out as little as possible, it also aims to provide customers with the tools and confidence to reduce their own waste by showing them how to create delicious and exciting meals from ingredients they might otherwise overlook. ‘Food and music brings people together,’ Chris reckons. I agree. We all have to eat, so why don’t we enjoy it together? With changes in family structures and increasingly inflexible working hours, supermarkets and fast food chains have been encouraging a culture of convenience and ready
"Every little helps!" tps red/yellow pepper 49p cherry punnet £2.50 250ml smoothie 59p tin chopped tomatoes x4 £1.47 free range eggs x6 £1.00
tesco 78p £3.49 99p £2.39 £1.48
meals. We have steadily become disconnected from where our food is derived, to the point where many children aren't even aware of which animal pork comes from. The conveniently located and attractively planned shop will attract many customers who are beginning to think about their own food culture as well as being tempting to the prudent shopper. It also appeals to those who feel unsatisfied with chain su-
permarkets and who have thought about the value of food, whilst providing a laid back and culturally engaging atmosphere. Rather than having to listen to uncomfortable staff announcements as they shop, customers of TPS get to hear music by local bands under the creative commons license (saving the establishment from paying royalties, as well as soundtracking everyone's mundane weekly shopping trip with a variety of Oxford-based talent). ‘I’d be surprised if this was smaller in ten years.’ The People’s Supermarket is an ambitious project that aims to re-engage people with food and bring the community spirit back to Cowley Road; there’s plenty of hope for the future in it. More and more people are growing tired of a basic human need being exploited and are having to resign themselves to soulless supermarket convenience. And with large chain supermarkets commonly popping up to replace struggling local businesses, within our city and others like ours, the monopolising of the food market has simply gone too far. Consumers have lost the freedom of choice, and independent suppliers are losing business. Projects like TPS are needed now more than ever. It’s new, it’s testing the water. But the time is ripe for such an endeavor to flourish in Oxford. Chris would like to invest profits into developing the means for others to create their own People’s Supermarkets, in Oxford and across the country. But it’s not just up to him to decide; there is a growing list of ‘owners.’ ‘I just have one vote,’ he said. Likewise, I’m only ‘one,’ but The People’s Supermarket has my vote.
WORDS: MARIANNA MASSA // PHOTOS: MATT AYRES
Food 19