by Cllr Michael Hudston - Central Ward
Many residents of this town, like those of other towns, love to wax lyrical about how we should all support small local independent businesses, such as Blackberry Fruit and Veg, the small green grocers at the top of the High Street. Well talk is cheap, what we also need is action to match the words.
Despite the valiant efforts over the last year, of the proprietors Tamer and Nisrine, Blackberry Fruit and Veg is on the verge of closing, permanently. People of the town are simply not buying enough of their produce for them to make a living with the cost of rent and energy costs rising.
They will of course, be more expensive than the supermarkets, as they simply don’t have the same buying power. But they also offer a wider variety of fruit and veg that the likes of Sainsburys and Tescos, simply won’t stock.
I guess it’s because we have all become obsessed with the idea of the same old boring cheap vegetables, in bulk large packs and letting most of it go to waste, rather than just buying what’s seasonal, just what we need, more regularly, and paying what it’s truly worth.
Well, it’s time to put your money where your mouths are. Shop local and independent and buy your fruit and veg from them. It will be a tragedy if we lose this wonderful small independent shop and end up with another empty space.
I fear this is just the first shop of many.
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