Riots in Bristol.
That's a shame I thought, I have never lived in Bristol but the Charity I worked for had a community project there in an inner city area just off the motorway and I always enjoyed visiting the project.
I enjoyed visiting Bristol partly because of the people you would meet, partly because of the cultural diversity and partly because we always found an opportunity to visit a Moroccan restaurant for a Tagine Lunch, either Chicken or Fish, both were equally delicious.
On one occasion the staff all went off to Friday Prayers leaving the restaurant full with customers eating and chatting, the owner came through from the kitchen and said 'We'll be back, just leave the money for your food on the counter if you haven't paid'.
It combined all the hallmarks of a truly integrated community.
I could recommend it as a destination for Mr Cameron if he wishes to offer an example of his big society in action and rethink his view of multi-culturalism.
The St Paul's area of Bristol became best known when it was described in a book called Endless Pressure and it is a tribute to both the community and its elected officers that the events described in the book have not become a default position for community feeling and anger in the City.
So I was suprised to read about riots.
Until that is I read an article the next day describing the opposition to the development of yet another Tesco Store.
It wasn't even a big Tesco Store, it was an express or convenience store, but so like much of Tesco's expansionist philosophy it was not clear whose convenience was being served.
So after protests and opposition to the planning application, appeals and direct action with people encasing their arms in concrete, the store was opened, it is in addition to the other fourteen Tesco stores located within a two-mile radius of Stokes Croft.
There is a developing movement against further expansion by Tesco, I know a number of people who have either stopped shopping in the stores or who now only visit for things that they simply cannot source from elesewhere.
Somehow a sense of resistance has crept into people's thinking about large stores dominating the economy and the environment.
Too big to fail was applied to Banks but will it apply to supermarkets? With more than 1,500 stores nationwide and over thirty per cent of the UK grocery market and with record profits Tesco is certainly big, but too big to fail?
In Bristol Tesco supported the police who said that they had to take action because public safety was ‘paramount’.
Spending time in Genoa offers an opportunity to reflect on these questions.
The Co-op here is well supported and very busy, but unfamiliarity with the foods on offer and the language make it an uncomfortable shopping experience for me to find my way easily through the aisles to the checkout, although the Rabbit is a great buy and the 2 Euro 39 Prosecco is very drinkable.
Carrefour also has a convenience store on every corner.
But the best shopping experience is found in the myriad of small stores and shops that this part of Genoa supports alongside the ubiquitous Carrefour.
Small greengrocers, a shop Polleria , specialising in chicken BBQ'd and fresh, but who also supplies the most wonderful cippola, onions, marinated in Balsamic Vinegar. From Prosciutto to cheeses, to foccaca the variety is endless and the slow food movement is in good heart, Fava Beans from the corner Greengrocer, shelled and eaten uncooked with grated Parmigiano Reggiano and Olive Oil are delicious.
On our second visit we are finding that the small shops and the Mercado Oriental offer the widest choice of delicious food and that their prices compete with the supermarkets.
That is bound to happen in the UK as people begin to resist the global ambitions of the big four supermarkets.
It will be a long time before the shopkeeper will say, oh help yourself just leave your money on the counter when you leave, but it could happen if shopping becomes more local and more co-operative ...... like it did in Rochdale all those years ago.
That's a shame I thought, I have never lived in Bristol but the Charity I worked for had a community project there in an inner city area just off the motorway and I always enjoyed visiting the project.
I enjoyed visiting Bristol partly because of the people you would meet, partly because of the cultural diversity and partly because we always found an opportunity to visit a Moroccan restaurant for a Tagine Lunch, either Chicken or Fish, both were equally delicious.
On one occasion the staff all went off to Friday Prayers leaving the restaurant full with customers eating and chatting, the owner came through from the kitchen and said 'We'll be back, just leave the money for your food on the counter if you haven't paid'.
It combined all the hallmarks of a truly integrated community.
I could recommend it as a destination for Mr Cameron if he wishes to offer an example of his big society in action and rethink his view of multi-culturalism.
The St Paul's area of Bristol became best known when it was described in a book called Endless Pressure and it is a tribute to both the community and its elected officers that the events described in the book have not become a default position for community feeling and anger in the City.
So I was suprised to read about riots.
Until that is I read an article the next day describing the opposition to the development of yet another Tesco Store.
It wasn't even a big Tesco Store, it was an express or convenience store, but so like much of Tesco's expansionist philosophy it was not clear whose convenience was being served.
So after protests and opposition to the planning application, appeals and direct action with people encasing their arms in concrete, the store was opened, it is in addition to the other fourteen Tesco stores located within a two-mile radius of Stokes Croft.
There is a developing movement against further expansion by Tesco, I know a number of people who have either stopped shopping in the stores or who now only visit for things that they simply cannot source from elesewhere.
Somehow a sense of resistance has crept into people's thinking about large stores dominating the economy and the environment.
Too big to fail was applied to Banks but will it apply to supermarkets? With more than 1,500 stores nationwide and over thirty per cent of the UK grocery market and with record profits Tesco is certainly big, but too big to fail?
In Bristol Tesco supported the police who said that they had to take action because public safety was ‘paramount’.
Spending time in Genoa offers an opportunity to reflect on these questions.
The Co-op here is well supported and very busy, but unfamiliarity with the foods on offer and the language make it an uncomfortable shopping experience for me to find my way easily through the aisles to the checkout, although the Rabbit is a great buy and the 2 Euro 39 Prosecco is very drinkable.
Carrefour also has a convenience store on every corner.
But the best shopping experience is found in the myriad of small stores and shops that this part of Genoa supports alongside the ubiquitous Carrefour.
Small greengrocers, a shop Polleria , specialising in chicken BBQ'd and fresh, but who also supplies the most wonderful cippola, onions, marinated in Balsamic Vinegar. From Prosciutto to cheeses, to foccaca the variety is endless and the slow food movement is in good heart, Fava Beans from the corner Greengrocer, shelled and eaten uncooked with grated Parmigiano Reggiano and Olive Oil are delicious.
On our second visit we are finding that the small shops and the Mercado Oriental offer the widest choice of delicious food and that their prices compete with the supermarkets.
That is bound to happen in the UK as people begin to resist the global ambitions of the big four supermarkets.
It will be a long time before the shopkeeper will say, oh help yourself just leave your money on the counter when you leave, but it could happen if shopping becomes more local and more co-operative ...... like it did in Rochdale all those years ago.
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