Saturday 24 January 2015

Are You a Reward Card Slave?

It's hard work being a local food lover. At the end of a long day of work, with two hungry teenagers running on empty, there's nothing more tempting than a quick trip to Tesco to pick up an easy meal.

When I meet producers through the local food project or read about supermarkets delaying payments to farmers, it makes me more determined to cut back on the supermarket deals, but they can be soooo tempting.

Take the Tesco Clubcard for example, over the years we've had a family crossing on the Eurotunnel, a trip to Legoland and dinner out at Pizza Express. All handy when you are budgeting for a family of four. But what is the price of those points? The reality is that the pricing is cleverly pushing me into buying items I don't need, and the loyalty card tracks my habits in order to provide Tesco with information to more accurately brainwash me next time!

The average family with two teenagers in the UK fills their trolley to the tune of over £150 per week. The promise of BOGOFs and bonus points draws us back until we develop habits that are difficult to break. We are not always getting the best value and the hard pushed producers at the end of the food chain are being more aggressively squeezed than ever. Over time we fall out of the habit of shopping around, eating seasonally and picking up real bargains locally. 

So, what to do? Well I've made a brave decision: I've cut up my loyalty cards. I'm kicking that habit and going supermarket cold turkey. For branded items I will use the village co-op, but for 2015 I'll be a reward card slave no more!