Is food suddenly loads more expensive? Why?

[niketrainersarecomfy]

Ok. Panicking if it continues.
Just been to the local shop for tinned tuna and couldnt get it below 2 pounds. Corned beef 2. 50.
These were once cheap options for sandwiches. Now i see them as protein to be saved for an evening meal, and for sandwiches to be made from paste, marmite, soft cheese etc.
I have noticed my usual bread rolls go from 90p to 1.10.
Milk stayed the same. Squash much more money.
Is it just me? Yes i could have gone to aldi and not the corner shop but even so.
I honestly dont see how places like tesco are going to stay open if this continues, nor how anyone could afford to fill a trolley for the weeks shop.
Is it just me or is food becoming too expensive? Thats before tv license, water, petrol getting dearer each year.
How are we supposed to manage when wages dont rise at the rate of inflation?

then add on the cost of other stuff you need to grow food

You don’t need anything special. We grow veg and literally just stick it in the ground.

You don’t need anything special. We grow veg and literally just stick it in the ground.

seeds and seedlings. pots to start plants off with. watering can. buckets. space on a window sill for seedlings (or a greenhouse)...

seeds and seedlings. pots to start plants off with. watering can. buckets. space on a window sill for seedlings (or a greenhouse)...

A watering can you can get dirt cheap. Same with seeds.

We don’t have a greenhouse and don’t always use pots. We have four raised beds (admittedly my mum has a big garden and we grow them in the veg patch at her house), and just sow directly into that.

If you don’t have space that’s fair enough but if you do, it doesn’t cost much.

My partner has had an allotment for 10 years and no it doesn't make a massive difference. Why? Well he works full time and has two kids. Yes the kids 'help' but can be more a hindrance. He says for it really work well you have to be there most days and not just a couple of times or once a week. My parents and sister share one which they are at every second day and not even they can rely on it for all the veg they need. Food is more expensive. I've gone to online shops to avoid picking up unnecessary stuff and Costco for some stuff as I have a card

Oh and my partners family were farmers so he likes to think it's in his blood and both my parents grew up on farms - they all road on the land to live. So I like to think they know what they are doing

On growing your own:
www.moneywise.co.uk/energy-water/household-finances/cheaper-ways-to-grow-your-own-food
conversation.which.co.uk/home-energy/grow-your-own-gardening-food-prices-vegetables-fruit/
Looks like it can save you money, but you need time, good soil and some expertise. Plus no untoward weather such as this year’s extreme cold in Spring and drought in Summer.
I know if I tried the outcome would not be inspiring. A relative who ran a gardening business for a few years picked up a fair amount of work from allotment holders who had underestimated how time consuming it would be, not to mention the amount of physical labour involved.

relied not road!

I think if someone is struggling to afford healthy food, their efforts would be more effectively targeted towards cooking and using cheap supermarkets than trying to grow their own vegetables unless they already have the space, time, equipment and knowledge to do so.

I think allotments are brilliant for recently retired people particularly. Exercise and enjoyable employment with an end result. I live by allotments and am on the waiting list, which is very long but hopefully I’ll reach the top at retirement. In the meantime I get oodles of produce left on my doorstep in return for watering help during the holidays. The allotment people are out there for an hour or so a day for half the year it seems.

But growing food is rarely going to be cheaper than, say, having a few hours babysitting work and then using the pay to buy veg. They are time expensive. You need to have one for other reasons than economy.

Clearly if you're angling for an allotment then there will be a cost involved in that. However, a good proportion of the UK population does have some sort of garden space.

I'll shut up now and continue to grow my beans in the garden since claptrap like "vegetables don't make a meal" just isn't worth responding to. I understand that sometimes a whinge is good for the soul but at some point you have to try to find solutions. It might be that you only manage to grow a few things but it all adds up and there's a chance that we are heading in the direction where every bit will make a difference.

Perhaps someone with the knowledge already, could create a group whereby volunteers grow together in order to have a share of the produce.

There's actually a lot of unused land in most towns and villages. Land which could be used.

The junk is cheaper than proper food.

But not as filling therefore people eat more of it.

I'm not sure where you're looking if you can't find it below £2.

If you live rurally, you might be quite far from ASDA, Sainsbury's or Tesco.

I use this little butter churn and the wooden paddles you can buy with it. I also have an old cream maker I found in a charity shop.

churn

Lidl is the way to go. No exaggeration, this week for £11 I bought:

4 x tins of beans and sausages
Multi pack of little biscuits for DS
Whole milk 2 pints
Soya milk
Punnet of grapes
Multipack of Lidl brand crisps
Multipack of golden wonder crisps
Large bottle of squash

I'm sure there was more, I replayed it all to DH and kept remembering items I'd forgotten!

It's annoying as you can't always find what you need, so we tend to do our "big" shop elsewhere, but for when you need to stock up on basics mid-week, it's so much cheaper.

Of course food is getting more expensive. Can we increase production sufficiently to feed ourselves? The NFU thinks not (though it seems to think we produce 61% of our food):

@borntobequiet (nice name!)

Scroll down the page on the ONS link you posted. They are taking their figures from graph 3.2, and under the measure used there the UK was producing 61% total of its raw food and 76% of the types of raw food able to be grown in the UK.

Lidl Uk @ lidluk
A fruitful idea for cutting food waste: we're trialling new 5kg boxes of fruit and veg that is slightly damaged, but still perfectly good to eat, for just £1.50.

It's being piloted in 122 of our stores, so if you come across any, let us know what you think.

This is a cracking idea to reduce food waste.

Vegetables dont make a meal though and won’t fill you up.

And speaking for the British meat promotion board, we have someone who obviously needs to cracking cauliflower cheese forced down their throat. With crunch cheese on top.

Sorry I will still keep on blaming Brexit. Prices are going up, companies are moving production abroad and financial services are moving out of UK. Explain to your children and grandchildren that they cannot work in the EU and take part in Erasmus because we want to take control of our borders. Wake up it is happening

we have someone who obviously needs to cracking cauliflower cheese forced down their throat. With crunch cheese on top.

Shit if you're lactose intolerant or don't like cheese.

You'll never convince leavers, david. The pound has lost value and never regained its value since Brexit but leavers will tell you that is just scaremongering.

That box of vegetables is fantastic value.

Chop some of those cheap vegetables, add a bit of mince, tinned tomatoes, some red kidney beans and chili, cook some rice with it. Got to be tastier, better for you and more filling than some high salt, high sugar, high fat pre made junk.

We have the cheapest food in Europe, but for those who eat crap, yes, prices will go up.
I feed a family of 4 for less than £50 per week, we have fish from fish monger and meat from butchers.
We pay more for bread as buy it from our bakery, but it's proper bread so you don't need as much as very filling.
It's surprising what you can find if you shop wisely and cook from scratch all the time.
I suppose if you work it's harder to do though.
I shop every other day, from our local market.
it's rare we go to supermarkets now.

I suppose if you work it's harder to do though.

How much would you be able to feed 4 on from shops that are open evenings and weekends, and/or deliver?

Lookingforadvice123 Lidl does soya milk?!!! 😲 How did I not know this? What brand and how much is it, please? I usually drink Alpro and it’s on special offer in Tesco at the minute. 3 for £3

Penny - thanks, yes of course it would make sense for them to use that measure. I should have looked!