Food Shopping- UK Style

On base, we are fortunate enough to have a Commissary where I do most of our food shopping every week. The Commissary is stocked with American brand names and familiar foods. We are grateful to have it; although, it isn't cheap. I know that food prices as a whole have gone up a lot lately, but on average, I spend about twice as much as I used to food shopping back in the US. Also, the Commissary doesn't have any sales... no deals.... sad me! I definitely miss the good bargains I could get in the States, and I miss bulk food shopping at BJs!!.

Anyway, every once in a while I do some food shopping at a British supermarket. We have a few of them in the area to choose from with names like ASDA, Sainsbury's, Morrison's, Tesco, etc. I tend to do my British food shopping at Sainsbury's. It's a good 15-20 minutes away, but I can do my plastic and paper recycling there as well, so to me, it's worth the drive.

Whenever I go to a British supermarket, my shopping list is usually the same:

• fresh salmon (we can only get frozen fish on base, and I need my Omega-3s)
• laundry detergent (I'm not allowed to use American detergent in my British washing machine) AND
• beer (all of the supermarkets have a wide selection of British Ales, and Ethan has a few favorites)

Sainsbury's is a really nice supermarket. It's kind of the equivalent of a Super Walmart, in that it has a grocery store section, but it also has a variety of household goods, toys, clothes, small appliances, etc. When I went the other day, I found toys for a birthday party the kids are going to, uniform pants (on sale for 1 pound 75 pence!) for Tim, and new onesies, socks, and bibs for Collin.

While I was there the other day, I paid attention to all of the other things this store has to offer. First of all, you'd be pleased to know that this Sainsbury's houses its own Starbucks with a lovely sitting area. There is also a Pharmacy and a Travel office, which I had never noticed before. I also found brochures near the checkout for people to get a loan, or purchase home, auto, or pet insurance. The supermarket is also the place you can "Top-Up" your cell phone, for all of us who have "pay-as-you-go" cell phones. So, it's pretty much got everything.

Checking out at the register is just about the same, except that you always bag your own groceries. I actually don't mind that because I like to bring my own bags from home. At the Commissary on base, there are baggers who both bag your groceries and wheel it out to your car for you (for a tip). Again, it really encourages people to reuse bags, which I am a huge fan of!!!!

At Sainsburys, they also have this "Fast Track" system, where you scan your own items as you go along (almost like when you do a registry), and have a really quick checkout at the end. I've never done that, but it looks like fun!

I do have to say, the biggest difference I've found between British and American food shopping is the carts. They call them "trolleys" over here. First of all, there is a wide selection of carts to choose from. There are shallow and deep ones, ones that hold baby seats, ones with built in baby seats or double baby seats, ones with toddler seats, etc. They've thought of just about every cart possibility that exists, which is nice. But what really bugs me about British trolleys is the wheels. These carts are "all-wheel steering," meaning, they don't have the guides along the rear wheels like American carts do. This isn't a problem when you are inside the store. It's actually quite nice being able to slide your cart sideways if it's in the way, etc. The problem occurs when you take it out of the store on an uneven surface... the cart will go in any direction that gravity pulls it. I have found that this gives both your abs and knees an awkward workout! Especially if the cart is full!!So there you have it... a tour of my British supermarket. I'm sorry there aren't more pictures, but I felt a little weird taking out my camera in the store! :)