AIBU to think people begrudge weekly food costs but spend more freely elsewhere?

[IlovePhilMitchell]

People will spend money on subscriptions, takeaways, the cost of a weekly shop on a meal out, £10 on a candle but begrudge £80 on the week shop.

Food is one of the most important things to us as humans, it nourishes us and keeps us well. It should be a priority above most things we spend money on, not just an annoying necessity.

We have been lucky in the past with extremely cheap food costs and yes I know things have increased a lot and not in line with wages, but it’s not actually that bad if you don’t buy brands and cook.

I do appreciate a lot of people don’t have have room in their budget for any increases. I think my post is more aimed at those who whinge when they spend freely elsewhere.

For centuries, people had little left over for luxuries.

I have a friend like this always moaning about food costs and that their broke but will happily spend the money on tattoos instead

This. And that.

It’s a cultural phenomenon thing. In France they spend much more on food proportionately than we do. Still have lots of great markets, and generally prioritise and appreciate the quality and value of decent food more than we do.

The housing costs in relation to income is bonkers here in the UK.

Food is the best medicine. Sure it’s ‘essential’ but it’s also about mindset.

Food is one of the few monthly necessities that has wriggle room to fit the budget. You can’t choose how much council tax you have to pay, for example but you can choose how much you spend on food. When prices rise wriggle room vanishes and the extras that make life ‘fun’ vanish along with it.

In France when you sign for a mortgage at 3% for 30 years it stays at 3%, for the whole period, it does not move at all. However if the bank rate goes down you can renegotiate BUT the banks cannot put it up. Why can’t the UK banks do the same? The same with leasehold England and Wales are the nearly the only countries to have this system.

I was recently in South of France and went to a supermarket. I was absolutely shocked to see they had an entire aisle dedicated to UPF cheese and ham. Which was a different aisle than the one for non processed cheese and better quality ham.

Guess which aisle was busier? The UPF aisle. Every single time.

(In fact we were the only ones seeking out proper cheese!)

This is something I saw being pushed after Brexit when food prices went up and there was concerns we wouldn't be able to import the same variety of foods, thankfully the latter hasn't been the case.

It isn't a good thing that food prices are going up, high costs for food and accommodation in the past led to people living in serfdom and later inner city poverty. Its actually worse now as we don't produce raw materials or manufacture anymore, our economy is service based so if people can't afford the services it's going to implode.

I think the cost of a weekly shop has pretty much doubled in the last 10 years, how many peoples wages have doubled?

It costs so much money just to live in this country - every bill is going up but wages aren't rising to match. Many people can't afford, or have no access to dentistry, the roads are full of holes, yet we keep being charged more and more money for fewer and fewer services. Food is one of those things where we see constant shrinkflation/reduction in quality, but the prices keep going up.
People try to buy themselves nice things so they feel there is some control over their own spending and some nice aspects to life - it's like the oft cited 'in a recession women still buy lipstick' fact. There's no choice but to purchase food (and council tax and water rates etc), so people are allowed to moan about the reducing quality combined with increased pricing.

This is part of it, yes- supermarkets took advantage of the aspirations for cheap food in government,The power of the supermarkets is directly attributable to them pushing the government agenda.

The cost of growing something does not fall with technology- harvesting it possibly but everything else just increases in cost. the cost of land, labour, fuel, seed crops and fertilizer plus any pesticides have all risen- so how does this technological revolution relate to food?

I think you’re talking rubbish. Did you get AI to write your reply? Orthorexia has nothing to do with it and there is no ‘fixation’ with what other people eat’ nor would any such fixation be related to a particular decade.

It doesn’t.

Recommend people sign up for the free app Yuka. You will see what additives are hidden in your food. In France there is a traffic light system to help shoppers. The same produce is not bound by the uk government to show what food is unhealthy. A uk sonic birthday cake for children registered for food quality zero out of a 100. People buy this children’s cake not knowing the high risk additives. The mass food market producers have a hold on the uk food. It is not the case of freedom to chose, it is a freedom to have knowledge.

Globalisation has reduced the cost of seeds, fertiliser and pesticides.

technology such as automation (drones, robotics harvesters, robotic milking etc) the development of drought and pest resistant crops (reduces wastage, for increased yield).
Think how much labour that has removed!

cost analytics technology increases productivity, reduces wastage and targets the right mix and timing.

not to mention sustainability to reduce water efficiency and renewable energy.

there is SO much technology in the last 40 years that has transformed the cost of farming.

@Washingupdone I don't need an app to tell me what's edible ☺️ thanks though 💐

I've spotted a few AI posts on this thread. It's a bit weird. (In addition to the ones a PP mentioned)

@ChocolateCinderToffee accused my reply of being Ai and it’s not- I don’t think mumsnet users are very good at recognising ai and it’s just become the go to insult when you disagree with someone.

besides, what does it even mean? You think an AI bot has penetrated the thread, or you think human posters are using ai to craft their thoughts? Because the latter doesn’t even seem a big deal.

UPFs are exploding in France. There are so many more now that there were 10 years ago. Same with fast food. France now has more McDonalds outlets than the UK. Not so long ago you never saw one outside of the big cities. I don’t think that the French will be able to hold themselves up as the arbiters of cuisine for much longer.

Bizarre post OP

I 'penny pinch' at the supermarkets because that penny pinching means that I have virtually thousands more than I otherwise would have for holidays, clothes, hair treatments etc

Why wouldnt you, its basic common sense

My OH is the other way round, he would shop at Waitrose and buy ALL branded stuff because he is fooled by the 'offers' in other supermarkets (I shop in Aldi and Lidl) and that would literally cost thousands more per year. For the SAME food. Why would you do that?

I was going to mention McDonalds in France!

@Itsmetheflamingo sorry didn't mean you! 💐

Im surprised France isnt bringing in controls and restrictions about UPFs as its the sort of thing I would expect them to act on.

1. Jews were systematically starved in the Ghettos between 1939 and 1942. Estimated at around half a million people. You reckon that the brave people conducting the Warsaw Hunger Study in the knowledge that if they were caught researching what was happening to them they would be executed were going to say 'Ah, well, 180kcal is all very well, but if it were all organic, we'd all survive'?
2. If somebody had been able to access food wherever else they lived, organic food would have been better - oh, thank you for hiding us in your attic/basement, but could you be more mindful of the quality of the food you're smuggling to us from your own meagre rations? Yeah, we know we're eating food meant for you and your children and if anybody realises, you're going to be murdered too, but maybe think a bit first?
3. No amount of 'good nutrition' was ever going to be a defence against machine guns, bayonets or, ironically enough, the combination of hydrogen cyanide extracted from sugar beet processing and the completely natural/organic substance of diatomaceous earth millions were gassed with. Didn't matter how healthy they were, if they didn't want a handful more to pull out gold teeth and shovel corpses into the furnaces, if they had small children, if they weren't pretty enough to be trafficked into sexual slavery, if Mengele had already got enough twins and pregnant women or Clauberg had sufficient young, healthy women to inject caustic substances into the wombs, they died sooner rather than later.
4. You're chatting utter shite. Organic food was not why the surviving remnant, many of whom died shortly afterwards due to starvation and disease, got as far as the DP camps in order to still be poorly fed and subject to abuse.

We've just been conditioned to cheap food.