Food is not expensive

[ragandbonewoman]

That is it really. I suppose I’m curious as to whether people agree or disagree with me. This follows a conversation I’ve just had with a friend where we disagreed on this point, but it’s something I’ve really noticed as things (life, not just food) have become more expensive. Lots and lots of people complaining that food is “so expensive” We are actually in the fortunate position of being able to spend less than the majority of the rest of the world (relative to our income) to follow a healthy diet.

Yes food has gone up. But (and I admit this is an anecdotal observation) food waste is prolific. I think we need to change our outlook. We should be prepared to pay more, especially for meat, to ensure that suppliers, farmers, animal welfare, are all getting a fair deal. I’ve always found it ridiculous that you can buy a whole chicken for £5! How?! And then people readily admit they throw half of it away.

Is this unreasonable? Food is important. People on the absolute breadline might have little choice, but for those that can take a little slack from elsewhere, they should. And stop complaining that you can’t get a tin of beans for 9p anymore! Stop throwing food in the bin because you feel like eating something else. Or AIBU?

I’m not saying you have to give up work but you say we’re used to having hours of free time outside of the working day, including commute I’m out of the house for 12-13 hours between leaving for work and getting home after it, by the time I get home I’m starving and often don’t have any energy left to put into thinking about what to cook or the time to cook something that’s going to take more than half an hour or so. I don’t have much free time in an average evening, I’m certainly not going to the pub or doing any hobbies after a working day! I do try and cook by using fresh ingredients but the only way I’ve been able to sustain this is through subscription boxes such as Gousto or hello fresh which take the planning and ordering out of the equation but obviously they are an expensive option. It does take time and energy to cook healthy food from scratch on a budget; I’m guessing if you’re buying local, higher welfare food you’re not buying it on a tight budget. I’m saying it is hard to buy this food on a tight budget unless you have the time to visit lots of different shops, if you don’t have much money and also don’t have much time then fresh food can be more expensive than convenience food in many supermarkets.

But you could buy food with the same nutrients for less money than fancy avocado and feta.

A punnet of grapes bit of cheddar etc is far cheaper and same food groups along with the toast

Sounds a very luxury breakfast on a daily basis

Yes I’d always have rosemary, sage, chives , thyme,oregano and mint growing somewhere. It does save a lot of money.Herbs can make so many foods sing too.

@Caramelty I grow chives, tomatoes and chillies every year but my other attempts have failed.

Oh come on, @R0seberry!

If the OP says they have far far less disposable income, game over!

It would be impossible to go through every individual's income/disposable or otherwise. Their situation is an example of their failed argument. Bye bye 😄

Food is really cheap in the UK. Especially with the massive increase in UPF which is essentially flavored chemicals. People of have got used to through so paying proper prices to farmers etc is now a violation of their human rights.

No because the less disposable income may well be due to something else eg housing. The discussion is a about the cost of food which compared to the rest of the world isn’t expensive- if you’re not buying expensive processed products or a lot of meats and other foods we should be eating less of.

Yesterday I shopped for a charity sporting lunch for 48 people, as I do every year. Last year the identical items for the same shop were £53.74. This year £71.29.

There's a big difference between having a non working adult in the house (as was previously suggested) and all adults being out for 13 hours a day 7 days a week.

We all make choices in our lives about where we live, who we live with, how many children we have, what work we do, how long our commute is. If your lifestyle choices mean that shopping and cooking take a back seat that's fine. I choose something different.

I am inclined to agree. The food in my supermarket trolley appears so much cheaper than the other items. For example dishwasher tablets, kitchen rolls etc

I don't think the cost of food relative to household income has gone up. In the past, food was the most the most important thing people spent their money on. Now, people want to have cash for a car for each adult, holidays abroad, expensive branded clothes and trainers, all the latest technology like phones, tvs, game consoles, etc. They want to eat out in restaurants regularly, have takeaways etc. The cost of all these things leaves a smaller portion to be spent on food, people don't value good food as much as they did- they want it cheap so they have more to spend on modern life's luxuries.

As a society we now spend a smaller percentage of our income on food than at any point in history. Within that, in the UK we spend less than many other developed countries and certainly less than developing countries. We are complaining because a few years ago we used to spend an even smaller fraction of our income, so it feels a lot.

The avocado, my two year old and ten month old enjoy and my partner and I use it as a spread instead of butter; it is healthier not just fancy.

We do alternate cheese, it's not always feta but my point was to illustrate it is expensive to eat healthy food

I agree. A typical breakfast in our house at the weekend would be a couple of eggs scrambled on brown bread shared between DC2 and me and some peanut butter toast or homemade protein pancakes for DC1. With some apple and banana cut up on the side.

