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Original poster

To be appalled at the cost of food?

474 replies

pinotnow · 08/05/2023 20:55

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?

OP posts:
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15
LiveAHappyLifeBePositive · 08/05/2023 23:00

AreMyDucksinarow · 08/05/2023 22:54

I agree it’s depressing times when it’s cheaper to buy school dinners than make a healthy lunchbox for the kids.

I truly believe a lot of it is profiteering, yes some production cost have gone up by not by the value that we are paying. Especially as they seem to be having record profits.

Aldi is more expensive than M&S on some things.

I used to bake my own bread and cakes, now it’s cheaper to buy them (cost of flour/butter/eggs are very expensive compared to 1 year ago)

Bread flour.
Cheap plain flour 69p Aldi add viral wheat gluten(vwg) ( buy Holland and Barrett or online. ) 125g of plain flour + 1.5 tsp vwg = bread flour.
Just in case you want to make your own again.

LiveAHappyLifeBePositive · 08/05/2023 23:01

LiveAHappyLifeBePositive · 08/05/2023 23:00

Bread flour.
Cheap plain flour 69p Aldi add viral wheat gluten(vwg) ( buy Holland and Barrett or online. ) 125g of plain flour + 1.5 tsp vwg = bread flour.
Just in case you want to make your own again.

Show quote history

That’s Vital …not…viral…

AbigHoleinmybucket · 08/05/2023 23:02

It's really tough. I have 3 children and work F/T. I'm on a fairly low wage so get a bit of UC top up but not much.
I was hoping wages might increase in April (I work for the council) - They didn't.
I was hoping UC might increase a bit - It didn't.

I honestly don't know how we're going to carry on. It's not just food, it's council tax, mortgage/rent/ fuel.....you name it. Everything has increased in price so quickly apart from our wages.

Comedycook · 08/05/2023 23:04

DishwasherHelp · 08/05/2023 22:59

We eat one chicken per month. We can't afford to eat more than that AND buy ethically. It's a choice - ethical or regular. I choose ethical, because I have to live with myself and my choices. Being ethical is fuck all to do with money - it's a choice that is anyone's to make.

I fucking hate animal cruelty and will NOT support it.

Well most people make a different choice to you.

I care more about feeding my family food I know they'll eat than I do about animal welfare.

Most people are the same as me but probably don't want to admit it

CharlotteRumpling · 08/05/2023 23:04

Cheese! It's like shaving truffles onto your pasta now.

AbigHoleinmybucket · 08/05/2023 23:05

It's very sweet to think about making your own bread (my mum made hers and everything else from scratch) but that's not what you're raring to do at 6pm when you walk in from work to 3 kids who are hungry and have been at school all day.

SocksAndTheCity · 08/05/2023 23:05

Florenz · 08/05/2023 22:48

People got used to cheap food as it was produced by people working for slave wages. If you think it's too expensive, just grow your own food, raise your own animals for slaughter etc.

Hopefully the increased prices will lead to people eating more sensibly and not throwing so much food away.

Of course! Where in my fourth floor Central London flat should I start planting? And will the chickens be OK in the bath?

I don't buy processed food, cheap meat or battery eggs, but the above is the far end of ridiculous.

DishwasherHelp · 08/05/2023 23:05

I feel better if I'm doing something practical. I've marked out a patch of garden to grow vegetables. Fast growing, easy, heavy cropping stuff like courgettes and salad. Longer growing stuff like potatoes and squash for tons of soup through autumn and winter.

Crazy times.

Orders76 · 08/05/2023 23:06

Just saying, and I know I'll be piled on, going vegetarian saves a bit.
Even fully veggie we're seeing the same issues obviously.

ArseInTheCoOpWindow · 08/05/2023 23:07

Okunevo · 08/05/2023 22:48

Parsnips, leeks, kale, cauliflower, carrots, cabbage? Beetroot and winter squash also store well through winter. Sure there are lots more I can't think of this minute.

Show quote history

Don’t like parsnips much and kale and cauliflower just make me heave. I can’t even stand the smell of cauliflower.

So that leaves beetroot, as I’m not mad keen on leeks either. Yet l love peppers, sweetcorn, tomatoes, mange tout, and all the foreign veg. Ugh UK winter veg are awful🤢

RhannionKPSS · 08/05/2023 23:07

BarelyLiterate · 08/05/2023 21:20

Food in U.K. supermarkets had become ridiculously cheap, eg £2.49 for a whole chicken, so an adjustment to more realistic pricing was long overdue. Much of this was driven by poverty wages for workers in food supply chains which was itself driven by a limitless supply of cheap migrant labour while we were in the EU.
Supermarkets & their suppliers now have to compete for workers, so wages have risen sharply across the sector which is inevitably reflected in prices. Is that really such a bad thing?
The era of cheap food also allowed questionable spending priorities to become normalised in the U.K. People are happy to spend hundreds of pounds a month on the latest mobile phones, beauty treatments, cups of coffee, nights out, deliveroo, Sky, Netflix etc etc but they resent spending a fiver on a chicken. 🤷🏻‍♀️

You are correct, we have become used to cheap food here and those who produce it, farmers etc where being cheated out of a fair wage.

