By: Carley Divish
In a time where shopping online is as easy as finding Shein clothing at the charity shop, I advocate that you don’t sit and swipe on your phone; at least, not for your groceries. This is not an anti-phone tirade. We have all already heard those to death, and while I do have a stance, that you can probably imply, I don’t need to say it. In this article, I am not advocating for taking your brain back, switching to a dumb phone, or any of those new wave woo-woo (scientifically
proven) activities. I am advocating for the love of grocery stores! For the beauty of finding a new favourite food in an unexpected place. For uncovering the secrets hidden between the frozen
peas and mini yorkshire puddings.
Every time I enter a new city, whether I am visiting, have a kitchen, have just eaten or am more
ravenous than the whale that ate Jonah, I love going to the grocery store. Any of them! To me, this run-of-the-mill building reveals what I could otherwise never understand in just a day. The store is anthropology without trying, selling the everyday items of whatever culture I’ve come across: the food, fashions, alcohols, reality. Is there a fresh bread section? Are there strange fish? Cute pastries? What are the popular chocolates? There is so much to learn about a
people, a culture, even the specific place just by going to the grocery store.
In a city where 15.4% of us don’t have English as their main language, that is still over 37 thousand people (Southampton.gov 2022). Even then, 31% of school students had a first
language other than English. Finally, 41% of births in Southampton in 2022 were to women who had not been born in the UK (Southampton.gov 2022). While I bet some of them were cruise
ship emergencies, that is an amazing number! This city has culture, and it has cultures. Both are good to explore, whether you are born and raised English, twenty generations back, or just
showed up a couple years ago, like me.
The Thai festival last year exploded from the year before, with a gazebo with a few stalls and
performances turning into a full on, park encompassing, gated off, party town. Just a year before, the cleaning professional in my dorm had invited me. At that time the Thait festival was a
small celebration in Palterston Park, with acts, food, and a good crowd, but nothing compared to the lines outside the gate a year later. Culture in this city is exciting! And what is more exciting,
is the grocery store that accompanies it! Asian Supermarket off of Castle Way and Bargate Street can show you culture all the time, and maybe make you expand your palate, with Triple A Cafe sitting on the first floor. The Italian grocery, M3 Market, sits next to the Polish, Delikatesy Smaczek, just south of Vincents Walk, and all three have given me food I never would have tried before (and a place to wander on a rainy day). All of these places are run by locals, sharing
their culture and creating a hub for the cultural diaspora in our city.
I’ll tell you a secret, I once went to one grocery twice in a day just for cake, and it was the same cashier! In the moment, it was embarrassing for the cashier to call me out! But now, I laugh
about it. It is not bad to love a local business, they will love you back for it. On the other hand, I once bought food from another cultural grocery store that I hated. It just was not my cup of tea,
but I still go back and try new things that I end up buying again and again. I have not been to Italy or Poland yet, but through these local businesses I know a bit about the culture, or at least
the minority culture that has created new cuisines (like spaghetti and meatballs or gumbo). I enjoy my days when I can have a nice wander around the aisles, see the food I would never
have known, and maybe try some. I bought a huge hunk of the best butter I ever had, just to try something new, and now I faint at the thought of going back to regular Lidl butter. These are
foods that people eat, not just restaurant staples: they embody the authenticity we are all searching for, without the struggle between engaging in a new culture and treating it as a
commodity. While I am definitely not Italian, Polish, Thai, I can still feel the honesty and the joy of these places through knowing what they eat.
Swiping on your phone is easy, getting someone else to buy your groceries is easy. You’ll likely save some money, save some time, save save save. As Kurt Vonnegut said, “I…go out to get an envelope because I’m going to have a hell of a good time in the process of buying one envelope. I meet a lot of people… I give them the thumbs up…And, what the computer people don’t realise, or don’t care, is we’re dancing animals. You know, we love to move around.” Dance around! See the grocery store! Say hi to the clerk even if you’re buying a second piece of cake. You will miss life if you let it go by you, and in Southampton there is so much life to live.
So much food to try that expands beyond Lidl’s ‘country of the week.’
Stretch your legs, stretch your curiosity, experience culture. Go to the grocery store.
Sources:
Ethnicity, Language, Identity. 2025. Southampton Census.
https://data.southampton.gov.uk/population/ethnicity-language-and-identity/
Filgate, M. 2007. God Bless you, Mr. Vonnegut. God Bless You, Mr. Vonnegut – CBS News
R. Gilbert-Jones. 2024. How Authentic Experiences Shape the New Tourism Economy. Skift
Research. How Authentic Experiences Shape the New Tourism Economy – Skift Research
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