AIBU to think the UK should have a National Food Service again? (Like we basically had in WW2)

@SnoopyandSweep If you say so. Do you live on a remote island or something?

How is the scheme going to be mitigated to level up for those who are disabled and / or have food allergies?

Not in my Tesco
They have regional variations. And in poorer areas , they have more expensive prices. That is marketing. ( As the shop is the one the people are more reliant on).

If you're not feckless and work full time how on earth are concluding that my post refers to you?

We already pay thousands of pounds in benefits so that people can buy food. Then people want free food on top of that. The greed of some people from their fellow citizens is unlimited.

Seriously where do you shop? Tesco has apples for 85p a bag on clubxard price this week. Bananas 75p a bunch. Cheddar £4.60 for 700g. Are you buying organic and then complaining that it is expensive?

These basics are not being sold for much in the way of profit, once manufacture and distribution has happened there isn’t much from a basic loaf of bread, the supermarket profits come from the premium ranges and ready meals etc. basic pasta can be bought very cheaply yet you can spend 10x as much in the same supermarket. Tinned tomatoes are mostly from Italy for good reason, climate. If you want to help people, free cooking lessons and a scheme to donate used but not ruined cooking pots is the best way. I used to teach a class (before the last government closed down children’s centres) and the amount of parents who couldn’t prepare a simple meal was astonishing, I used to teach them to cook 4 meals plus they received some basic pans and some store cupboard ingredients but we lost funding in the cuts.

You really are a lovely person aren't you ?

Where exactly are the government getting all this land to grow all this stuff OP? Do you know the price of land?

Then they will need to build all the buildings needed to store, distribute and sell all these goods, they need all the machinery to harvest and process it, they will need to pay for all the labour to farm/build/run all these operations - even minimum wage is constantly going up and up (and is part of what is pushing prices up).

Who exactly is going to be paying for the huge upfront costs and why do you think they would be able to make higher quality produce for less and still break even?

I'd much prefer the government took over water and utilities than started trying to mess around with producing food.

Exactly. The sheer ignorance of this poster. I am sorry that you had to see that.

Of course, state-run food production and distribution worked so well in the USSR 😭

We already subsidise farming hugely in the UK and we have very efficient supermarkets on incredibly low margins. I think your idea is terrible, op. Where people are struggling to afford food it’s a demand side issue, not supply side.

Apples are around £2.50 a bag . Oranges around the same. Bananas about £1.50. The most basic fruit. Cheese around £4.00 for a pound /400g of that red crap. More for the taster stuff. I am talking about food for families not single people or couples. My family are grown up amd I honestly do not know how parents on basic wages /benefits do it. It must be so tough. It is disgraceful when others have so much in this country.
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I’m not feckless. I’m disabled. I work full time. I’m time poor and I don’t have the spoons to prep food after a full day at work.

Quite the drip feed then, should have led with that rather than the (wrong) whinging about the price.
Either way, these staples like pulses and carrots are already extremely cheap. I'm not sure how you think they could possibly be any cheaper.

Quite it is always those who have the most time that seem to do the least.

Sorry - I posted too soon. I do eat them regularly. Alot of people also cannot eat pulses regularly , due to dietary issues. I work with children with complex and multiple disabilities and some of these children cannot digest pulse properly. I myself have thyroid issues and have to limit the amount of pulses I eat due to the detrimental effect it can have on my condition. I do enjoy a bean chilli though!

Thank you.

the disabled. Elderly. Those with food allergies.

how will you mitigate the scheme for them?

surely that has to be considered, otherwise it will disadvantage that section of the population?

As an immigrant I am always quite baffled by claims that food is expensive and/or takes too much effort to cook.
Asda white potatoes are 2kg for abou 1.30, carrots for 69p for 1kg, broccoli 79p and even cheaper if one buys frozen. Rice and pasta are cheap. Pulses can be very cheap (soak them if buying dry). Meat is pricey, still not that much compared to other countries but still. That's asda which is not the cheapest. You can now buy sweet potatoes for under a pound per kilo in many places.
It's actually fairly easy to get veg and fruit on offers for very cheap.
Many easy and quick dishes can be made from basics or whatever is on offer.

What the issue is not that food is expensive, but that "exciting" food is more expensive.

Almost half of the UK population has a long term health condition. While not necessarily all causing significant impairment, this tends to become increasingly so as they age, and we have an aging population. Therefore, its not accurate to say 'the vast majority of people are able bodied'. The perspective of disabled people is very valid when discussing issues that affect the population as a whole as they are not the niche minority you believe.

That is still alot of money for a family. You need more than one tin for a family and just eating beans all the time is quite depressing.

We don't need additional food. We are overproducing which leads to food waste. Even community pantries/fridges can't get rid of all the excess food.

What we need is those who can't cook/won't cook to start cooking.

Those that say they don't have the time - we all have the same 24 hours a day.

The feckless have plenty of spare time.

It's not helpful to try to kill a conversation by saying you are disabled, or your children are disabled. If the help you receive is not enough, then that is a different (and worthy) topic on its own.

The vast majority of people are able bodied. That's what this thread is about. Do you really think that all people should get the same level of benefits as a disabled person?

Farmer here. There are already good steady jobs in Ag -
no one wants them as they involve poo, working unsociable hours, often in cold conditions.

My Dad remembers farming in the war and the Ministry of Agriculture. Back then, if you weren’t farming your farm well “The ministry” came and took it over. It happened to our neighbours. “The ministry” did modernize the farm and massively improve its outputs but it still didn’t yield as well as my grandfather who had grown up on the land and farmed it all its life.

Basic food is already incredibly cheap and really rather well resourced. One man per 1000 acres of arable. 6 men per 90 000 hens etc. actually. If the government ran it your costs would go up dramatically as the government defines a full time worker in grant applications as 30 hours per week. I don’t know any full time farm workers on 30 hrs per week!!!

I’m disabled. I can’t stand on my own two feet.

there are days I can’t prep my
own food - most days I struggle.

what would you suggest for me?