To think it’s not going to be a case of heating or eating for many families

[LadyCatStark]

We can forget heating altogether! I know it’s a nice little rhyme but for many, many families it’s going to be a case of eating or putting just enough petrol in the car to get you to work to pay all these increased costs. Eating yourself, or feeding your kids (hopefully most people will choose their kids). Eating healthily or eating cheap rubbish.

I’ve just nipped to Aldi as I had a work appointment cancel in the area and spent £40 just on the few bits I needed, not even a proper shop. I could have cried that I’d driven even just the 15 minutes to my appointment and it was cancelled and every drop of fuel counts.

status- I wouldn't have said most of those things were particularly high status tbh? Maybe gin clubs. Prosecco if anything seems to be seen as quite lower class. Takeaways are at minimum not a middle class/posh thing.

I dont actually drink or have multiple subscriptions/ takeaways so I dont get the appeal but it seems to be a thing that others post about on SM.
Presumably to show off ?

Anyway my point stands.
Less consumption of these things plus increased exercise will hopefully lead to a healthier population
Hopefully being the operative word !

I agree there's going to be a big recession and lots of job loses.

People will have to prioritise petrol and foods to get to work and eat. Heating will become a 'luxury'.

@bitemyarsenic

status- I wouldn't have said most of those things were particularly high status tbh? Maybe gin clubs. Prosecco if anything seems to be seen as quite lower class. Takeaways are at minimum not a middle class/posh thing.

I dont actually drink or have multiple subscriptions/ takeaways so I dont get the appeal but it seems to be a thing that others post about on SM.
Presumably to show off ?

Anyway my point stands.
Less consumption of these things plus increased exercise will hopefully lead to a healthier population
Hopefully being the operative word !

This just seems like very unwarranted optimism. There might be a cohort of people who do get healthier when they have less money, assuming the stress doesn't undo the good work of the more walking.

But on a population level, which is what we were talking about, we know that poverty and obesity are correlated. So we can surmise what's going to happen when there is more poverty. If you make more people poor, we know that increases the likelihood they'll be obese and to be unable to choose food based on health rather than sustenance. With the combination of energy price rises and the NI increase pushing so many more into poverty, that's a helluva lot of newly abstemious previous gin club subscribers we'd need to speculate to balance that out.

@HardyBuckette
But we have just had several decades of people having more disposable income/ higher standard of living than ever before and yet 67% of men and 63% of women are obese and overweight.

Personally I’d rather be fat and comfortable than poor, thin and skint.

@MilkTwoSugarsThanks

This is an entirely foreseeable consequence of Brexit.

And I'm pretty sure Brexit has nothing to do with global wholesale energy prices.

And yet the crude oil cost at the start of this week was barely more than it was in 2014 - when the pump price was a lot lower.

Why would anyone choose "eating cheap rubbish"?

You can eat very cheap food that's healthy tasty and nutritious.

@Yorkshirelass04

This is an entirely foreseeable consequence of Brexit.

People got what they voted for and so have to accept what comes with that.

at that. Brexit caused it to rain yesterday too.

if we could harness the anger of people who can't get over losing that vote they might generate enough to be useful.

@2bazookas

Why would anyone choose "eating cheap rubbish"?

You can eat very cheap food that's healthy tasty and nutritious.

www.health.org.uk/infographic/poverty-and-health

www.theguardian.com/society/2020/sep/21/uk-poorest-nutrition-guidelines-obesity

www.gov.uk/government/publications/health-matters-obesity-and-the-food-environment/health-matters-obesity-and-the-food-environment--2

I'm curious how they calculate this

With healthy foods three times as expensive as less healthy ones

@Peasock

I'm curious how they calculate this

With healthy foods three times as expensive as less healthy ones

Yes, it's a bit broad, isn't it.

To come up with a specific example - I could make dhal and rice, or pasta with tinned tomatoes, for maybe 50p per portion (haven't worked it out, just guessing). But then there's the electricity/gas needed to cook it, and the extra time (if you've just got back from work and are knackered and hungry), and if you have fussy DC, that's a portion wasted and they're still hungry. Or you can whack a £1 pizza in the oven, ten minutes to cook, feed 2 people, and it's more exciting than lentils.

A more obvious example - processed meats are invariably cheaper and faster to cook than non-processed meats.

[quote bitemyarsenic]@HardyBuckette
But we have just had several decades of people having more disposable income/ higher standard of living than ever before and yet 67% of men and 63% of women are obese and overweight.[/quote]
And have a look where in the population the obesity rates disproportionately fall. It's not the ones with the highest incomes...

