Now this is a fun idea. In Cornwall, according to a recent issue of The Times, a local Women's Institute is boycotting the supermarkets in order to support the small local shop.
The problem is I can't see it working on a larger scale. Lifestyles in urban areas have changed and the weekly shop to the big supermarket where you can get everything from loo roll to the latest DVD and something to play it on is a reality in a lot of towns. Breaking through it is likely to be all but impossible - the local shop ethos might suit older people, about whom the WI is justifiably concerned, but for younger families the convenience of a single-drop shopping trip is pretty much everything.
