AIBU to think the UK should have a National Food Service again? (Like we basically had in WW2)

[Staybymw]

During WW2 and for years after, the UK did have a kind of National Food Service.
The government controlled prices, ran bakeries, managed rationing, guaranteed flour/milk supplies, and kept basic staples affordable so people didn’t starve. It wasn’t fancy, but it worked.

So with the cost of living crisis now, rising food prices, food banks everywhere, and benefits going up because families literally can’t afford groceries… why don’t we bring back a modern version?

I’m not talking about anything complicated.
I mean basic, no-frills staples produced not for profit:

• bread
• rice
• pasta
• tinned tomatoes
• flour
• oats
• basic cooking oil
• tinned veg / beans

All stuff we can grow or easily manufacture in the UK.

If the government owned the land, the factories, and the distribution, they could:

• create thousands of jobs ( more people paying tax)
• stabilise food prices
• make sure no one goes hungry
• massively reduce the need for benefits to keep rising
• put pressure on supermarkets to stop hiking prices

Other countries already do versions of this:

France controls wheat prices
Japan buys rice from farmers and sells it back at stable prices
Egypt subsidises bread for millions
India has state-run ration shops
Brazil provides government food baskets
Saudi Arabia subsidises milk, flour, staples through state industry

It’s not a wild idea lots of countries see food as a strategic, essential service.

A National Food Service would mean:

• no shareholders to pay
• no profit margin
• steady UK jobs
• cheaper food
• more secure supply chains
• less reliance on private companies
• more tax revenue from the workers it employs

It could help families massively.
Especially those who are working but still struggling, or whose benefits are swallowed by food prices.

Given everything going on, food inflation, child poverty, constant arguments about increasing benefits, would a simple, not-for-profit national food range actually save money in the long run?

I'm sorry but no children are starving in the UK. Unless their parents are abusive and starving them to be cruel. Not through lack of food availability.

Another person who volunteers who patronises the fuck out of the service group she/he volunteers for. Seems to be so common on mumsnet. Do you honestly believe that , that working class people don't know that cows have to get pregnant to produce milk ? Someone was winding you up , hen and you fell for it ?🤣Do you really think you are the best person to be working with people who are going through food poverty ? You sound dreadful and so judgemental, like many on this thread.

You haven't a clue.

You've led a sheltered life if you don't believe people that clueless can exist.

You reckon? I think you are projecting ! Funny that you reply so quickly though....🤔 This subject has really touched a nerve eh ? Or something ?🤣

Absolutely.. I remember maybe 12 years ago when I worked at a supermarket, a lady came yo pay for her shopping and wanted to use a healthy start voucher (for milk/formula/fruit/veg) i explained she couldn't use it because she didn't have any of those items.. she shouted "i have YOGATS!" and proceeded to slam 3 packs of rolo desserts down on my till 🙈

I'm currently paying 30p a can for kidney beans. where on earth are you paying £1 ?? You're being fleeced 😁

I live in the home counties and cook from scratch. As a single mum, I'm on a budget.

Yesterday I boned chicken legs ( four for £2.25 or 56p each),
pan fried with mashed potatoes (20p), a clove of garlic (5p), perfectly imperfect carrots (5p) and frozen peas. (10p).

Well bully for you. So do I and work a 42 hour week . I don't have time to search around for 30p can kidney beans as I work shifts. You cannot deny there is widespread food and fuel poverty in the UK. And good for you cooking from scratch. I have been cooking meals since I was 12 . Poor people know how to cook . Stop patronising us and telling us that we don't. We just don't have enough money for fuel, food etc I manage ok as my children are grown but I would NOT be able to if my children were young.

I've never said 'poor people don't know how to cook'. I said a lot of people don't know how to cook. And they don't, income irrelevant. As for the 30p beans, they're in Tesco, where you already shop.

The people who genuinely need support are those in a single room with no cooking facilities. That is inexcusable.

Otherwise, food in the UK is cheap and readily available for anyone who thinks eating a decent diet is important.

There are no 30p beans in the Tesco beside me . As I said before , there are regional variations and differences in areas where zero competition such as my inner city council area where people don't like going .

I really don't think this is a good idea.

Places like Tesco make a vanishingly small profit margin and are incredibly well organised.

If the government ran food production and delivery then it would be run like the schools and the NHS and we'd all have died years ago.

If the government was involved in food supply you'd have to go on a waiting list for six months for a loaf of bread. Then it would be cancelled.

The foods you've listed are already available pretty cheaply though. The issue is that people don't know what to do with them or don't have the time or the money to have the oven running to bake bread etc.

During the cost of living crisis the popularity of take away delivery services has continued to soar. I don't remember the last time I drove past a McDonalds or Starbucks without a queue. Then in the supermarket there's more floor space dedicated to shite we don't need than there is essentials, by some considerable margin. Because people don't want the staples. They want the convenience and the taste of processed foods.

I don’t think that’s because they don’t know how to cook. There are a million recipes online. People just can’t be arsed. They want it ready made.

You won’t tempt people away from UPF takeaways and ready meals by showing them how to cook vegetables, lentils or porridge. They want fat and salt and sugar. They’re addicted to shit.

Which city only has one supermarket?