We spent the day travelling around the city – from north to south – looking around some of the organic food shops. What a wide variety of quality – some are quite good and others quite disappointing in their choice of goods. Luckily we seem to be in the middle of a number of them, but it seems we have to go to different shops for different items – we have:
- a butcher with a good choice of organic and biodynamic meat (Mondo’s Butcher);
- an upmarket supermarket for organic products such as cold pressed olive oil, mayo, mustard, jam, raw honey etc (The Hersdman);
- our local fruit and veg shop for organic milk, butter, sheep milk yoghurt, sour cream and cheeses, plus some basic veg selection (the fruit & veg shop at Dog Swamp);
- a ‘wholefood’ shop for organic flour, rice, oats plus beauty products such as toothpaste, deodorant, bath soaps, hair products, body creams and some makeup (Mt Lawley Wholefoods):
- a speciality supermarket for vegetables and fruit (Organic on Charles).
What I’ve discovered is that the hardest thing to find here consistently is organic fruit. It is so seasonal. I suppose as Perth is the most remote city in the world it’s not surprising that organic fruit is not economically viable to be shipped in from elsewhere – it’s just so far to come!
In a way I quite like it. It’s a reminder of the seasons, of my childhood. I seem to recall that when growing up – the fruit available depended on the time of year – apples, apricots, grapes, melon, mandarins and cherries, well they were a very special treat to be savoured one by one… Its refreshing especially after living in London with M&S around the corner where everything is always available and always perfect and shiny and wrapped in three layers of plastic…
It is a change from not getting all my shopping in one large supermarket, though I guess travelling around in my car with the a/c on high is not particularly good for being ‘green’. But my philosophy is not about the well being of the earth, but my personal well being… Is this selfish?