While shopping at the supermarket, my friend kept lecturing me about carbon footprints. Hong Kong is such a business city that we rarely have local produce at a reasonable price. Imported food is natural for us.
Though many vegetables come from Mainland China, Hongkongers love produce imported from Japan, Europe, Australia and the US. We do not feel guilty for buying goods that have travelled a long way to the shops. Almost no local farms supply enough fresh pak chop, choy sham, or potatoes for our daily consumption.
Several years ago, a concept store opened called Greenprice that sells near-expired products or canned goods that have passed their best-before dates. I do my regular grocery shopping there.
The stores do not include expired products like meat and dairy, which means that these foods are safe to consume.
I even found it a fun experience to “seek and hunt” interesting and different brands and snacks at an affordable price. Yes, they are imported and create carbon footprints, but by buying these food items, we prevent gigantic food waste that harms the universe.
This month, I purchased chunky peanut butter, chocolates, whole wheat pasta, body cream, and potato chips. They are yet to expire and are a deal. The most important is that I couldn’t find some of these goodies in other stores.
Despite that these items might have travelled a long way, I still advocate green shopping, as these products will be sent to landfill if everyone gives them up.
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