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

Paying migrant workers less than minimum wage and using them without the correct visas is illegal.

self employed people can chose to work for less than min wage. That isn’t exploitation

What about disabled people and those with food allergies and intolerances? How would you level up the scheme for them?

Healthcare. The UK NHS is a lot cheaper than likes of the US where it's near all private.

And as I mentioned in my post, rail. Specifically rail infrastructure ( in the UK anyway)

Pretty much every nation has a mixed economy. It's just the ratio of private to state owned that varies.

I don't think there is a country anywhere that operates a 100% capitalist system.

As a really strange example of the UKs weird hybrid system, how about Sizewell C power station. A mix between the UK government and French company EDF. EDF is state owned by the French guv, But in this case it's acting more like a private company. It will be making a profit from the UK consumer.

Sizewell C Nuclear Power Station, England, UK (power-technology.com)

In my simple way of thinking, I reckon it would be better if such projects were just done 100% UK state owned.

Sorry for the somewhat gish galloping reply,

What might work (and I haven't spent much time thinking it through) is for the government to open a series of canteens where people could be provided with good quality, nutritionally complete meals at a subsidised price.

Food is so cheap here. The staple products you have listed are some of the cheapest and the prices are relatively stable. A few pence off a tin of beans or tinned tomatoes will make very little difference to anyone. House and rent prices are the issue.

I was responding to the PP pointing out that our food prices are kept down by farmers working for what equates to below NMW and the use of migrant workers.

Chinese economy is not communist. It is state capitalism.

Communism has never lifted anyone out of anything. It lifts people down though, six feet below ground.

Thats why no one ever tries to break into Cuba or North Korea. Whereas people from these countries are literally dying to get into the US and South Korea.

My question something different. Name one area where the government has done a better and cheaper job of delivering something.

Loads of really good information in here, but politely, as I’ve just commented on another post, the Chinese communist party has actually lifted 800 million people out of poverty, when you say communism never works how do you square this?

the Chinese communist party has actually lifted 800 million people out of poverty over four decades.

by the way, what are you talking about with your net zero comment? Are you a climate change skeptic?

https://www.visualcapitalist.com/visualizing-the-cost-of-a-healthy-diet-around-the-world/

I agree with others that UK food costs are relatively low compared to income

Europe already has one of the lowest global healthy diet costs and a relatively low percentage of people who can't afford it.

The population of Europe is approximately 745 million (& 39 million = 5% can't afford a healthy diet)
By comparison the population of Northern Africa is projected to be around 276 million * *(&112 million = 40% can't afford a healthy diet)

If you want the Governmsnt to get involved in food supply, national restaurants or subsidies to employers and schools to offer cheap, healthy meals at lunch time to employees and pupils is probably a better way forward.

YABVU.

There are many reasons why not:

We don't grow tomatoes and rice in this country - they come from Europe and so since Brexit you can expect to pay higher prices.

Prior to Brexit we had market intervention in the form of the Common Agricultural Policy. We had cheap subsidised British and European food until Brexit and our Government took away the farmer's subsidies!

It's been done and abandoned as a disaster - I assume you are not old enough to remember the Milk Marketing Board (set up in 1930s and abolished in 1994). Prices actually reduced when it was scrapped as supermarkets bought foreign milk for less.

Wheat (bread and pasta) and other commodity prices (pork, sugar, coffee, etc) are set on a world market and change constantly depending on global events and weather - there is no way an elected Government is going to intervene in a free market.

Farmers are currently struggling to make any profit at all and you want to reduce prices further - that is very unreasonable! Staple food in this country is very cheap, often imported below the cost of UK production (New Zealand lamb for example).

You mention nationalisation of agriculture and the food industry. I suggest you do a study of how that went in communist Russia! To cut a long story short, it was a disaster and caused widespread food shortages and famine! Communism never works and this has been proved time and time again around the world - we really should teach this basic stuff at school! Free enterprise and competition is the proven best route to lower prices.

We don't grow enough food in this country to support our population so rely on imported products over which we have no control. As more and more farmland is taken out of production (building on green fields, solar farms, re-wilding and environmental schemes, tree planting for carbon credits, etc) we can expect more imported food and lower standards of production. The farmers are angry about the IHT rules as this is going to make the situation much worse than it is currently.

there is a difference between exploitation and paying an extra 29% of wage for government pension. There is a minimum wage in this country so I’d be interested to know how people are exploited to produce these good stuffs (it’s not sugar / sugar palm/ cocoa/ tea which can have dubious international supply chain)

I think it would be an ineffective system. Where are these items going to be distributed and by who? You'd need to have warehouse and staff and also pay people to run the admin side of things, keep track of who's had how much food etc. I don't see how it's going to be any cheaper than what you can buy already in the shops. I doubt any Government would plan well enough that there wouldn't be supply issues down the road (which they/their cronies later cash in on, like they did with the PPE shortage).

I think a food stamps scheme for those who need it could be useful. I'm not sure how necessary that would be though. There seems to be a lot of local food banks in my area that you can visit without needing a referral. If people are happy to volunteer and donate items for free, then that is always going to be better than increasing taxes to pay for a food service scheme and pushing more people into the 'needing help' bracket.

We can agree to disagree on the rice, but regardless even taking your prices, £1.30 for a bag of rice is pretty cheap, that’s 13p a meal. Same for potatoes, very cheap for a £1.20 bag. Basic meals can be made cheaply from scratch.

Same. It’s only on Mn people portray the imagine of vicky pollard sippping monster starring suspiciously at a carrot. IRL people either who don’t cook much either don’t want to or haven’t got time.

So you're saying it's cheap because the current system relies on exploitation of the workers? Exploitation that is 'necessary' to keep prices affordable while still making profits for non producers and non workers at the top.
Remove the need to carry these passengers from the process and money would be saved.
It may be necessary for the government to subsidise it. However, costs would be saved from other services if all our citizens were well fed, adequately housed and could heat their homes.
It would be interesting to see the costs actually modelled.

People do know how to cook. They’re just knackered

Some parents would still prefer to feed their poor chubby little kids on junk foods

ive Got to be honest OP, this is a really strange place to start improving the country!

we have very cheap and good quality food in the uk. I can’t see what the benefit is? As others have said it won’t employ many people and in many cases those products are loss leaders for the supermarket

there are plenty of places where capitalism doesn’t work but this doesn’t seem the obvious one? Wouldn’t you rather renationalise water or energy?!

No the cost of land is too high, which is a knock on effect for everything else here.

there is not a war we don’t need government rations. We need to not be spending more than half of our wages on housing and to stop putting downward pressure of salaries via large scale in targeted immigration

People don't need cheap food. They need advice and support with making food go further and making cheap, hearty and filling meals for their family. Loads of families i support hardly even know how to bake a potato let alone cook with lentils or basic spices/herbs.

I am an olio food waste hero
I get so much bread and bread related products I am took some down to the local leisure centre on Wed and stuck it in a box with a sign saying 'free please take if you cam use'

Not even the food banks will take bread

Everyone l know knows how to cook. But some dislike doing it so get takeaways instead.