Food is not expensive

Eh? The UK is in Europe.

Yabu. It’s super expensive now.

Compared to where? Our shop spend has increased by more than 50% since 2021. Meanwhile we are in Greece where a three course meal with alcoholic drinks for three has just cost 104€. There's absolutely no way we would spend that in the UK, it would be double for what we had. On holiday last year we self catered for hardly anything in Montenegro. A fresh loaf of bread was only 1€ and it lasted three days.
It's all relative, our wages are much higher, and rent/mortgage payments are higher, their energy and food costs are lower. I wouldn't say we are any better or worse off.

I joke that we need to take out a second mortgage just to finance DD’s fruit eating. I’m excited that blackberries are just starting to come in. Between the ones growing over our back fence and the odd forage along the footpath on the way to the park it saves me an absolute fortune for a few weeks a year (and I usually try to freeze some too).

I know that relatively we spend less of our income in this country on food than in other places. But when I popped into Asda this morning for a top up shop of fruit, salad, eggs, yoghurt, butter, cheese + a few other staples and came out having spent over £40 it feels expensive. I’m not sure of course but I imagine at least in some of these other countries, their food bills may be higher but perhaps fuel, childcare, even housing costs may be lower? That was certainly the impression I had when I lived and worked in the states - even back then (12 or so years ago) I found supermarket shopping eye wateringly expensive if I wanted to eat anything even vaguely decent. But my other costs overall were lower so it balanced out. I’m not sure about childcare etc though as I was single and childfree in those days. And had good healthcare through work - I realise that’s not the case for very many.

If you have any garden at all it's really easy to grow raspberrys. I grow a few canes of the autumn ones and have had fresh to eat and a lot for the freezer

and I’ve tried getting them to eat apples and pears… not a hope

We get through at least 4 apples a day & a fair few pears. I spend a lot on apples!

It's all the big TVs and iphones that we don't need to live is what's draining the coffers. I know that's a really boring old person view. Doesn't make it less true.

Absolutely nothing to do with housing costs. It's not an old persons view just an ignorant one.

and I’ve tried getting them to eat apples and pears… not a hope

circa 60s/70s they'd have had to if that's all that was available. That's how it worked. And in the 60s and 70s we were spending 33% of our income on food.
Food is comparatively cheap now. 15% of income. It's all the big TVs and iphones that we don't need to live is what's draining the coffers. I know that's a really boring old person view. Doesn't make it less true.

Bananas have always been ridiculously cheap but even they have increased in price.

Some things surprise me when I see how cheap they are. You can buy a whole bunch of bananas for £1 for example.

Other things are ridiculously expensive, such as lamb, prawns and fresh cod.

t’s always been five.

it's at least 5

The % of household income I spend on food is definitely less than my parents and grand parents did but I have a lot of other outgoings due to modern living that they didn't. E.g a bag of coal and wood scavenged from the beach would cost a hell of a lot less than my gas heating bill.

Same for us.

I’m happy with their welfare commitment, if you’re not buy their free range thighs.

Certainly we should cut our food waste. I watched an ex throw away half a leg of lamb because he couldn't be bothered to cut it off the bone and freeze it.

Food in the UK can be expensive but if you buy seasonally & locally, it isn't.

Also knowing what to do with meat. I buy four chicken legs for £2.50 and bone them. Each one gives an adult serving of moist, well flavoured pan fried chicken for 62p each. Yet most people will buy chicken breast instead. It has less flavour and is more expensive but is less fiddly (takes 5 mins).

I feed one adult, one ravenous teen boy, a good mix of home cooked meat, poultry, fish, dairy, fresh fruit & veg for about £55 a week.

I mean… I have children who love raspberries, strawberries, melon and mango, Just the weekly bill for that 🙈😭 and I’ve tried getting them to eat apples and pears… not a hope 🤪

So it is expensive then?

There's no indication on Waitroses listing of the chicken that it's free range. It's been reared in a shed with conditions of a battery chicken with little more access than other supermarkets battery chicken. It's sad.

cucumber 2020 - 49p
mortagage - £1000
cucumbwr 2025 -89/90p
mortgage - £2600

my salary - definitely not risen by 100%+

www.waitrose.com/ecom/content/sustainability/animal-welfare/chickens

Are they raised in a chicken shed as a battery chicken though?

A medium Waitrose chicken that is slow reared and higher welfare is £5.50.

Meat is expensive but we should be eating a lot less of it. Lots of healthy food is cheap- lentils,
veg etc. If you stretch chicken over 2 days, have jackets 1 day, veggie curry,pasta another day…it’s fairly easy to keep bills low. If you chuck in brands and processed crap, loads of meat, alcohol etc the bills will be higher. And sorry I’m done with the people don’t know how to cook excuse, we follow YouTube and social media for everything.

It’s sort of all relative. A more accurate statement would be that you don’t find food expensive…which, ok? Thanks for sharing.

Our monthly grocery bill, for two adults and a 3 y/o, is around £400, which I find really expensive. I guess that includes household stuff like detergents, soaps, kitchen rolls etc too. Yes, I could probably reduce that by around 100 and still be getting all the f+v in, but it wouldn’t be fun. Any more than that and the macros/ diversity of nutrients/ food quality would start to suffer. Not saying it might not be possible for some v talented people/ those with the time…but that’s not me.

Im sure there’s an equation for how much of a household income is supposed to be spent on food Has to be looking a lot worse now than it was 10y ago, which is what people really feel in their bank accounts.

The chicken has had a miserable life. Putting £5 on a life is awful too (the supply chain and the supermarkets).