[jly]

Super markets certainly have their problems, for reasons you've said. However, you can choose not to put your groceries in any plastic from the supermarket, if you wish. I have done exactly that for a while now and it's easily doable, you just have to be a little choosy about what you buy.

If people switched to shopping at local farmer's markets - so food wouldn't be shipped around at all - we would produce much less pollution and have much sustainable agriculture than either of those options.

[jules]

Local agriculture usually costs a lot more energy and land than large scale agriculture or agriculture in a climate that is best suited for the plant. The transportation costs are a rounding error for many products. Organic products are particularly terrible in this respect.