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?

What if your garden is covered in cat shit because you have rubbish neighbours?
Carrots cost 39p a bag, tomatoes 65p for 6. These aren't things I am worried about tbh, it's a naice idea but a lot of effort.

Clearly not everyone can grow their own fruit and vegetables to the extent that it can sustain them. Not everyone has the space to grow much (although it is often surprising how much can be grown on window ledges and door steps). However, if those of us who do have space planted a few things it would make a big difference and it really doesn't have to cost much. It's what gardens would have been used for in days gone by.

I bought a pack of courgette seeds from Lidl for 30p. It had about 10 seeds in and so will last me a couple of years. Each plant is producing a large courgette every few days about the length of an A4 piece of paper.
Salad leaves cost pennies for an endless supply in a pot, potatoes can be grown from a small piece, spring onions will regrow forever from one onion (and can literally be grown in a glass of water)

Of course you can spend a fortune but you really don't have to.

(And someone was decrying pesto as middle-class only-on-MN food on another thread yesterday... Sounded like a remark from 20 years ago TBH)

There have been a couple of threads recently with advice on how to get fussy-eating children to eat a wider variety of food.

I think part of the problem is that people just don't know how to go about producing cheap nutritious meals so they end up buying processed rubbish because it's all they know how to cook.

When I was growing up my DM would cook everything from scratch from the cheaper cuts of meat. We ate very healthily and we ate a lot of fish and fruit and vegetables.

Junk food didn't exists and my mother wouldn't have bought it if it had. She never bought things like squash or crisps as even all those years ago she knew those things were no good for you and were also a waste of money.

I learned to cook from my DM and also made all my families food from scratch.

We live in a different world now, everyone wants everything on tap and that includes food. It's going to be very difficult to re-educate everyone into looking at food as something that requires a bit of effort and planning.

As a consequence people will go on buying junk food because most people buying it on a regular basis wouldn't have a clue what to do if you presented them with a piece of raw fish or meat and a bunch of vegetables and said make that into something your family can eat.

It’s not “middle class” to grow veg.

But you need land and skill if it's actually going to save you money.

So for tomatoes on your balcony cost in pots and compost or grow bags plus seed. Water can be free if you save washing water or similar. You'd be lucky to break even.

My little allotment costs £80 a year before you add seed, pest control, manure, tools, petrol to get down there, preserving costs. And I'm not very good at growing so get regular fails. It's a hobby, not a reliable source of nutrition.

I live in a flat, I do not have space for any of those things except small pots for herbs, which are a garnish rather than actual food.

Herbs are definitely one of the things I would cut out if my budget was really stretched, because they are basically unnecessary.

If I was really on the breadline I would want the maximum number of calories for my money. That doesn't really point towards the healthiest eating choices.

I can't afford to shop in our corner shop, they charge the correct amount to make a profit, they have to price within a range.
Supermarkets can afford to charge less as they buy in bulk.

The main problem is gov propaganda about Brexit, people are falling for it, see the Brexit Preppers threads.
With the uncertainty of Brexit people had cut back, they obviously want us to buy more so they have caused panic buying, more need for certain things so they put prices up.

nike those raised things are good for shitting pets, keeps the food out the way.

My mum grows veg because she has a huge garden and it does save us money on the months she gives us some of it tbh. It’s not huge, but it makes a difference.

So, basically then, people panic buying (those whom can afford it) are now causing price hikes ?

Great, thanks for that. Some of us can only buy what we need weekly, without extras, and now, due to the panic we pay more or go with even less ?

Where were you, with your concern, when children were going hungry in the school holidays or is that ok , they were not YOUR children afterall !

Here is one of them: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/stepparenting/a3317225-step-daughter-s-eating-habits

(The 'things for them to try' can obviously be small pieces of things you eat, so you don't buy separate things just for kids to try out, that won't otherwise be eaten.)

I think part of the problem is that people just don't know how to go about producing cheap nutritious meals so they end up buying processed rubbish because it's all they know how to cook.

I agree with this. I’m not an amazing cook but I was taught how to cook from scratch and can make a few meals quite cheaply, but most people my age cannot cook at all.

The main problem is gov propaganda about Brexit, people are falling for it, see the Brexit Preppers threads.

Do you think the falling pound is "propaganda" too?

Jeez.

Small coop’s are the biggest rip off that there is and I shop often in Waitrose - bring on the yellow stickers

The news about brexit and stockpiling has not caused the rice of a tin of tuna to increase to £2. That's just rubbish. At this very moment Tesco are selling 4 tins for £3.25 online.

Mine wouldn't touch lentils on their own but they have no idea when they're in a soup or in bolognese or chilli. Just a thought....if you added them to food you're cooking they bulk it out, add nutrition and are not detectable. Also very cheap.

Can you afford to wait to shop until you need about £40 worth of stuff? as if so a Tesco delivery booked a few days in advance would be cheaper than most bus fares.

Are the kids of the age that makes it difficult to walk to the bigger supermarket?

I thought this last week. I’m a Sainsbury’s shopper but just recently have noticed big hikes in prices. Not just luxuries where you don’t HAVE to buy them but even the absolute basics. I have become an Aldi girl for many many items....loo rolls, tissues, cheese (not Gouda, it’s shite) washing liquid, cleaning stuff, veg. They do some cracking wines for under a fiver, too! I still buy meat/chicken/fish from Sains or butcher but I do think the big supermarkets will need to take note. Their loyal customers of many years are going elsewhere.

Oh FFS. Yes, people are panic buying fresh veg for next year and that's why the prices have been going up for the past two years. Pull the other one.

The pound is low because international investors aren't as convinced about Brexit as some British voters are, we import a lot of food, the UK has not had a food security plan for decades, the weather has been hot, there's been a CO2 shortage that affected production and transport.

The big Brexit hit hasn't happened yet, but the government is making No Deal noises that indicates they don't mind if it does. If the government gave a shit, they could try to come up with an agreement about our future relationship with the EU to avoid massive food chain disruptions, but they have to care first. If we don't care, they won't either. Simples.

Mine wouldn't touch lentils on their own but they have no idea when they're in a soup or in bolognese or chilli. Just a thought....if you added them to food you're cooking they bulk it out, add nutrition and are not detectable. Also very cheap.

Oh, that ol' chestnut. Behold, the magic MN lentil! Plenty of children can still taste them in food. Duh.

You are so right.

Its getting worse I'm afraid. The cost of flour, butter and milk is absolutely rocketing (I work in food manufacturing).

The cost of food is going up because our economy is fucked, simple economics.

My DC will eat lentils and have always had some, but thinking about it a bit more I think I have always been pretty relaxed about cooking things that my DC might not eat because there has never been any pressure on food in our house. So if I cook a meal and they don't eat it it wouldn't matter because there will be fruit, bread, yogurt etc they could have instead. So I have had no anxiety about food being wasted or DC not eating. If I had a more limited income I think I would find food waste much more stressful and therefore cook a much more limited range of things.
I also think that there is a difference between your DC not eating meal because you as a parent have chosen to ask them to eat their main meal and not provide an alternative and there only being one meal they can eat in the house.
Food is historically cheap currently in the UK but changing that is likely to put the greatest strain on those who can least cope with it.

Ah, but Flowery, any statement like yours is only scaremongering. It's all going to be just fine. The rest of the world loves the UK, can't live without us and are going to grant us extensions and shower us with roses for making such a brave decision as Brexit and it will all be milk and honey!