I am so fed up of a lack of food in shops.

[OutofEverything]

This has been going on for a few years but is only getting worse. I had to go to 3 supermarkets before I found some eggs. No lettuce at all, a few packs of salad tomatoes available in one supermarket, loads of empty spaces in the fruit and veg section, and in ASDA even the freezers had loads of empty spaces.

Before anyone says yes I know we will not starve, there is enough actual food. But a visit to a supermarket now is a lottery about what will be available and what is missing. And more and more I am having to visit multiple shops to get absolute basics.

Depends if they know how to hold a carrot - neither of them seem to be able to make a pancake or pull a pint.

Rural Ireland here.
There's been a couple of gaps in my veg list - cucumbers one week, tomatoes last week but not huge lists that I was getting worried about.

Still, it's hastened my plans on turning the neglected acre behind our house into a veg garden. We can get it cleared and ploughed next month when the nesting season is over.

And I should probably get chickens as well by the sounds of it. And maybe a goat!

I went into Waitrose and M&S today and there was tomatoes and other salad vegetables in both, not a huge selection, mostly the more expensive ones but there were some.

Normal salad tomatoes in Finland are around 6 or 7 euros per kilo right now. Cherry tomatoes vary from 5 to 14 euros per kilo but often go on sale, I assume when the stock builds up too much.

(and we're one of the most expensive countries food-wise in Europe)

Nesting season finishes in July

I can’t help wondering what complex dishes some people on this thread seem to be making, that they regularly have to go to four/ five/ six supermarkets to get all the ingredients.
We cook from scratch most evenings, but we would just improvise/ tweak the recipe/ cook something else if we couldn’t get the necessarily ingredients.
We usually just go to one supermarket, rarely to two (never mind five) and get meat from the butchers.

I can’t help wondering what complex dishes some people on this thread seem to be making, that they regularly have to go to four/ five/ six supermarkets to get all the ingredients.

Not sure about that, but it's been a rare weekend when I have been able to complete my shopping list at a single supermarket since COVID.

Actually we are both wrong! - NPWS say its between 1st of March and 31st August you can't disturb hedges or uncultivated land.

So I've only a few days to sort it out.

I recently visited Ireland and the supermarket there made my local one in the UK look like something from the former communist era eastern block.

Where the fuck do you live? 😆🤣

West London here and I have noticed shortages of fresh veg and fruit! Mind you I don't often shop in large supermarkets as there are 3 small express type ones near me. I had intended to go to a market but didn't. There is quite a good greengrocer near me too which does not seem any more expensive than the shops.

I understand how some people feel about eggs as I had an absolute meltdown just before Christmas when it was hard to get any. God knows why as I actually did not need any! I suppose human nature. Tell me there aren't any to be had and I want some!!

I do find the choice of fish boring but that is my fault for 1) Being fussy - Hate too many bones, 2) Not going to larger shops which have a fish counter or to a fish mongers.

I rarely buy bread so don't need that. I always need milk of some sort (cow's or plant), some cheese, some sort of veg. I have the boring frozen mixed veg and sometimes get frozen spinach.

I had to look a long time in supermarkets for eggs before Christmas and found them in a Nisa store in the end!

I nearly always cook from scratch. I either need eggs or to use a substitute like they did during the war. If you eat mainly processed or are vegan you do not need eggs, but anyone else does.

Complex dishes I make are spaghetti bolognaise and Eves pudding. Real exotic fare.

@OutofEverything

Totally misleading. Just looked at the Swiss one and it is organic cucumbers which is all they seem to stock

Talk about ignoring inconvenient truths! You single out one organic cucumber and ignore the fact that the (directly comparable) cucumbers in France and Germany cost twice as much as they do in the U.K. I checked the prices of cherry tomatoes and broccoli on the same sites and they were also twice the price in Fra/Deu as they are here. Have a look for yourself!

The reality is that we have become far too accustomed to paying bargain basement prices for our food - if we want to have secure supplies, we will need to start paying considerably more - just like people in the EU are

Well said. Are you British? If you are, ehat country are you in? I'm thinking of leaving the UK asI cant see things getting better economically and just with the general runninb if things. Keir Starmers pledges did not address housing issues or issues affecting younger generations and Tories are a wasteland of utter bullshit,so looking at other options.

There's some great whataboutery on this thread. OP complains of shortages and so far we've had:

Everyone has them
Hailstones
We shouldn't be eating out of season food
We should plan ahead to secure eggs in shops
Eat turnips instead
World's population too large
Your recipes are too complicated
No-one needs more than X cucumbers
Our food is cheaper so it's OK there isn't any
Left wing conspiracy
Panic buying
I personally haven't seen shortages so there
Too many people in uk
Our food has been cheap for too long anyway
I don't like salad so I don't care
Remainers ate them
We didn't have salad in the war
Grow your own

Oh and "you're mad"

But don't mention the B word, lol

The reality is that we have become far too accustomed to paying bargain basement prices for our food - if we want to have secure supplies, we will need to start paying considerably more - just like people in the EU are

Howevet there is also the reality that people in the EU get paid higher wages and can afford this. People in the U.K. get paid shite.

I will happily ditch living in a home and will live on the streets for quality organic vegetables. 😂

Howevet there is also the reality that people in the EU get paid higher wages and can afford this. People in the U.K. get paid shite

The standard of debate is so poor. Seriously, how can you expect to be taken seriously when you just breezily introduce random and brazen inaccuracies like this?

The average wage in the U.K. is £38,131

www.findcourses.co.uk/inspiration/average-salaries-uk/average-uk-salary-2021-2022-21600#averagewage

the average wage in the EU is 33.000 euros

www.schengenvisainfo.com/news/eurostat-average-annual-salary-in-eu-stood-at-e33500-in-2021/

According to this, the U.K. average wage is roughly equivalent to that in Germany, it is more than that in France. Only three EU countries have a higher average wage that the U.K. - Belgium, Austria, and Sweden.

The thing about average wage is it hides other differences.

I only know about France but fwiw there are some major differences and the taxes you'll pay - if you've got kids - are much the same.

For ex.

Decent child benefit
Tax allowance for each child
Nursery costs very cheap
School from 2
No uniforms to buy
Housing massively cheaper and rent controls
Currently energy costs capped
Lots of jobs you get lunch vouchers
Ditto holiday vouchers
13th month salary in some jobs
Better holidays

Your headline take-home might be more but if you're spending most of it on rent and gas then you're poorer.

Lots of eu countries are quite poor and effect the stats. Are there average salaries (median is a better measure for these purposes than the mean) for comparable countries , basically the wester eu counties?

Me neither, I spent ages the other day pondering which eggs to buy from Sainsbury's as there was too much choice.

@sydneysunset Our average wage only counts people working full time. People who are low paid tend to be on zero hours. Most people I know do not earn that amount and they are not on minimum wage type jobs. The median wage is about £33k. Median wages tend to be more accurate as well.

The link also says that Ireland and Denmark also have higher average salaries than the uk

@DiDonk that’s true - benefits do tend be around 10% higher in France, but as average salaries are lower, it balances out. France also seems to have a lot more homeless than the U.K.

As I mentioned in a previous post, when I consider the lifestyles of friends in European cities with professional jobs, their expectations seem different.

For example, you mentioned that property is cheaper in France - but it strikes me that French and German people are happy to live in apartments and smaller houses. Friends In the U.K. have bigger homes and more cars.

I’m just taking issue with the idea that the U.K. is some sort of dystopian disaster - I visit Europe very often and the standard of living seems pretty similar.