...