There should be a law against it...

Went out shopping for Thai cooking ingredients yesterday but dismayed at the shabby offerings from our local supermarkets we decided to buy at the Green Market in Newcastle. We certainly didn't appear to be getting VFM from Mrs Morrison, Sainsbury or Asda so we went out looking on the market stalls. What an eye opener.

Three bunches of firm plump spring onions were the same price as one scrawny limp bunch bought the day before.

Five lemon grass stalks were a third of the price of two anorexic pieces in our local 'one stop shopping' supermarket. Fat garlic cloves - a bargain! Red chillis, four shiny fresh pieces for 50p.

Ok so none of them were shrink wrapped, hermetically sealed or decorated in colourful packaging and the guy who served us wasn't in a jolly green uniform behind a state of the art computer. He didn't have a name badge and he didn't offer any cash back either. Nor has he ever bought 40 primetime slots on national TV to tell everyone how good he is. There was no 'sell by' date on the goods but I reckon I can work out when that should be.

Whatever, at the end of the shopping trip I felt we'd struck a blow for the independent trader. I get the feeling that eventually some of them will make a comeback. Some of them deserve to.

And I suspect we had better quality at a lower price. I felt good about it.