According to research by the BBC, in the two years to 1 November, planning authorities gave Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and Morrisons permission for at least 480 stores in England.
At least 67 were approved in Scotland and at least 22 in Wales and eight in Northern Ireland, clocking up to a grand total of 577 new stores either now in place or on the way.
It’s hard to ignore the success of our supermarkets, although residents of small towns where the traditional independent butchers, bakers and candlestick makers have fallen by the wayside as big stores take over would probably be up for a heated debate on just what benefits they bring.
Farmers and food producers are also likely to have strong opinions. As chef and food campaigner Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall tells BBC TV’s Panorama tonight, which will investigate different aspects of the supermarket issue: "You don't need to explain the attraction of cheap food, everybody likes saving money, but the effect of that simple drive to bring down price – it's massively altering the way we produce food, the scale on which we produce food."
The supermarkets clearly aren’t going anywhere. They’re too convenient, for one thing, and in hard times, their competitive pricing is hard to ignore for families getting by on reduced budgets. And they do create jobs.
But as their expansion continues, perhaps it’s time for the powers that be to very seriously consider the way they are influencing the life of the nation.
David Handley, chairman of the Farmers For Action campaign group, says that if the supermarkets continue trading in the way they do now, “they are going to put British agriculture out of business" due to the hard bargains they drive with farmers. And many of us might agree that’s too high a price to pay for convenience.
For more information, please visit www.glazers.co.uk
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