Masters of the chain gangs

Recent research tells us that the average British shopper is destined to spend two years of his or her life inside a supermarket. Ever since ‘Mr Alan’ Sainsbury, third-generation head of the grocery dynasty, converted his Croydon branch to self-service in 1950 — and despite the fact that one of the first customers threw her wire basket at him in disgust — these cathedrals to consumer choice and convenience have loomed larger and larger in the national landscape.

They have hollowed out our town centres and surrounded them with graceless hangars in giant car parks. They have become an irresistible force in the economics of farming. They have broadened our eating habits and destroyed our cooking skills. We love them for all the novelties they offer under a single roof, but (as negative coverage of Tesco’s record £2 billion profit demonstrated last week) we resent them for taking so much of our money.