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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To be Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr at the price of food [mad]

80 replies

Pinions · 03/06/2008 12:08

Angry Angry Angry

OP posts:
cazboldy · 03/06/2008 13:21

PPC but that is some of the reason the food prices have gone up.................

Callisto · 03/06/2008 13:32

Pinions - you're anger just seems a strange response to what, for some people, has been a catastrophic rise in food prices. You're not queuing to buy rationed food/recieved state handouts and your children arn't starving after all.

bluefox · 03/06/2008 13:42

What I cannot understand is how some things have gone up but others havent.Eg why has the price of branded bread gone up so much but shops own value brands havent. Why is a cucumber so much more expensive at Sainsburys rather than Lidl? If prices have gone up so much then surely it should affect all products at all retailers.

hanaflower · 03/06/2008 13:47

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frisbyrat · 03/06/2008 13:58

Hear hear, hanaflower!

TheHedgeWitch · 03/06/2008 14:01

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Pinions · 03/06/2008 14:07

I do shop online.

I never throw away any food.

I do set a budget.

Have tried the meal planning thing but spend more time planning than cooking ??

As for the grow your own - great - but wouldn't have a clue where to start nor have the time to oversee it.

Still bollocks expensive imo.

£2.79 for a bag of rice at tesco's. Have just heard that people are now "panic buying" rice!

OP posts:
Love2bake · 03/06/2008 14:19

Callisto - you are so right about the farmers etc. I think it's outragous that you can buy a whole chicken in Tesco's for £1.99!!

I shop every fews days, and buy quality organic ingredients (when I can), and make everything myself.

Then I never waste anything, and I don't spend that much each week.

mumoftwo37 · 03/06/2008 14:28

I have started buying "smart price" fruit and veg from Asda. I got 11 bananas for 97p, 6 peppers for 1.38 and 3 big courgettes for 69p, not to mention red onions, carrots etc. I try to go to lidls and the market when I can and don't care if my cucumber is knobbly and not straight. I can't really understand the price hikes to be honest - on Saturday we filled the car with diesel (£64), did a bigish shop (£143) so that was £200 gone in a flash. We are a family of 4 and I cook everything from scratch and rarely throw anything away. If this is what having 10 years of a labour government does then I shall be glad to see the back of them.

sweetbean · 03/06/2008 14:29

I agree
Tesco is terrible at the moment and my shopping has gone up by about 15 a week for the same things
whats going on !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

TheHedgeWitch · 03/06/2008 14:35

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katebee · 03/06/2008 14:50

I economise on food shopping by:

making some economical but healthy meals such as jacket pots and cheese, or making a large shepherds pie which will feed the children for a few days

looking out for meat on its sell by date and reduced in price and freezing it - get real bargains at Waitrose this way.

Looking out for 2 for one offers of non perishable items

buying fruit and vege in season

Noticing the prices of items more and avoiding anything too pricey although I am happy to pay slightly more for organic meat and vege

I wouldn't mind paying more for food if the farmers are given a decent price..on the whole I shop at Waitrose as it is the most convenient shop and they have a reputation for treating suppliers well.

hatrick · 03/06/2008 14:51

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gabbyfemale · 03/06/2008 14:53

aldi definitely. they have special offers - the super 6 they call them every month so whatever they choose is 69p or something like that, we got 6 nectarines (69p) tomatoes etc etc. avoid tesco at all costs ... I like weekly shopping as it helps plan ahead and you can gradually buy cheaper and cheaper meals as the month goes on .. so by the time the fourth week comes round you can get away with just buying the essentials and using whats in your cupboard!

katebee · 03/06/2008 14:53

Wow hatrick..£55 a week is impressive..am now embarrassed at how much I spend.

Do you have any tips on types of meal to cook? I love veggie food but have to do some meat for the rest of the family.

Callisto · 03/06/2008 14:56

I'm amazed that people don't realise why food prices are rocketing. It is a combination of loads of things including crop failures in Australia and Canada, Chinese and Indian population buying more meat and wheat, cost of oil, bio-fuel production in US and Europe etc. This is global and here to stay. Just thank the Lord that we live in a relatively rich and stable economy and are unlikely to face true hardship. Are none of you really angry people aware that there have been food riots in 37 countries this year?

