I arrived back from Perth Western Australia last night. My flatmate is interstate for christmas so I had to go shopping this morning.
Under my new rules I can only buy organic, the packaging must be able to be recycled, it must be 100% vegetarian and as local as possible.
Because it is Sunday and just after christmas our local groceries shop was the only one open. This is a shop that used to be owned by Greeks and now has been taken over by and Indian family. There are still remnants of the old Greek sensibilities like a deli with antipasto type produce. It even has a small organic section.
So how did I fare?
Milk - certified organic, package is recyclable, made in Gippsland Victoria by True Organic Dairy Farm Co-Op
Pumpernickel Bread – certified organic in Germany, package is not recyclable, made in Germany – distributed by a Melbourne based company Organic by Nature
Coffee – certified organic, package is not recylcable as far as i can tell (a mixture of plastic and aluminium(??), roasted and ground in au by Bean, Ground and Drunk – beans come from Peru (it is fairtrade)
Butter - not organic, package is recyclable, made in Victoria Australia by Western Star (the website is mysteriously void of detail),
Cheese – certified organic, package not recyclable, uses non-animal rennet, sourced from farms in Victoria and NSW by Devondale
Yoghurt - biodynamic organic, no gelatine or other animal by-products, package recyclable (plastic type 2), made in Goulburn Valley Victoria, Australia by Jalna
Red Kidney Beans – certified organic in Italy, can is recyclable, distributed by Kadac pty ltd in Australia
Organic pasta sauce – certified organic, glass is recyclable (is the lid?) it can be washed and reused, made from ingredients that are local and imported in Coburg, Victoria by Spiral Foods
Avocado – not organic, compostable, origin unknown (but probably not from Victoria as I dont think they are grown here)
Spaghetti - not organic, no GMO products, no animal products, made in Victoria, Australia by an Italian owned company Orgran
Bread Rolls - not organic, package not recyclable, origin unknown (could be from the local bakery but need to ask this)
There are a number of questions I have here -
do I stick to a zero waste policy? – in that case the items that don’t have recyclable packaging I can’t buy
do I stick to the organic line? – in that case the non-certified organic items need to be rethought
do i stick to the local line? – then I can’t have the pumpernickel, pasta sauce and kidney beans
Or do I continue to take the hard line and insist on all three of these?
The surprising things I found were that so many items are made here in Victoria – I felt some small wave of pride about this.
Of course once the local organic vegetable store opens tomorrow morning then this shopping trip will be all local, organic and with no packaging at all, I think it will be easier once I get the fresh produce to asnwer the questions above.
