Coffee, chocolate and wine…the many pleasures I have tried to give up for lent. Unsuccessfully of course. But why is it that giving something up always sounds like a depressing way to deprive yourself of something you like? What if we switched it, and gave up things we couldn’t give two hoots about?

Well, that’s exactly what I’m planning to do this time around. Instead of giving up something for lent that becomes a countdown to the moment it meets my lips again, I’m giving up something I have been trying to do for a while: Supermarkets. Not like I have anything against the big boys, they offer incredible vale on tinned tomatoes and sacks of rice; but when you live somewhere with such a thriving local foody culture, it seems mad not to tap in to some good old Cornish produce. There are markets and farm shops galore around here, and we happen to have one of the most delicious bakeries where I work at the Eden Project.

In fact, even our local independent healthfood shop sells everything I need for my vegan diet; from nuts, seeds and flour, to soy milk, tempeh and (most importantly) dairy-free ice cream!

My biggest worry though, will be reigning in my budget so I can keep on track with my recent realisation that my travelling savings has gone a little bottoms up. But buying in bulk, cooking smart and eating for my height (instead of my greed) will certainly help.

So what do you think? Fancy challenging yourself to live supermarket free for lent? I can guarantee it will be rewarding to switch those pesky trolleys and grumpy checkout ladies, for local producers doing their thing in your community. Plus, it’s much nicer proposition that giving up something you actually like, surely?!

Keep up with me, and some of my wonderful green blogging freinds, on Twitter to see how we get on: #local4lent  @local4lent