Comedycook · 08/05/2023 23:09

AbigHoleinmybucket · 08/05/2023 23:05

It's very sweet to think about making your own bread (my mum made hers and everything else from scratch) but that's not what you're raring to do at 6pm when you walk in from work to 3 kids who are hungry and have been at school all day.

It's not cheaper to make your own bread, especially when you factor in energy costs.... you're better off buying the cheapish bread in the supermarket.

Baking cakes, biscuits etc is also not cheaper.

Dilemma19 · 08/05/2023 23:09

Jonniecomelately · 08/05/2023 21:09

But food is still loads cheaper than most countries.

Absolutely this, I'm originally from one such country. I find food here very, very cheap.

DishwasherHelp · 08/05/2023 23:09

Comedycook · 08/05/2023 23:04

Well most people make a different choice to you.

I care more about feeding my family food I know they'll eat than I do about animal welfare.

Most people are the same as me but probably don't want to admit it

Show quote history

"Most people are like me...most people do the same as me...most people most people."

So. What.

Own your choice and stop bleating about 'Well, MOST people are the same as me...' What are you even basing your constant 'MOST people..." on?

I'm no bloody activist, I just give a shit about cruelty. As in, don't support it. Basic stuff, really.

Comedycook · 08/05/2023 23:10

DishwasherHelp · 08/05/2023 23:09

"Most people are like me...most people do the same as me...most people most people."

So. What.

Own your choice and stop bleating about 'Well, MOST people are the same as me...' What are you even basing your constant 'MOST people..." on?

I'm no bloody activist, I just give a shit about cruelty. As in, don't support it. Basic stuff, really.

Show quote history

I have owned my choice. I literally just told you I don't care.

DishwasherHelp · 08/05/2023 23:10

SocksAndTheCity · 08/05/2023 23:05

Of course! Where in my fourth floor Central London flat should I start planting? And will the chickens be OK in the bath?

I don't buy processed food, cheap meat or battery eggs, but the above is the far end of ridiculous.

Show quote history

I was obsessed with The Windowbox Allotment book when I lived in a flat with no money, and I wanted to grow food.

Theeaglesoared · 08/05/2023 23:11

Bumdealoftheweek · 08/05/2023 21:40

I went to Aldi and spent £88 today and just bought basics. We are a family of six but we make all our bread, buy porridge in bulk and there were no cleaning products/pet food etc so I was pretty astounded by the cost.

I'm also reading a book called "Ultra Processed People" at the moment so I'm adjusting how we eat. I bought very little processed food - just fruit, veg, only one packet of meat (chicken breasts), cheese, milk and some store cupboard basics (pasta, tinned tomatoes etc).

Whilst I appreciate that running costs have increased it doesn't seem to impact on profits.

I'm reading this book too. It's excellent. If the COL crisis and new awareness about UPF results in more people eating proper food and less crap that's got to be a good thing.

If teenage boys are hungry (I used to have one) what's wrong with a doorstop sandwich? Eating UPF snacks will just make them hungrier.

DishwasherHelp · 08/05/2023 23:12

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

Nsky62 · 08/05/2023 23:13

For those buying non diary milk, oat milk is very cheap to make, gf bread cheaper to make too

Comedycook · 08/05/2023 23:14

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

Stand in any supermarket and it's pretty clear to see that most people don't care. They're picking up bog standard bottles of milk and bog standard meat.

DishwasherHelp · 08/05/2023 23:15

Comedycook · 08/05/2023 23:14

Stand in any supermarket and it's pretty clear to see that most people don't care. They're picking up bog standard bottles of milk and bog standard meat.

Show quote history

Why do you keeping going on about what other people do?

SocksAndTheCity · 08/05/2023 23:17

DishwasherHelp · 08/05/2023 23:10

I was obsessed with The Windowbox Allotment book when I lived in a flat with no money, and I wanted to grow food.

Show quote history

I'm sure windowboxes are a solution for some; my tenancy doesn't allow anything being fixed to the flat anywhere right down to blu tack on the walls!

The point still stands that the people struggling the most with the cost of food are also the least likely to have gardens, gardening knowledge and equipment (and the wherewithal to get it) and limitless free time.

I volunteer with a charity that collects and distributes surplus food - we hear from food bank staff who say their users are turning down staples like rice, pasta and vegetables and living on sandwiches and breakfast cereal because even what they can afford to buy they can't afford to cook.

Comedycook · 08/05/2023 23:18

DishwasherHelp · 08/05/2023 23:15

Why do you keeping going on about what other people do?

Show quote history

Because I'm wondering why you are focusing on my choices when this thread is full of people describing the food they buy in the supermarket... and plenty is bog standard non organic meat and dairy. Why don't you call them callous?

But besides, it's pointless. The rising prices are not indicative of improved animal welfare standards.

Comedycook · 08/05/2023 23:19

Growing a few things in a window box is going to have a negligible impact on a family's food bills. It's utterly pointless

PutinSmellsPassItOn · 08/05/2023 23:22

It's worrying and depressing.....upside is I've discovered farmfoods as a result. Grapes are 49 a punnet, a 1kg bag of Cox apples is 99p, (( apparently the fruit and veg in some of the stores is a bit meh but ours is fine )) this week they had 350g blocks of collier cheese for £1.79, black farmer sausages for £1.99 for 6. I always pop in for a look now and have had some great bargains.