Cars, Supermarkets and Waste

Gordon James, director of Friends of the Earth Cymru (Wales), or Cyfeillion y Ddaear Cymru for the Welsh-speaking crowd, thinks there’d be less food waste if you couldn’t park your car close to the supermarket. The thinking: Since there’s no deterrent to buying an excessive amount of food (often prompted by promotions), we do.

While his theory indirectly indicts supermarkets in general, with their large shopping carts and helpful baggers, James has a point. When I walk or bike to the store, my grocery load gets streamlined. But I don’t see less people owning cars or supermarkets discouraging large purchases.

That’s why James pushes development that isn’t totally car-dependent. Stateside, there are a growing number of these “mixed use” “lifestyle centers.” It’d be interesting (and difficult) to track food waste as it corresponds to mode of transport.

Anyway, the short article had this gem from James: 

My wife occasionally goes to the supermarket and comes back and says, ‘Look, these were two for one’. I say, ‘That’s good, we didn’t want one’.

Pardon my Welsh, but I think James and me are going to be fast cyfeillions.