by Sarah J Palmer

Created on: October 13, 2008

Yateley, October 13 (One World) The Great British class divide is becoming all the more transparent as food and fuel prices rise.

The poor continue to support the relatively new Continental food warehouses Aldi and Lidl. Their shelves are stacked with unfamiliar brands from mainland Europe.The question of provenance and animal welfare is quickly forgotten in favour of tinned food costing a fraction of that sold in British supermarkets. Few can afford to worry about the emotional cost of a sow's sanity when Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) Freedom Foods are almost twice the financial price.

The working and the lower middle classes are perpetually stocking up for a rainy day from the cheap and cheerful Asda, Morrisons and Tescos. Some shoppers' trolleys are stacked so high you could be forgiven for thinking shops were shutting for two weeks instead of overnight.

People are clearly buying whilst they can still afford to do so, which is a pity in some respects because many are in dire need of the diet that forced economising provides. It has occurred to me that increasing food and fuel prices are excellent ways to reduce the number of citizens suffering obesity and associated illnesses. One can't help but wonder if this is a deliberate government ploy to relieve our ailing National Health Service!

Meanwhile the middle and upper middleclass are discreetly reducing the number of out-of-season strawberries and asparagus they purchase at Waitrose or Sainsburys and organising a few less dinner parties.They still have their quarterly ready-for-the-freezer meat deliveries from local farmers, although they are talking of reducing orders to half a side of lamb. In these stores you see less obesity as people are slightly more discerning, choosing flavour over fat, variety over volume and fish instead of flesh.

The affluent upper classes are steadfastly supporting the most expensive supermarket - Marks & Spencers (M&S). This store indulges the idle and incompetent to the point of adding grated cheese to partially cooked baked potatoes, pre-chopping vegetables and pre-washing salad leaves. Customers are already greedily eying up the Christmas Hamper brochures and contemplating what size of fresh turkey to order. The concept of frugality is yet to dawn on them.When it does you can be sure they'll use the internet to shop rather than walk around one of those other ghastly supermarkets!

I've been taking a particular interest in local shopping habits

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>