To be appalled at the cost of food?

[pinotnow]

I know this has been done to death and we are in a cost of living crisis, but listening to the news they are intimating that it is slowly levelling out and the worst is over. Yes as far as I can see it's spiralling out of control.

I did a Lidl shop this weekend and bought absolutely nothing for main meals as I have a Hello Fresh box for three days coming, boys are going to their dad's for the weekend on Thursday and I have store cupboard stuff in already.

Therefore all I bought was stuff for lunch boxes, snacks, fruit and breakfast cereal. No cleaning stuff, oil or pet food needed this week and one bottle of wine. I thought it would be a bit less than I usually pay (only the second time I've used Hello Fresh) and certainly the trolley wasn't as full.

It came to £78!! Maybe £5 or so less than I have usually paid lately. It's out of control. How on earth are people supposed to manage and when will it stop going up all the bloody time?

Well it’s capitalism isn’t it. The same applies to a great number of things in life. Only people who can afford it get the best healthcare in the shortest possible time. Only people who can afford it get the best education. Only people who can afford it get to eat fancy chocolates and drink champagne.

Lots of more well-off people choose not to eat meat at all. People have a choice not to eat factory-farmed meat whatever their class, whether that means buying higher welfare or cutting it out completely. I’m not sure what’s so controversial about that.

@throwaway2023 duly noted! Thank you! Whole family has hay fever currently so we're getting through loads of this stuff!

So do I. I don't buy much chicken as the free range is expensive. Cattle are mostly outside on pasture in the UK, so we eat beef more often, bulked out with veg and pulses.

I meant I buy chicken less often, usually once a month. I buy free range when I do buy chicken. If we could never afford free range then I wouldn't buy chicken, no.

The costs of goods and utilities has gone up so the prices have gone up too.
we are a capitalist society so the companies have to make money and won’t sacrifice their profit margin regardless of the impact it has on the consumer. But it’s not profiteering
if the corporations would take their profit margin down to keep prices lower it would be better for everyone, but they won’t

Linking this as it's helpful for anyone

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/cheap-hayfever-remedies/

People need to be more selective in what they buy, if you look at something and think "that's too expensive", don't buy it. Companies take notice if people do that, they don't take notice if people pay for something and then moan afterwards that it was too expensive.

Huh? What are you on about? Are you on the wrong thread. This is a thread about inflation.

Profiteering and profit making are two different things. Profit is good, profiteering bad.

Really not sure how your argument fits here? We're not talking about only the wealthy being able to afford meat, whilst their poorer counterparts live on vegetables, because ' well it's capitalism...'. I simply pointed out that I find it distasteful for people to bash others on eating factory farmed meat, when they do not have the option to afford higher welfare products. Given the choice, most would want organic corn fed free range all the way! But when you're living on reduced yellow sticker items and tonight's haul didn't yield a nice piece of Herefordshire beef, but offered up a few chicken nuggets the only choice is to eat or starve. Yes, that's how stark some people's reality is!

But it's not a binary choice. It's not a case of factory farmed or starve. When I can't afford a high welfare chicken, I don't eat chicken. We eat something else, so we don't go hungry. No one is making me live on lentils either. There is a world of choices between FR chicken and cheapo chicken nuggets.

I feel very uncomfortable with the idea that people without much money cannot make an ethical choice.

The only binary choice here is supporting cruel animal practices or not.

Do you have kids to feed? I have fussy teens...huge pots of lentils and soup and beans on toast just wouldn't be eaten by my DC.

Yes, several aged between 8 and 14. Eating well on a low budget is not all about soup and lentils.

Teens are fussy because parents let them be fussy.

The thread is also about possible profiteering, shrinkflation etc.

I understood precisely what was written by @Florenz.

Tonight I had Linda McCartney shredded fake duck. Not normally a fan of fake meats but this one is the exception. £2.50 for a bag that feeds four. Tastes just like the real thing. As do quorn fried chicken burgers. Quorn mince, sausages, burgers etc do not, granted, but there are lots of tasty and teen-friendly options beyond lentils.

You will also live longer, eating pulses daily is highly correlated with lower rates of cancer and heart disease. I wouldn't eat cheap meat partly for ethical reasons, partly environmental but mostly selfishly not wanting to put carcinogenic substances in my body.

Oh we buy The Linda M Hoisin Duck! It's AMAZING! I chuck it in noodles, wraps, loads of things. It's always a hit. I can usually stretch the bag to a meal and wraps the next day

I've stopped going to Lidl, I actually find Tesco is comparable, if not cheaper and you can get it delivered. Probably Morrisons is similar.

Used to be able to get a weekly shop at Lidl for £40, then it was £50... £60... When it started edging towards £70 I thought I might be being a mug and so it proved

I like Lidl for some things still but I don't do a big shop there any more.

That’s what I’m trying to say, most of the price increases are not profiteering, just making profit. Profiteering is when there is a global epidemic and everyone needs to wash their hands more so soap companies make their prices exorbitant as people have no option than to pay the prices and the companies make huge amounts from it.
The current price inflation is due to costs of goods and cost of production increasing - if the large corporations would reduce their profit margins the price on the shelf could come down, but they won’t as their bottom line will never be impacted. That’s capitalism

Yep. £6 for shite cheddar in sainsburys!

I've been buying a lot more Saver products from Morrisons (weekly delivery I use) - can confirm the 4 pack of bickies is fab, kitchen towel okay and the washing liquid works well - £1.80 a bottle! I really have to go through my shop more now editing and finding cheaper options and offers rather than just depending on my favourites from the list

That's where I guess it's easier to have always been on a low income. My teen was raised on dhal, vegetable curries and soups, chilli, and so on.

It’s fantastic isn’t it I had it in pancakes with carrots, radishes and cucumber. I hadn’t thought about having it in wraps weirdly… lunch for next week sorted!

Your DC won’t eat soup or beans on toast? I think that’s pretty unusual. Best to introduce them to beans on toast now before they become students! 😂