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Re: [OM] PESO: food shopping in France

Subject: Re: [OM] PESO: food shopping in France
From: John Hudson <OM4T@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sun, 31 Jul 2016 15:59:53 -0300
Interesting to read about plastic shopping bags being banned in France.

Three years ago I visited a Waitrose grocery store in northern England with a large over the shoulder canvas bag into which I put my various items. I was quickly approached by an in-store security person who absolutely insisted that I immediately empty the bag into a push buggy OR face being ejected from the store with an order banning me from any further store visits. The reason ..............bring your own bags of any description and you would be viewed as a potential shoplifter! Taking you own carry bags to Canadian grocery stores is very much an accepted practice.

Perhaps Waitrose [an up market grocery chain] has modernized its thinking in the last three years :-)

jh

On 7/31/2016 1:53 PM, Nathan Wajsman wrote:
I am still working through a backlog of images from the past couple of weeks, not 
least from our family reunion in France two weeks ago—those are priority since 
the rest of the family are waiting :-) But I am making progress and have now reached 
the last day in Le Mans. I put these three images on Facebook and decided to share 
them here too because I think they tell a story about life in Le Mans as it relates to 
food, ecology, etc., in a good way.

On the morning of our last day in Le Mans I accompanied my cousin Francis and his lovely 
wife Véronique to the local food market on the square in front of the city’s 
cathedral. It is open six days a week, from about 8 a.m. until lunchtime. Most of the food 
is grown in the local area, with the obvious exception of bananas and citrus fruits and 
similar things that do not grow  in northern France.

I always say that the genius of French cooking is not the fancy stuff, but the 
attention and care lavished on the most basic ingredients. Francis examined 
several vegetable stalls before he decided where to buy the lettuce:
http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/belgiangator/misc/20160717-_DSF1440.jpg.html

The deal is about to be concluded:
http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/belgiangator/misc/20160717-_DSF1442.jpg.html

After some more shopping, Francis and Véronique are waiting for the tram with 
their purchases. There is very little parking near the market, so most people use 
the excellent public transport to get there. Also, notice the roll-on bag. Plastic 
bags for groceries are now banned in France, so it is essential to bring your own. 
This is sustainable food shopping in every sense of the word:
http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/belgiangator/misc/20160717-_DSF1448.jpg.html

I cannot claim to be this virtuous in my own food shopping here in Spain, but I have become a 
big believer in local produce, and since by law the origin of all products must be clearly 
stated, it is easy for me to do so. So when I am buying, say, a red pepper, I can see not 
only that it was grown in Spain but often also in which part of the Spain. Many supermarkets 
have a specific section for produce from our own province of Alicante. And I no longer buy 
fruit and veg that has been shipped from the southern hemisphere. If something is not in 
season here, that’s fine—I can wait.

(Much) more to come!

Cheers,
Nathan

Nathan Wajsman
Alicante, Spain
http://www.frozenlight.eu <http://www.frozenlight.eu/>
http:// <http://www.greatpix.eu/>www.greatpix.eu
PICTURE OF THE WEEK: http://www.fotocycle.dk/paws <http://www.fotocycle.dk/paws>Blog: 
http://nathansmusings.wordpress.com/ <http://nathansmusings.wordpress.com/>
Cycling: http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/belgiangator 
<http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/belgiangator>
YNWA













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