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?

Can’t people grow veg in pots? My mum has a massive veg plot and still grows some in pots.

People in flats can't grow veg. My council house has a tiny pathed backyard. I'm not allowed to alter it as per my tenancy. There must be many people that don't have the means to grow veg. Waiting list for an allotment is 10 years!

This. I'm in my early 30s and almost no one I know who is my age has a garden to grow veg in!

I don't understand this thinking at all. The things that are making people fat are all the unnecessary/treaty/junky shit that you just cut out if you are short of money. Stuff like crisps, sweets, chocolate, eating out, fizzy drinks.

The junk is cheaper than proper food.

I don’t know what’s causing it, but it’s been happening for at least a year now. I’ve also noticed that Tesco have started removing a lot of the budget options from our local store now, it’s a massive superstore too, so I don’t think it’s down to lack of space etc. I’ve noticed the cheapest block butter was 89p, it’s now £1.60, the olive oil I buy jumped from £2.30 to £3.50. I’m sure lots of other things have gone up in price, these just stand out as really big increases. I have noticed our weekly shop creeping up over the last 12 months and we buy pretty much the same things (apart from we no longer need nappies). Used to spend approx £100, now spend anywhere between £130 & £150 a week. We’re now looking at ways to reduce it, as it’s getting ridiculous!

I honestly think people who say "everyone can just grow their own vegetables" and "people will have to stop buying junk food then" are living in a little bubble of privilege and have no idea how many people have no outside space, or how much cheaper own brand supermarket burgers and chicken nuggets and oven chips are than proper cuts of meat and vegetables.

No, some junk is cheaper than some proper food and the junk doesn't make a sustaining meal. That's not the same as saying that all junk is cheaper than all proper food.

If you don't have a lot of money for food, there's nothing to stop you eating something like beans or eggs on toast with better nutrition and far fewer calories, rather than a frozen pizza or other shitty high calorie processed food except personal preference. There may be many reasons why people make such a choice, but it's rarely financial.

I used to work in a co-op....i was always shocked at the cost of peoples shopping....even with my staff discount it was still expensive....the only things i bought were the reductions at the end of the night.

To be fair, coop has always been on the more expensive side (although their quality is shit imo). It’s not really a budget store like Asda etc.

When I was in uni halls and broke, we had a coop on campus which was annoying as you’d probably spend at least £10 more there than Tesco or Morrisons, but for shitter stuff. I’d rather have spent that money at M&S!

noeffingidea BarbaraofSeville
It may well be possible to live cheaply and healthy but data shows that there are clear links between food poverty and obesity levels. So even if we would hope that having less money to spend on food would have people reaching for lentils the real life evidence shows that they actually reach for cheap junk food. So while getting poorer may mean that some eat more healthy the evidence to date shows that most will eat more unhealthily. Which will have knock on issues of the NHS amongst other things.

I honestly think people who say "everyone can just grow their own vegetables" and "people will have to stop buying junk food then" are living in a little bubble of privilege and have no idea how many people have no outside space, or how much cheaper own brand supermarket burgers and chicken nuggets and oven chips are than proper cuts of meat and vegetables.

I spend £50 a week in food for me, DP and DS. Some ready meals but a lot of that is food I make us from scratch. We aren’t wealthy.

Yes Barbara, I really can't imagine why people who have so few pleasures in life might opt to spend their £5 budget on a pizza rather than eggs on toast or a nice lentil salad.

Apologies for grammar stuff I need an edit button.

Lidl canned tuna steak is 70p. Pole/line caught in spring water.

Coop is a rip off imo although their points card scheme is one of the best

Shop at Aldi or Lidl

The problem with poverty is that many individuals don't have the knowledge to know what fresh stuff to buy or cook. They learnt shit diet, there is a culture of low quality, fast produced stuff. There is instant gratification as a result of having no pleasure in meaningful stuff, a few cans of beer and a takeaway pizza are a treat because a holiday is out of the question, for instance. You could argue the same with smoking. Fags cost a fortune as does booze. But when living in a small community which rarely leaves 'the estate', down the one pub with people you've known all your life, a fag and a beer are a social event to be enjoyed, ignore the long term consequence as you can't plan long term because you've never got enough money.

And tbf we could be classed as poverty, my kids are PP.
Not in a month of sundays would they touch bloody lentils. A microwave quarter pounder for a quid, they would. You can't risk buying food they might not eat, because there will be no food after that. Hunger does not mean kids will eat food they aren't used to.
Even in dire poverty I wouldn't grow tomatoes, my kids don't eat them and it would be a waste of time. You don't grow tomatoes when you are focusing on working and paying the bills, it is an unnecessary use of time. It's more of a middle class thing.

If you don't have a lot of money for food, there's nothing to stop you eating something like beans or eggs on toast with better nutrition and far fewer calories, rather than a frozen pizza or other shitty high calorie processed food except personal preference. There may be many reasons why people make such a choice, but it's rarely financial.

But it makes more sense to serve up something you know everyone in the family will eat, like chips with sauce and sausages, than chance something some might not like or eat. That type of carb/protein combo is very sustaining.

Devalued pound and stockpiling causing sharp rise in prices has not helped. It will be a worry for people on tight budgets. For the rest of us less money to spend on other stuff probably causing the economy to contract.

The lasagne example above - the amount of lasagne made by a pepper, aubergine, courgette and mushrooms is going to be quite a bit more than half a pound of mince, so of course a big pile of veg will be more than a small pack of mince.

Besides which, as PP implied, for mince-heavy recipes like this and shepherds pie, the typical vegetarian replacement is lentils, not filling the entire casserole dish with chopped fresh veg. As with a meat-mince version, there would be a smaller quantity of veg

You don't grow tomatoes when you are focusing on working and paying the bills, it is an unnecessary use of time. It's more of a middle class thing.

Potatoes then? Everyone likes those and they’re easy to grow. Carrots can be grown as well!

It’s not “middle class” to grow veg.

It’s not “middle class” to grow veg.

But you do need to have a garden, or at least some outside space on which to put a pot in which you are not going to be able to grow enough stuff to make a meaninful difference to your food bill anyway.

I agree the cost of food is ridiculous btw, but I don’t think the alternatives are quite so unreasonable as some do!

Thanks for the replies. I did state that I usually go to Aldi, I went to Lidl last week but price wise it was much dearer.
Agreed Coop is expensive but most of our estate need to go there or they have to pay to go to town on the bus. We do have an excellent card scheme though.
I think going veggie and doing meat 3 times a week might be good. Eggs, cheese to replace meat.
Again, mine wouldn't go near a veggie lasagne (or meat one for that point). I have very bland eaters. Rice (but only the microwave rice, they don't touch fresh), pasta and pesto. Jacket spuds. Bean toasties.
I suppose meal planning is the key, but it isn't always feasible.
I just panic, as a single mum, who would have to go on UC if I didn't work with all the horror stories, what will happen, when I cannot afford food. Will it get to that point? When?
I am very very worried.

Loveintokyo

Most people could have space for one of these I reckon

www.vegtrug.com

And herbs can be grown on kitchen windowsills, and I’m pretty sure lettuce can too.