‘My Lifestyle Kind of Locks Me into Supermarket Shopping’: Narratives of Reflexivity and Routines from Supermarket Shoppers in Australia

ABSTRACT

This paper focusses on the supermarket shopper, who makes both reflexive and routine decisions while undertaking his or her regular shopping and cooking practices. The research used narrative inquiry methodology and convenience sampling to gather stories about a group of supermarket shoppers’ perceptions of, and engagement with their chosen food retail environment and their attitudes towards making more sustainable food choices. The analysis drew on theories of practice and a food choice model showing that this group of shoppers were aware of the challenges of the modern food system and held ideals about purchasing Australian-grown, ethically produced food, eating seasonally and devoting more time to shopping and cooking, but the intangible resource of time dominated their dynamic value negotiations.

KEYWORDS:

• Supermarkets
• consumers
• food choice model
• theory of practice
• sustainability
• sustainable food choices
• sustainable food practices

Acknowledgments

This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. There are no conflicts of interest to report.

Notes

1. A collaborative effort in a particular place to build more locally based, self-reliant food systems and economies – one in which sustainable food production, processing, distribution and consumption is integrated to enhance the economic, environmental and social health of a particular place⁶.

2. CSA enterprises are a relatively new concept, having originated in Japan and Switzerland in the 1960s and designed to share the risks and benefits of food production between the farmer and the consumer⁷.

3. Woolies is a colloquialism for Woolworths supermarket.

4. Pace Farms are Australian egg producers.