When you think about going for a big shop, you, like I, most probably imagine walking into your local Tesco's or Asda, being presented with millions of goods at discount prices, with the only major downside being that you have to leave the house and actually walk inside these places.

But there are many more downsides to giving Asda and Tesco's your money. Sure, you might say, what difference does your sixty pounds a week really make, compared to the millions they usually rake in? And the only way to answer that question, is to remind you that every thousand mile march starts with you getting off your arse. If you feel that it's okay to do it because everyone else does, remember that feeling, and remember that to everyone else, you're justifying their actions, just as they're justifying yours.

"Oh come on," I hear you sigh, "You're just hating on those successful and smart enough to create a billion-pound international empire, the supermarkets aren't doing anything wrong..." And that's a good point which needs refuting, and it would seem, the burden of proof lies with me.

Let's begin with Asda, who are presently owned by Walmart. When a Walmart or Asda opens up, it'll do so on the outskirts of a town. Let's say that John Nobody owns a greengrocer's in that town, and you're one of his regular customers. But you've seen the posters, and it looks to you very much like Asda is charging 34p for its cucumbers, and John is charging 96p. Why the difference in pricing? Is John just being greedy, while Asda tries to help the locals get cheaper goods? Not really, because John, in his little greengrocer's, cannot afford to buy in bulk in order to get Asda-sized discounts on his stock. You head off to Asda to buy your cucumbers, and John loses your business.

John decides that he needs to win customers back, so he slashes the price of his cucumbers down so that he is only able to break even from selling them, but still, he just can't compete with Asda's prices. After gradually losing customers, John begins to lose profits, and eventually, can't afford to pay the bills. His greengrocer shuts down, and John is out of a job. But what employment opportunities are there for a 58-year-old ex-greengrocer in such a small town? Of course, he can work for Asda.

But when he gets the job there, he discovers that he's not allowed to work full-time, due to initiatives in increasing labor productivity. Plus, in order to get some kind of job security, John joins the union. Soon after doing so, he's offered a 10% wage increase, in order to quit the union, and foresake many of his rights as a worker. He refuses to do so, and finds himself discriminated against by management, constantly being given the worst jobs they can find for him. Hours he has worked begin to go missing from his payslip. He tries to get a job in management to even up the balance, but is told, because of the fact that's he's black, that there is no place for him in management. He can no longer afford his house, and his wife leaves him because she thinks he's abandoned his principles.

If only you'd have kept buying this poor man's cucumbers, right? Well obviously it's not just cucumbers. Think about the last time you went to Tesco or Asda, and what you bought. That loaf of bread, you could have bought from a baker's in town, and helped your local economy. That block of cheese, you could have bought from the deli. That warm roast chicken in a bag which you just love to delve into? Well, click here to see where they're coming from. And for all that alcohol, I'm certain there's a local off-license just waiting to take your money.

Sure, it might cost you slightly more to not shop at Asda. But your extra money is going into the pockets of your local community, upon whom Asda and Tesco have declared war. Would you just throw money to a foreign invader when they come to take your town? Or would your money go towards building defences to protect your people? Every time a Tesco's open, 276 jobs are lost.

In 2002, Friends of the Earth discovered that less than half of the apples on Tesco's shelves were sourced in this country. Not only are these crooks destroying your town as you know and love it, but they are in fact destroying the countryside you know and love it too, by refusing to buy British farmed produce. And why is this? It's because farm workers wouldn't work for the same wage as banana plantation workers in other countries, who are, for every pound of bananas sold, paid one penny.

If you truly have no other option than to buy from those who wish to destroy your town and force its inhabitants to wear the same uniform, then don't let any of this stop you. We all do what we have to when times are desperate. But please, if you've got the spare cash, support your local industries, and join the fight against the Tesco and Walmart empires.

Sources:
http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/briefings/tesco_exposed.pdf
http://www.walmartclass.com/public_declarations.html
http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/bostonherald/...
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/gate/archive/2005/01/20/walmart20.DTL&type=printable#
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines02/0625-04.htm
http://www.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/business/26walmart.pdf
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4490434.stm