The Grocery Story

Walk into any supermarket and you’ll see endless aisles filled with food from all over the world. For more than 90% of people in Western countries, these large grocery chains are now the main source of food.

With their scale and often global influence, supermarkets have shaped modern supply chains to meet their own goals: consistency, efficiency, high volume, and the lowest possible price. To reinforce this system, they back it with powerful advertising, positioning themselves as the only convenient or reliable option and often overshadowing the smaller, local alternatives that provide genuinely wholesome food.

On the surface, this looks like convenience. Behind the scenes, though, the system has been built to serve profit and turnover, not necessarily the long-term health of people or the planet. 

 

What We Lose in a Supermarket System

When food is designed for shelf life, volume, and global distribution, important things get left behind.

1. Local food supply chains
   Supermarkets rarely support local growers in a meaningful way. Producers face increasing climate pressures, but little of this complexity is recognised or supported in the way food is purchased and priced.
   
   
2. Food Seasonality
   Food now appears the same all year round. Strawberries in winter, avocados every week, tomatoes that all look identical. We’ve lost connection to seasonal eating, as our ancestors did, which once kept us in step with nature and even supported the diversity of our gut health.
   
   
3. Loss of diversity
   The genetic pool of edible plants and livestock has significantly narrowed, with thousands of species now reduced to a mere fraction. From a once-rich diversity, we now have access to fewer than a hundred varieties.
   
   
4. Regional Adaptation
   Historically, plants and animals evolved to thrive within specific ecosystems. Today, instead of regional varieties adapted to local soils and climates, we now consume crops and livestock that are primarily suited for industrial farming.
   
   
5. Shelf life over nutrition
   The drive to extend shelf life has come at a cost. Selective breeding has favoured crops and livestock that resist disease and transport stress, but this often comes at the expense of flavour and nutritional value. On top of that, chemicals used to slow ripening and additives designed to keep products looking fresh interfere with our ability to judge food on its natural qualities. What this means for our long-term health is still largely unknown.
   
   
6. Food deserts
   Large-scale farming is often geared to exports, industrial uses, or animal feed. This leaves some regional communities without access to the very food that is grown on their doorstep. It’s a paradox that highlights how fragile the system really is.

 

Questions Worth Asking about our Monopoly-Based Food System

When we step back, the critical questions become clear:

• Does our current system put consumer health before shareholder profit?
• Are we truly getting nutrient-dense, high-quality food with flavour?
• Are local farming communities supported, or sidelined?
• Do we still have access to seasonal and genetically diverse foods?
• Does this model build resilience and food security, or erode it?

These are not abstract questions. They are about what ends up on our tables, in our children’s lunchboxes, and in the soils that sustain future generations.

 

Why Regenerative Farming Matters

We believe the answer lies in a return to farming systems that put soil, animals, and people first. Regenerative agriculture is about working with natural cycles rather than against them. It means raising livestock entirely on pasture, restoring biodiversity, and respecting the rhythm of the seasons.

When the soil is alive and healthy, plants grow strong, cattle thrive, and the food we eat is naturally more nutritious. Our independent nutritional testing has confirmed this. But equally important is the bigger picture: by farming this way, we protect ecosystems, strengthen local food supply, and reduce reliance on fragile, globalised systems that may not have our best interests at heart.

 

Looking Ahead

The supermarket model is unlikely to disappear anytime soon, but as consumers, we do have choices. Supporting regenerative farms, buying from local producers, and valuing food for its nutritional quality rather than just its price are small but powerful steps.

If we want a future of nourishing, flavourful food and resilient communities, then we need to look beyond the aisles of the big grocery chains. The path forward lies in soil that is cared for, farmers who are supported, and food systems that work in harmony with the land.

By Susan Hendry, Co-Founder, Native Angus Beef

 

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