To be horrified at the price of food

Because out of season vegetables that have to be imported or grown under cover here (at great expense) cost more and are gave a bad Carbon Footprint?

Why can wealthier people buy better quality clothes? Bigger houses in better locations? Nicer cars? Private schools?

No-one is restricted to only tinned fruit and veg, no matter how tight their budget. As has been pointed out, UK seasonal veg is cheap and very nutritional. No-one NEEDS to eat peppers in winter.

Wailing "Not Fair" is ridiculous and juvenile.

Processed 'food' is cheap because very little of it is real food. It's just empty calories, sugar, oils, additives. Nothing of any nutritional value. You are paying to make yourself unwell.

The price of real food is just what food actually costs, margins are small for the supermarket and often even smaller for the farmers.

YES! It's unreal how expensive basic, essential items are. Each time I shop it's like £100 for two bags of food.

I don’t live in U.K. but here for Easter. Horrified at £35 for a leg of lamb in Sainsburys.

I think it would be a good idea for the government to subsidise fresh and healthy food (not purely fresh because there's alot of nutrients in frozen veg etc.) instead of the sugar tax.

Are we ever going to find out where the 20p ham is??

What do you think is reasonable to pay for a pepper if 60p is too high?

Food where I live (rural) is and has been a lot more expensive than those prices for a long time, but agree with those that say the cheapest way (and best for the environment) is to shop in season, and locally.

As for the 20p ham, unless it's decent ham reduced then no thank you, I'd rather eat something else!

I got 2 leeks for 32p this morning in the bargain bin, looking forward to making a nice chicken soup from the easter sunday chicken carcass !

How are people supposed to eat fresh fruit and veg daily (and the right amount) with these prices?

Seasonal is the key. 🤷 It is that simple. I always go after seasonal and non seasonal are just an add on. Fruit and veg are still cheap in UK. Even though people keep moaning about cost because they are buying blueberries in January....

I'm a lone parent on one low salary and I buy those things. I'd say the issue is elsewhere in your finances.

I don’t buy tinned and frozen because they’re cheap, I do it to save food waste. I can use exactly what I need without having half a cauliflower left over. I’d buy fresh peppers if I needed them for a recipe, and have something cheaper another day to balance out the cost.

I think it is a pretty rich lifestyle if your buying fresh fruit and veg out of season for every meal.

4 pack of orange juice from Asda was £3.50 not too long ago and it's now £5.50. I'd love to know why.

I'm comparing to the price of a pepper. The OP just picked a more expensive fruit and veg item, there are plenty cheaper.

A pack of custard creams gives you nothing, absolutely nothing, except empty calories. Unless you are seriously underweight then it's just a waste of money. As a treat, something to have with coffee if you are skipping meals, yes, for nutrition, no.

I agree, processed shit is cheaper than real food, especially fresh fruit and vegetables.

I’ve just bought carrots, onions and turnips for 45p, couple with lentils (half a £3.00 bag) I’ll make soup which will cover lunch for three of us for under £2 plus a stock cube. There’s no processed shit that would give me 4 days of lunch for that amount.

I definitely buy peppers - all colours but green , cheapest custard creams as teen inhales them .

i don’t think my household is that unique in that I do try cooking from scratch but we also eat processed food .

I do agree with pp.. often unbranded tastes great very little I buy branded now

It's only going to get worse.

Arable land is decreasing and the emerging middle class in countries like China and India are competing with us.

We've had a couple of generations of lots of cheap food. That's not the norm, really, in human history.

Everything has gone up, going up and sizes are getting smaller.

We have tried our own brands and I actually prefer them as often they have less salt and sugar - the own brands are fish fingers after a lifetime of Birdseye.

There is a bit of cloth cutting room for some people. I know there will be some people making those exact choices but by and large, not many people who cook with a red pepper and garlic will be buying 20p ham and custard creams.

Frozen red peppers are available as an alternative, garlic cloves can be planted, packaging can be reused and soil is given away on facebook so you can grow entire bulbs from single cloves on your kitchen windowsill.

It's not convenient but it is possible.

The 15p veg is a loss leader and only available for about 7 days in the year.

@Mumoftwo1312 leeks are really expensive in my local supermarkets! But I agree overall - seasonal food is the way forward. I bought the Tesco bags of carrots, onions, swede, potato, white cabbage, for 15p each last week. And red cabbage is also very cheap.

Frozen peas and broad beans and sweetcorn, lots of tinned beans… these also help.

And yellow stickers food - I know it’s not always possible to shop at the right times to get the offers but if you can, you can pick up bargains.

Also trying to use the whole vegetable- so the leaves of the cauliflower and celery as well as the bit you usually eat.

I grow my own herbs and chilli peppers on my windowsill.