While a meal from scratch with lentils or rice might be cheaper without taking into account energy costs, perhaps look at the cost of fresh fruit and veg and decent-quality protein before being certain good food that children will eat is cheaper than cheap food. As PP has said, perhaps look at the correlation of poverty and obesity and affluence and life expectancy. It's not always random, nor a result of ignorance or bad choices by poor parents.

@LizzieMacQueen re your earlier question, yes it’s absolutely ok not to shower every day. Pretty sensible step to take if it’s that or eating.

Why would anyone choose "eating cheap rubbish"?

You can eat very cheap food that's healthy tasty and nutritious.

Batch cooking is economical but you need to buy a lot in one go to make it cheaper per portion.often smaller quantities are comparatively more expensive.
Then there's accessibility- fruit and veg markets or Aldi /Lidl are only the cheapest option if you can get to them. Often supermarkets are out of town. If tou don't drive you're, and your nearest shop is a corner shop or co-op for example your choices will be much more limited. That's without taking into account cooking or kitchen facilities, and the price of fuel.

@Fizbosshoes

Why would anyone choose "eating cheap rubbish"?

You can eat very cheap food that's healthy tasty and nutritious.

Batch cooking is economical but you need to buy a lot in one go to make it cheaper per portion.often smaller quantities are comparatively more expensive.
Then there's accessibility- fruit and veg markets or Aldi /Lidl are only the cheapest option if you can get to them. Often supermarkets are out of town. If tou don't drive you're, and your nearest shop is a corner shop or co-op for example your choices will be much more limited. That's without taking into account cooking or kitchen facilities, and the price of fuel.

You also need to know how to do it and be confident that anyone you're cooking for will eat it as well. Those are not ducks that everyone will have in a row.

You also need to know how to do it and be confident that anyone you're cooking for will eat it as well. Those are not ducks that everyone will have in a row.

Absolutely true. My 2 year old doesn't understand that we're currently going through a hard time financially and absolutely refuses to eat my "healthy tasty and nutritious" home made beans with jacket potato 3 times a week. So it stops being economical and becomes lots of wasted food and a hungry, whining toddler.

@Newnamefor2022

I'm not blaming anything solely on Brexit, but it was a preventable cause of increased costs of living. People were told they would be poorer and they are. We are therefore less resilient against global shocks like covid and Ukraine.

Just because people are tired of Brexit doesn't make it less of a factor in our standard of living.

The sentiment of the OP in that heating will not be the first thing people reduce or economise on I agree with. If we were not such an unequal society far fewer people would be struggling.

Please! No more talk of eating lentils, all pulses make me feel sick. I really would rather have a chicken shop supper.

I think it's a stealth way to meet global climate targets.

Telling/asking people to cut down on consumption hasn't worked, put prices up and people will quickly cut back.

Sadly, those who didn't over consume because they are on the breadline will suffer the most and those at the top won't change their ways because they can afford not to.

@Malibuismysecrethome

Please! No more talk of eating lentils, all pulses make me feel sick. I really would rather have a chicken shop supper.

A bag of potatoes is much cheaper than a bag of oven chips. Also lasts a lot longer. You can also decide how to cook them to keep small children interested (not just chips every night). Put with whatever meat/fish is on offer or yellow stickered, it can do. My grandma always did us mince with carrots, gravy and mash.

A bag of apples is also cheap and apples are similarly versatile.

It really isn't more expensive to eat from scratch. It does take motivation when knackered from work though , but I would rather feed my children that, then oven pizza and oven chips.

Food is fuel for your children and for you.

I probably sound really preachy and I don't mean to but, it annoying when people say processed food is cheaper. It's not. It's convenient.

Just for your information a bag of apples is £1.65 in Asda for six @mellongoose, they are not cheap.

My kids would sit and eat a pack of six in one sitting given the chance, the issue that you’ve got is parents who’s children won’t eat it. They buy the bag of apples for £1.60 the kids don’t touch them and then theyve gotta go out and buy whatever the children will eat in addition to this £1.60 rotting in the fridge.

@Bringsexyback

Just for your information a bag of apples is £1.65 in Asda for six *@mellongoose*, they are not cheap. My kids would sit and eat a pack of six in one sitting given the chance, the issue that you’ve got is parents who’s children won’t eat it. They buy the bag of apples for £1.60 the kids don’t touch them and then theyve gotta go out and buy whatever the children will eat in addition to this £1.60 rotting in the fridge.

What are they giving them instead of the apples? If there is only apples for a sweet treat then they'll eat the apples. Can always chop and change what you do with an apple so it doesn't have to be the same boring thing. This is just one example.

I fear people will only accept things as they always had them rather than adapt to new realities and get on with it.