Food is too cheap ?

[Loveshelly]

Food has never been cheaper, meat is unbelievably cheap. Even with a conscious move towards less meat consumption it’s clear that huge consumption of cheap meat is going on.

AIBU to think that we all need to spend more on our produce, especially in the wake of brexit, we clearly cannot rely on cheap labour anymore. So we are going to have to pay more.

All I tend to see on MN is people desperate to get food bills down, then on another thread people fretting they can’t keep heating on all night.

Have we become totally skewed about what are the things we should be spending more and less on.

For the fact that there are more food banks now than there have ever been as people can't afford to feed themselves, let alone their families, I hope that food prices don't increase in the slightest.

The problem is the cost of housing for many working people in this country.

The cost of food is a red herring.

And when I say people need to pay more. I mean they have no choice but to pay more, what happens to farmers. What happens to the industry. It’s been ground down to it’s lowest levels.

I’m sure what will happen is we will allow worse standards for cheaper meat.

But people are consuming goods at a huge rate, ASOS is worth 12.2 billion $ I work on Oxford street it’s rammed to the gills.

But we don’t want to pay more than £2 for chicken

Personally I think that’s a bit skewed. And I am NOT talking about people who are bones poor. That’s a different story all together, I doubt they’re propping up ASOS billions.

Where are you getting a chicken for £2 and will it feed a family of four for a week?

@Popoloco
I do agree with that. Completely.

@KingdomScrolls
Haha. It’s a pack of chicken legs in my local supermarket. Probably only 1 day. Sorry not very MN. Though for sure you could make a soup from the bones.

Yep the U.K. housing market is the world’s investment bank. That’s why we need cheap food.

I actually think all our ills are down to the housing industry.

People maxing out on rent end mortgages (rent especially) to the detriment of every other area of their life.

Yet. The fashion and beauty industry in the U.K. is worth the same as the entire agricultural industry / all of it, meat dairy, veg, grain, by products. So that also makes me feel a bit weird.

These idiotic threads are becoming too common.

Are you a pig farmer by any chance, as you talk a lot of about the porkers?

@sst1234
What’s idiotic about it. Genuine question

I haven’t read a thread about the comparison of food prices between now and 30 years which remain consistently low compared to inflation and about and the huge growth and costs in other industries.

Prices on many everyday things have been artificially depressed for years because we want cheap meat / clothes and are happy to turn a blind eye to the animal (and human) suffering behind them, not to mention the cost to the planet, and the human slavery involved in the fast fashion industries.

It can't carry on forever, at some point we'll have to start paying properly for things.

And yes, for many that will be a huge problem because our wages have grown so little in comparison.

That doesn't mean we should carry on ignoring the problems. That will only make it worse in the long run.

It's not cheap if you have to choose between eating breakfast or lunch because you can't afford both.
YAB massively U and very tone deaf to the people in this country who already can't cope with rising energy prices etc.

I do agree with you though op. If you raised a chicken in an ethical way, where it was given space to roam and fed properly, you’d expect it cost about £15-£20. Unfortunately, the meat and dairy industries are completely unethical and try to produce it as cheaply as possible.
Because of the cost of living and low salaries, most of us couldn’t afford that regularly.

I don’t know where you’re shopping. I bring home less than I did when I started my current job 8 years ago (tax, NI & pension contributions gone up). Cost of living has risen (fuel, electricity, council tax, etc). I live alone, and only eat meat probably once a week, fish a couple of times. Rest of the time I’m veggie really.
I easily spend £10-£20 a week more than I did 10 years ago

@TartanJumper
What’s the solution then.

We have had to rely on cheap food. But we used to pay 30% of our income on food in the 1960s.

I’m not tone deaf. I am not talking about the people who have to use food banks or rely on UC. I’m talking about people who expect their food bill for 4 people to be £200 p/m and can well afford more.

There will always been extreme poverty, and perhaps there wouldn’t if we paid people more and there was decent housing, but we don’t.

The point about the bloody pigs is we pay people shit, because we can’t price the pork more. So it’s a fucking vicious circle.

At some point we either pay people more which makes pork more expensive or we live in this spiral of cheap labour and people on UC that actually work but need top ups because of the shit labour and wage condition.

We were sold a lie

I’ve just done a very average 2 week shop for me and DS. No luxuries to speak of. I’ll probably have to top up fruit, milk and cereal next week. It cost £100.

I’m not profligate. We don’t eat meat every day. I don’t waste food. I AM gluten free (non coeliac gluten intolerant) which adds maybe £10 to the cost of a shop- but generally speaking, food isn’t cheap, unless you’re living on basics chicken breasts, bread and tins of beans.

In a way you're correct that we haven't covered the cost of producing decent food for years. However most people can't afford to when they're getting gouged paying for every fucking thing else.

Tbh with you I'd rather pay more for food and clothing and have less money going to pissing Barratts and first transport group etc. But things aren't set up that way.

@BiLuminous I was about to write the same. Wow what a world OP must live in

You're extremely tone deaf.

Well done for not being poor.

Food prices above all else, ensure Public Order.

If people are hungry, they are likely to fight whoever they believe to be responsible - which includes the Establishment.

What wasn't paid attention to in footage of the most recent riots in favour of the twats nicking trainers and TVs was that a lot of the first wave of looting was people taking bags of rice and other foods. Food. The first things people stole were basic, staple foods.

Oh also- food is about to get more expensive, don’t worry OP. The energy costs are increasing for food manufacturers too, so they’ll be passed on to consumers.

I’ll let you know when me and my boy start to feel suitably hungry.

@NeverDropYourMooncup

Food prices above all else, ensure Public Order.

If people are hungry, they are likely to fight whoever they believe to be responsible - which includes the Establishment.

What wasn't paid attention to in footage of the most recent riots in favour of the twats nicking trainers and TVs was that a lot of the first wave of looting was people taking bags of rice and other foods. Food. The first things people stole were basic, staple foods.

100% this.

@BeepingBB
Fml
I’m not talking about being poor.
I’m talking about the statistics of costs.

Costs of many things have been kept artificially cheap due to cheap labour and running costs. Obviously these now cannot be sustained.

I’m actually worried about what people with no spare money are genuinely going to do. Because they’re the only ones who are suffering.