Callisto · 03/06/2008 14:58

Katebee - bacon (British of course) is great in veggie pasta sauce. Gives loads of flavour and makes the carnivores think they are getting something meaty. Also make soup/stir fry/curry from the roast chicken leftovers.

TheHedgeWitch · 03/06/2008 14:59

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cestlavie · 03/06/2008 15:40

Yes, it is getting more expensive and so it should be. The proportion of UK household expenditure which is accounted for by food (15% in 2007) has more than halved since 1957 when it was 33% and fallen by almost a quarter since 1987 when it was 19%.

Whilst UK total household expenditure and incomes have gone up in real terms over the last 10 years, expenditure on food has actually fallen in real terms over the same period. This is despite the fact that at the same time, domestically the amount of land allocated to farming in the UK has fallen by 0.8 million hectares over the same period and globally of the world population has increased by 800 million. It's only been the dynamics of the UK grocery market (not least the main groups' purchasing power) that has enabled prices to stay articificially low. Right now, as Callisto says, the inherently unstable food market has been exposed by a variety of global factors but principally increasing demand and fixed (or falling) supply. So prices have gone up and will at best, stay where they are.

We have become accustomed to unsustainably cheap food available when we want, where we want. Someone said, gosh a red pepper costs 89p now. So it bloody should. It's probably been flown in from Venezuela. Someone said meat is getting more expensive. Yes, well it costs $8 to produce $1 of beef, how is that sustainable in the long term? These sort of foods should be premium products, not part of our basic diet and we certainly shouldn't be whinging that they're getting more expensive.

Apologies, this is something of a rant. But frankly, I'm staggered that people are complaining about the cost of food over here when the WHO estimates that 1/3 of the world's population is well fed, 1/3 is underfed and 1/3 is starving, yes, actually starving, as in watching your child die from hunger in front of you (15 million children last year in fact). Just to give a little perspective here, but worth thinking about.

morningpaper · 03/06/2008 16:27

agree with callisto about lack of awareness - 'tis a mixture of many factors but is only going to get worse.

Problem I think also lies in the fact that we think we are ENTITLED to a very fabulous consumer lifestyle which would have been undreamt of 30 years ago. All we see in the media are perfect bodies / houses / lashing of consumer goods and so you feel hard done by if you aren't meeting those ideals.

I was just thinking this today when I was somewaht bitterly thinking that after five years in this house I really should have at least been able to afford to buy floor coverings but really, why SHOULD I? Really we should just be ecstatic that our children are happy and fed!

DaisySteiner · 03/06/2008 16:32

Rice - sainsbury's sells 2kg (ie a big bag) of brown rice for £1.78 or you can get their basic white rice for 95p a kilo.

Growing your own veg is hardly rocket science, there's loads of information on the internet. Dh and I both work pretty much full time and have 4 small children and we manage to find the odd hour here and there - if you want to find a way you will.

I disagree that Aldi is necessarily cheaper - I had a good look round ours the other week and virtually everything was as much, or even more than Tesco's.

I feel incredibly lucky to live in a country where food is relatively so cheap.

OrmIrian · 03/06/2008 16:33

I am cooking more and more vegetarian food again. It does make life cheaper. Meat is a luxury confined to one or 2 meals a week.

bossykate · 03/06/2008 16:35

i always use My Supermarket - saves loads.

CozISaidSo · 03/06/2008 16:39

For £56 DH Can get a weeks shopping in morrisons For a family of 7. Including ''fun stuff'' -- I can go and spend £74 and get.. Nothing..

nametaken · 03/06/2008 16:41

It's not so much that prices are rising which people are angry about, it's more the fact that they are rising so quickly which has really taken people by surprise

Yes prices have been artificially low for years but things could have risen a bit more slowly so we could all get accustomed to it.

And Gordon Brown sits there saying inflation is 3%. What bloody planet does he live on?