The organic green grocer at the end of my street is the ultimate in neighbourhood shops. Everyone who works there knows my name. If ever I want something that I don’t see they order it for me. They bring my Christmas tree to my door. They even carried my bags home for me when I was heavily pregnant. But most importantly of all they talk to me. We chat. We talk about everything under the sun. And that connection is a key indicator of good health and longevity.
In the book Younger Next Year, Chris Crowley suggests that to age well we need to eat well, exercise, not smoke, have a purpose, and have connections – meaningful relationships with people around us. This sort of thing will never happen in a Tesco Metro. It happens in a shop where the owner’s very livelihood depends on your custom.
Psychology Today reports “ One study showed that lack of social connection is a greater detriment to health than obesity, smoking, and high blood pressure. On the flip side, strong social connection leads to a 50% increased chance of longevity. Social connection strengthens our immune system, helps us recover from disease faster, and may even lengthen our life. People who feel more connected to others have lower rates of anxiety and depression.” Really I think we’re all looking for that Cheers experience…we all wanna’ go where everybody knows our name.
Looking at it from another angle we all know how easy it is to flop out on our beds and shop the Internet. We don’t have to lift our lazy butts off the couch to shop or to receive the order. This is the opposite of what would benefit us. In London many of us live within walking distance of a high street (as they do in New York, Paris, Tokyo, Barcelona, etc.). It is so very easy to wander a few blocks to the local shops and carry our bags home. They say sitting is the new cancer, so we should be getting up and walking around. Finding purposeful reasons to move all add up. Also the fresh air and change of scenery is good for us.
When you do your food shopping on line (thank you, Ocado) it’s too easy to buy the same things week in, week out, and never look to see what’s new. And most of us don’t take the time to read food labels on the Internet. But if you go to your local health food shop or green grocer you have the opportunity to try the new nut butter, read the label, ask the shop owner for his opinion and get an eavesdropping customer to give her two cents as well. To have a real interaction.
I won’t even get into the argument against the homogenisation of our high streets – that’s a blog post for another day. I realise this post applies most immediately to my urban subscribers but even if you live in a smaller town or suburb you can still make the effort to cycle, take the bus or drive to the individual boutiques and health food shops. Because if you don’t support them, they won’t be there when you need them.
Think global, shop local.
