In lidl...brocilli, cucumber and tomatoes are99p,

[malificent7]

That is an increase from.around 70p a few weeks ago. In lidl. Very concerning. Anyone else noticed?

29p fruit and vegetables is probably ap loss leader to get people into the shop. Actually I am more concerned that farmers are beping beaten down on prices plus cheap food can equate to more waste. Cheap food is often imported so more harm to the environment. Frozen v fresh is little different nutritionally so maybe stick to Frozen if on such a tight budget.

I did my weekly shop in France a couple of weeks ago and compared it to my UK one. The UK was MUCH cheaper.

Wow! I did think given the weather fresh stuff would be cheaper and more readily available in Spain.
And people on here hammer on constantly about Brexit...hah.

Brits need to worry more about what this shite government is doing to our farmers and thus our future food security.

Funny isn’t it because I find my grocery shopping in France comparable to the UK now or sometimes a bit cheaper. I’m in SW France though so maybe that makes a difference?

Anyway quality is a lot better in France imo.

GroovyChick87 · Today 07:36
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I've definitely noticed Lidl's prices going up. I still see the basic items as a lot cheaper than elsewhere but the meat is getting expensive and is more than I'd spend in Asda

Lidl grass fed steaks are exceptionally good and ridiculously cheap for the quality. Farmers need to make a living.

We under pay for our food in the UK. This is nudging towards what we should be paying for these products

Prices in France are much higher and have been higher for decades.

We under pay for our food in the UK. This is nudging towards what we should be paying for these products

Will housing, electricity, etc go down to what we should pay? Will wages increase to what they should be?

Completely agree. We shouldn't be campaigning for farmers not to pay more tax we should be campaigning for the supermarkets to pay them properly. At Christmas veg was 10p a bag. The farmer is definitely making a loss there. We need to support our farmers.

Cucumbers were 89p everywhere this weekend. Have they gone up? I was using it as a treat, ffs! I have seeds to plant this year, but never had much success with them. Crazy.

99p for Broccoli is very reasonable! (Two Cs, one L, @malificent7 )

It isn’t a winter veg, it’s ready late summer and autumn if you grow it here. Purple sprouting broccoli is a late winter to spring vegetable, though. However, it’s pretty low yield as a veg so is quite expensive.

That isn't true. The farmers are paid whatever then the supermarket can reduce as they choose. However, I agree that they certainly aren't paid what the produce is worth, but it's still a competitive market and supermarkets can use whichever farmer they prefer.

Really you don't think farmers are under pressure for ever lower prices? The supermarkets pass on most of the offers they give to customers. Don't like it they go to another supplier. Do you know any farmers?

where do you think all these summer fruit and veg are coming from (broccoli is over now, afaik so bound to get more expensive)

Lidl work on very tight margins. They are selling the goods as cheaply as they can get away with. So maybe now is the time to eat cheaper, more seasonal veg?

Co-op have Cornish cauliflowers a decent size I think were £1.25 on Saturday.In season other Cornish vegetables.I always try to buy British,mushrooms are generally from Ireland.So many people expect berries all the year round so yes expensive.Just read the labels.

South West England:
Just to add that purple sprouting broccoli is currently available here until the summer months. We also have potatoes, carrots, kale, spring greens, cauliflower and parsnips at the moment.

Commercial varieties with a long transportation are grown with that in mind. They have to look good and not have gone soft in the process. Taste comes as a poor third.

As a commercial grower you choose varieties which will turn red during the journey. I believe many growers use additional calcium to improve the cell wall strength (stops fruit going soft).

You are left with something which looks like a strawberry, feels like a strawberry and tastes vaguely like a strawberry if you have never eaten locally, or better still, home grown strawberries.

Suggest you re-read my post. At no point did I say that they aren't under pressure to lower prices, in fact I said very clearly that it's a competitive market and supermarkets can go elsewhere. And yes, I know quite a few farmers, it's normal when you do my hobby.

I remember when I was a child, tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce etc were just not a thing that we'd eat in winter. If we had "salad" it would be homemade coleslaw made with cabbage, carrots, onions. We used to get a variety of white celery in winter & early spring that was different to the very green celery that we get all year round now from Spain & Holland. I haven't seen that in a shop for years and years. I think strawberries, raspberries, courgettes etc were undreamed of for most of the year except for a short season in the summer. For the vast majority of people eating was seasonal.

It's environmentally unsustainable in the long run for us to keep growing food like we do now - countries like Spain & Morocco are suffering water shortages because of climate change, and growing tomatoes, peppers etc uses huge amounts of what's becoming a scarce resource. Air freighting food half way round the world is just compounding climate change.

I eat berries all year round it taste no different in winter to summer. The only difference is the price.

The fruit that it’s hard to find here of good quality is peaches and nectarines - even at the height of summer here they tend to be hard, and home ripening is hit and miss. You can occasionally get lucky with some perfectly ripe ones but generally they are never as good as you can get in the med.

And they are also sprayed with liquid sterilant to keep them "fresh" on their journey from the sunny climes to here. Not the same as being picked and eaten fresh off the vine.

It's not just the price that's different, it's also the air miles etc. involved in producing and importing your berries in winter.

In Waitrose this weekend I bought a large bag of carrots (90p), a swede (70p) 2 parsnips (24p) and a cabbage (90p). They'll last for multiple meals & I think that's a bargain.

And yet our imported EU fruit and veg is still significantly cheaper than it is in France. Eating fresh produce is a VERY expensicve business in France. Trust me on this one.

I was in France recently. The hypermarket fruit and vegetables prices were much much much higher than ours. Lettuce was £3-£4 tomato £4-£5.
granted I didn’t go to a French Lidl or Aldi, but the prices were higher than Waitrose or M&S