More expensive than jam on toast perhaps, but less so than if we were eating feta, raspberries, avocado or other "expensive" foods.

Perhaps part of the answer comes down to what you view as staples. I take quite a limited view of this - basic fruits (apples, bananas, oranges etc.), basic veg (broccoli, carrots, peas, beans, for example), store cupboard stuff like flour and sugar, tinned goods like tomatoes and kidney beans, pulses like lentils, bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, butter, milk, cheese, eggs, some meat, some fish. And coffee, definitely coffee 😂. And then we'd supplement with whatever is on offer or looks good at the time, but these are not the core of our weekly shop.

Things have definitely got more expensive ime but they are still way cheaper than in other countries. I think it comes down to the portion of our income which we are used to spending on food rather than food actually being very expensive.

But it isn’t expensive to eat healthy food and also I would debate whether whole milk, 2 eggs and cheese for breakfast every day is healthy.

A scrambled egg or peanut butter on wholemeal toast with a couple of tomatoes or fruit on the side is not expensive. You could have homemade granola, porridge etc. None are expensive.

I suppose what I was alluding to is that in times past, and still in many countries and cultures, the average household has is a woman who stays at home all day and prioritises tasks such as cooking, shopping, cleaning etc. Obviously I think it’s a positive thing that this doesn’t have to be the case anymore, but equally society can’t expect households to uphold the same standards of cooking and general housework as could be upheld with a ‘housewife’ in situ. The reality is that cooking healthy food from scratch on a budget does take time and many households don’t have that amount of time and energy to give when all of the adults are working full time. Thats not to say some households can’t manage it, that’s not to say it’s impossible, but it’s certainly harder to do when nobody is at home all day.

If however they had wholemeal toast, peanut butter, and an apple / in season fruit, it would be cheap and nutritious.

Your choices are expensive, food does not have to be.

We also have homemade granola bars made with dates and walnuts with fruit and yoghurt on the side - of course we don't eat the same food every morning - in fact sometimes we have cereal!

That is my point; there are much cheaper alternatives yet are they as healthy? Definitely not and the general consensus has always been that healthy food is more expensive than unhealthy food, not just in the UK but everywhere really

Yes there are alternatives just as healthy and cheaper.Many many alternatives.

I think also some people chuck in a few healthy foods and think they’re eating healthy when they’re not. White sour dough bread ,2 eggs, whole milk and cheese for breakfast isn’t that great. Peanut butter on w/m toast with some fruit or overnight oats in oat milk or semi cows with fruit is healthier.

I think it is healthy for my family; I have a two year old and an almost one year old so the whole milk and cheese is healthy for them.

The two eggs are hard-boiled - not much oil content so again, it's relatively healthy.

Peanut butter is healthy as well, we do use it, however you have to be careful some contain palm oil or lots of salt - again the healthier options are more expensive

I’ve always found it ridiculous that you can buy a whole chicken for £5! How?! And then people readily admit they throw half of it away

This is Mumsnet. A £5 chicken will feed a family of 15 for a month.

My son has dietary restrictions so food can be more expensive for us, though it was more expensive when he had to be vegan and gluten free. Unfortunately more waste too because he really struggled with it.

Now it isn't too bad, it isn't considered healthy for the general public as in he can only eat white bread not wholemeal etc but it's healthiest for him.

We normally cook from scratch and can do a weekly shop for £80 to feed 3 adults, 1 cat and all cleaning/toiletries. Lots of veg, fruit, meat, fish, pasta, rice, bread, eggs, milk, cheese. Yes the price of this has gone up. It was £50 a week before the pandemic.

But I did a shop for snacky bits for summer holiday treats and spent £100 on food that wasn't really food - fizzy drinks, crisps, popcorn, biscuits, ice cream, pizza. This is stuff we don't buy usually and I can't believe how expensive it is.

And again there are far cheaper healthy options out there. Wheetabix and whole milk with fruit is probably healthier. Why do they need eggs and cheese on top- for breakfast.

Re palm oil it’s high in saturated fat but so is cheese and whole milk. The wrong palm oil isn’t great for the environment but sustainable palm oil is ok. Peanut butter on whole meal will have less saturated fat than 2 eggs, cheese and whole milk .

Food prices have definitely shot up, but they’re still cheaper than in many other countries - where however they may well have cheaper housing costs and heavily subsidised childcare.

What does irk me a bit is people saying that healthy eating has to be expensive. I actually read of someone saying she couldn’t eat ‘healthily’ because she couldn’t afford e.g. salmon steaks, chicken breasts and lots of ‘berries’.