Although I moved to the United States when I was two years
old from the United Kingdom, I’ve always viewed England on a pedestal. I admire
its’ culture, food, and landscape much more than America’s. During one of my
visits back to England I remember strolling the aisles of the Tesco supermarket
with my aunt as I threw in every packaged good that fulfilled my heart’s desire
– Cadbury’s chocolate, PG tips teabags and more. I couldn’t believe my eyes the
amount of chocolate, kitchen utilities, food and much more that there was. I
didn’t realize it until many years later that the awe I felt from Tesco and its
diverse products are the same way tourists feel when they come to Super
Wal-Mart for all their Disneyland toys, room essentials, and non-perishable
products. As a transportation gap within communities, these large super markets
across the globe do not hold as much value as tourists believe. It’s just the
initial awestruck that makes an individual love the store and want to go back
for more and more because of the diversity of goods.
Thus, when
reading Gottleib and Joshi’s chapter on accessing food I was surprised to find
out about Tesco’s involvement in the United States. I couldn’t believe my so-called
amazing country would expand their own supermarkets across international
borders to reap the already obvious monetary benefits. Despite also having
smaller stores to better fit rural, lower class neighborhoods and having a food
promise, the idea of a global interspersed food system is defeating a larger
goal many critics have when confronting food justice in the domestic food
systems. Critics of large super market grocery stores may focus on local, cheap,
healthy food that is immediately side swept when mini Tesco store’s pop up to
accomplish this idea and fail.
I don't think that the only reason people go to the super market is because they are awestruck by the diversity of goods. People go to the super market because they need food for a cheap price. Most other forms of food stores are too expensive to fit in the every-day-American's budget. I do not know how the food system works in the UK, but it seems like it would be easier to eat locally grown foods over there because the UK is geographically much smaller than the US. Since the US is so large, not everyone has easy access to locally grown food products; this is why the super market is the best alternative.
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