Can you easily absorb a 20% rise in your grocery bill?

[AbsentmindedWoman]

I am worried about this, predicted to come early next year. I moved abroad last year but have people I love in the UK, some are budgeting very tightly already, and there's nothing I can suggest when they are worried.

I find it really troubling. Surely this is going to be the straw that breaks the camel's back for quite a few people who are coping with limited money? It could mean the difference between being able to get by and being stuck?

Would a 20% increase in food prices be difficult for you, or just a pain in the arse?

Is there any way a price hike can be avoided?

If you have a large veg garden you can easily be self sufficient in veg. It's boring over the winter but doable

Oh yeah? Explain how. And by large, I assume you're meaning, size of a small farm?

DTI - have you looked at the ferry arrangements?

There was a subcontracting system on the actual ferries in the 2019 arrangements. Being a freight operator is not the same as owning a ferry.

Are you saying the £77m contracts are a lie?

Growing veg and fruit takes time and space. However it is a good idea. I doubt many will every be self sufficient but surely if some people can grow a % of would help reduce how much needs to be imported.

We are no where near sufficient, but have just harvested our apples which will last us until new year as fresh ( stored in cellar/ shed), and have frozen a fair few as pie or crumble filling over the winter. So we won’t have needed to buy apples Sept-end Jan roughly (4-5 months). A small step, but a positive one for sure. We are never going to be growing rice or bananas or whatever though

@Janevaljane

If you have a large veg garden you can easily be self sufficient in veg. It's boring over the winter but doable.

This is such bollocks. With an allotment you can supplement your diet, you can make the odd meal exclusively from your own produce, but you cannot feed a family. And ‘over the winter’ boring turns into the hungry gap where in days gone by people starved even in a good year.

God I hate shite and divisive nonsense like this. Just work at it, little people, and if you come a cropper it’s because you didn’t work hard enough. Also have some respect for farmers whose knowledge and experience (and nurtured land) most of us don’t have, they DO get us fed because they are experts.

Not the size of a small farm 😅🤣 we feed ourselves. I buy frozen peas and a farm sack of potatoes.

There was a subcontracting system on the actual ferries in the 2019 arrangements. Being a freight operator is not the same as owning a ferry

A freight operator who cut and pasted their website from a pizza shop and had no experience in operating ferries and a contract organised by someone who was adamant that Brexit would not cause any border checks of any kind.

I am imagine new arrangements are a little better, but that wouldn't be hard, would it? I just hope whoever arranged these critical services is someone you could trust unsupervised with scissors. I wont hold my breath though.

we feed ourselves. I buy frozen peas and a farm sack of potatoes

If you're not growing potatoes, you're hardly self sufficient, are you?

Yes but many can't.
But why is that?

We shouldn't be allowing anyone to justify allowing sub standard food in the country because of it

In the 50s households spent 1/3rd of their expenditure on food. Its now about 10%. So yes I think most but definitely not all could absorb this.

And you can't be self sufficient. Maybe if you have a large allotment you could on a very boring veg diet but everything else? Not a chance.

@Thisisnotataste

Yes but many can't. But why is that?

We shouldn't be allowing anyone to justify allowing sub standard food in the country because of it

In the 50s households spent 1/3rd of their expenditure on food. Its now about 10%. So yes I think most but definitely not all could absorb this.

But the difference is that in the ‘50s housing costs were much less. You can’t just extrapolate one living cost, food, and ignore the other living costs.

@Janevaljane

If you have a large veg garden you can easily be self sufficient in veg. It's boring over the winter but doable.

Most people won’t have a veg garden, large or small. Most people I know don’t have a garden of any description at all.

My mum and my brother (both Tory/Brexit voters) seem to think growing your own fruit and veg is the solution. They seem to forget that Mum owns her own house, and has a greenhouse and veg plot which she started 16 years ago. Brother is in a rented place which already had established fruit trees, veg plot and greenhouse.

My garden is all concrete, and at least 1/5 of the size of theirs. I can plant things in pots, but not enough to feed me and 2 teens!

Even if you took up the concrete, it takes a long time to get soil into the sort of condition where it can give you good crops.
I have a garden and some know how and I’m still only managing to grow stuff by paying for compost and mulch to top up the poor soil here.

Exactly. And that's assuming my landlord would let me take up the concrete! Which he won't. I asked once.

A quick google

Suggests you would need at least a football field of good quality land to feed a family of four

Some estimates are ten times that

@Whenwillow, @ListeningQuietly When I say that I would cut back on meat and other more expensive foods, this is on the assumption that the other foods will go up in price too. So if I normally spend £35 a week for the two of us, I could potentially buy £25 worth of basic, mostly vegetarian food for £30-35. I assumed this was what other posters saying similar meant too? I am buying a bit extra so we should hopefully get by if there are shortages.

[quote kowari]@Whenwillow, @ListeningQuietly When I say that I would cut back on meat and other more expensive foods, this is on the assumption that the other foods will go up in price too. So if I normally spend £35 a week for the two of us, I could potentially buy £25 worth of basic, mostly vegetarian food for £30-35. I assumed this was what other posters saying similar meant too? I am buying a bit extra so we should hopefully get by if there are shortages.[/quote]
And what about those who are currently vegetarian or vegan? They have nothing they can cut back on.

My vegetable garden is 50m by 10 m
It has water and electricity and a polytunnel and a greenhouse
NO WAY can I be self sufficient in vegetables / fruit for a family of 4

• I cannot grow alliums due to soil problems
• I cannot grow anything really thirsty as my soil is gravel
• nearby trees restrict light and water

Its great but its not farming

Exactly. Growing veg looks great on Instagram, hey-ho no-dig tons-of-crops but that, like arse implants and silicone fillers, is nothing like the reality for your average person with a job and a family and caring duties, or - god forbid - a disability.

My veg patch is half your size and we do really well from it. I have fruit trees and a greenhouse. We eat a lot of apples, lol.

I have a job, family. No disabilities. OBVIOUSLY it's not possible for many but it is possible.

I could afford this type of price rise at this point in my life. It would be irritating rather than difficult. At other points in my life, I definitely couldn't have afforded it and I would have been terrified at the prospect. And I've no idea what my future might turn out like either.

I do think food is cheaper here than elsewhere though.

Jane
At the moment in the ground for winter harvesting I have carrots, Kale, cabbages, leeks, pak choi and chard.
In the polytunnel I have the last of the tomatoes, peppers and aubergines - they will be picked in the next week or so.
In storage I have potatoes, dried beans, squash and late courgettes along with apples.
Preserved I have apples, pears, rhubarb.
Frozen I have currants, raspberries, loganberries and french beans.
Permanent plantings of pears, apples, currants, blueberries, strawberries and rhubarb.

So no grains of any sort.
Only enough spuds to feed the family for a couple of months.
I have to buy onions and garlic.
I might start keeping chickens next year but overhanging trees affect where.

I guess I could eat a really simple 19th century peasant diet
but why should I when we have effective trading arrangements with the right countries at the moment

and are only losing them through UTTER STUPIDITY

Well you have absolutely loads then

I have similar including garlic and onions.

We barely buy anything fruit or veg wise.

Grains? I don't grow those

I can absorb it but still annoying!