Every so often, a community in Australia rallies to protest the building of a new supermarket. It happened in Daylesford, some years ago, when a big new IGA was planned for a corner block in the middle of town. The protest failed.

I’m not sure what occupied the block prior to that, but I suspect there were some nice old dilapidated shops or houses. (If you know, please comment.) Since then, only one other chain store has been built in the town and that’s a franchise operation.

The Clough family – who’d run a ‘cash ‘n’ carry in the main street for years – took over the operation of the IGA. Their history in the town, their support for local causes and the range of groceries they offered made their store a popular place to shop. But then  ’Cloughy’s’, as it was affectionately known, was bought by Coles.

Now it’s difficult to find our favourite products among so many lines bearing the Coles brand. So we’ve resolved to shop only at the little IGA across the road and at a family-owned greengrocer.

But getting back to the supermarket giants…

Woolworths is making itself unpopular in the northern New South Wales town of Mullumbimby. Once a focal point for new-agers, artists and those with an interest in escaping the rat race, Mullum is now a popular treechange location.

It seems that many Mullum residents don’t want a new supermarket. They’d rather keep the village atmosphere of their shopping precinct. And they’d much rather shop at the butcher’s, greengrocer’s and baker’s than at a large, impersonal store. By doing so, they believe they’re keeping other locals in work.

The Secretary of the Mullumbimby Forum, Trisha Shantz, said in a report published on the ABC website: ‘…studies in the UK and the US show that for every job that is actually created [by a supermarket], you lose one and a half within the local sector.’

For a view of how a supermarket could alter the town, you only need drive down the road from Mullumbimby to Byron Bay. Where there was once character and charm, there are now chain stores and supermarkets.

In Sydney, residents of Newport are busy protesting a proposal by Woolworths to build a supermarket there. They already have one and many of them don’t need or want another.

They believe another supermarket will ruin the ambience of their attractive seaside village and pave the way for the introduction of chain stores, less pedestrian access and an increased volume of traffic.

On Hungry Beast on Wednesday night, in a story on the duopoly of Woolworths and Coles in the Australian market, it was reported that farmers who sell produce to those stores are paid only a measly five per cent of the price that customers pay at the checkout.

After the failure of the ACCC to address the problem, farmers are now calling for a Royal Commission into why their share of the grocery price pie is so paltry.

There’s little chance that protests against the building of more supermarkets will succeed. In the past they never have.

Against the might of Woolies and Coles, it’s easy to feel that we don’t have a choice. But we do. Buying from markets, small food outlets and road-side stalls are just a few ways to exert pressure on supermarkets. And, wherever possible, we can also grow our own.

In the US, a movement called the Slow Money Alliance aims to encourage individuals to invest in small-scale food producers, and other sustainable projects, that operate within a 50 mile (80.5km) radius of their communities.

A local, sustainable and non-exploitative food supply… that’s another way to fight the power.

Postscript: My partner has just reminded me that there are two chain stores in Daylesford that I failed to mention: one is a hardware shop and the other sells sushi. I guess they’re off my radar.

Further postcript: At 3 a.m. I remembered two more: a pharmacy and an electrical appliances store. See how insidious chain stores are? You don’t even realise they’re there!