Trendy foods = price rises

On the other hand, sea bass, salmon, trout and bream used to be fish only wealthier people could afford and now they are farmed, you'll find them in ASDA with salmon 2 fillets for £4 and organic salmon same price.

That's the way markets work - if there's a limited supply of something and demand increases then the price will go up. Foods that become 'trendy' will experience an increase in demand and there will be a gap between when that increase in demand starts and when suppliers can catch up with the demand which means for a period of time demand will outstrip supply and the price will increase (because consumers are competing for access to the limited supply and we compete by paying more). The same principle applies to most things that are sold from clothes to houses (with the exception of things that are price controlled by government).

Oh yes. As a vegetarian I have been buying Quorn products for some years. Now it's being promoted to meat eaters as a less fatty substitute for meat rather than as a vegetarian option, the price has been steadily increasing over the last year or so.

I've always preferred shoulder of lamb to leg. But over this Easter I've seen loads of legs at a reduced price but no sign of a reduction in the shoulders.

Also, whatever happened to best end of neck of lamb? When I was a kid, it was a cheap cut but really tasty. Never see it now, it seems to have morphed into loin and become pretty expensive. And I can't remember the last time I found breast of lamb in a butchers. I know Sainsbury's does have it but it's already boned and rolled and I prefer to do that myself with my own stuffing. My mum used to pay sixpence each for breast of lamb. Jolly good it was too.

Shin of beef also seems to have suffered by becoming popular - it used to be the cheapest of cuts for stews and casseroles but it's come sneaking up in price lately.

My grandma says the same thing very often about oxtail.