Food shortages in the 70's recession

PasturesNew

SingleSue wrote: »

To this day, I have always made sure I have a stock of candles in the cupboard as a just in case..and they have come in handy too on occasion!

Candles are dangerous. I have a wind up torch. I think 1 minute of winding produces 1 hour of LED light. Cost me about £4.... but if one looked about for better deals, I bet a box bought wholesale for £50 - and some mirrors to bounce light about - would be good.

Asheron

Because just like today, we don't grow our own food!

Next time you go to TESCO you wont find any Veg from England,

chewmylegoff

gallygirl wrote: »

I remember the sugar shortage - was HORRIFIED at the time. Now a bag lasts me years - only the 'tradesmen' use it :rotfl:

we had a plasterer in the other week - he got through almost a pound of sugar in 3 days, just in cups of tea. i was flabbergasted.

evenasus

While you were suffering the shortages you mention....
We were living in Zambia (hubby working for Gov) For most of our years there, we went without certain basic items.
For months on-end there was no...butter/cheese/potatoes/cooking oil/breakfast cereal and plenty of other stuff was unobtainable. Apples, we didn't see for most of the time we were there.
I once queued for 3 hours at the milk marketing board, to buy two 250g packs of butter.
The first visit to a supermarket after coming back to the UK, was like being in Aladin's Cave.:D

bo_drinker

react0r wrote: »

Not much point in buying 100 loafs of bread - the will have gone stale in a month.


It's a crazy idea

Freeze them. And wait for power cuts. :rotfl:
Seriously though it's like Xmas eve 20 mins before the shops close for Xmas and people grab anything edible. They think the world is coming to an end.... It doesn't but the same brain dead unwashed peasants are there a week later New yrs eve for another dip in the trough.

Davesnave

bo_drinker wrote: »

Freeze them. And wait for power cuts. :rotfl:
Seriously though it's like Xmas eve 20 mins before the shops close for Xmas and people grab anything edible. They think the world is coming to an end.... It doesn't but the same brain dead unwashed peasants are there a week later New yrs eve for another dip in the trough.

Where I live, the smart people used to arrive in the supermarkets at about 4pm on Christmas Eve and pick up all the cheap turkey, goose, duck, beef, salmon etc. I know I did when things were tight. Of course you'd get the great unwashed, but you'd also see hotelliers & caterers picking up serious amounts of whatever was available at knock-down prices.

I haven't done this for a couple of years, & maybe Sainsbury's stock control or estimation is better now, but it used to be totally useless in our town.

Cleaver

chewmylegoff wrote: »

we had a plasterer in the other week - he got through almost a pound of sugar in 3 days, just in cups of tea. i was flabbergasted.

I reckon if you lick your walls you will find out where it all went.

[Deleted User]

A._Badger wrote: »

I can assure you that panic buying was more a symptom than a cause.

People panicked because the country was out of control and they knew it. Goods would suddenly vanish from the shops, so stocking-up when you could was a perfectly reasonable response.

The cause of all this was party international and partly local. In the early 1970s there were huge international price rises in oil and food (grain prices doubled in the early '70s), but in the UK this was particularly aggravated by militant unionism, inflation, an incompetent government that thought it could spend its way out of trouble and hopelessly bad business management.

Sounds familiar? Some of us have seen this sort of thing before...

Many of the financial problems were caused by the heath govt in 1973 and his chancellor tony barbers"dash for growth" he allowed money supply to rise by 30% in just one year,fuelling inflation in what were already difficult times

zarazara

I remember the 3 day week and Winter of Discontent. and the sugar shortage. people started hoarding it.and candles you just couldnt get candles at times.

zarazara

our whole family used to go down to the little supermarket in Droylesden. then we'd split up, as it was 1 bag of sugar per trolley or basket. we'd all grab a basket ,buy a couple of items and a bag of sugar which was kept behind the till. then we'd repeat the process a few days later. we ended up with loads of bags of sugar. everyone did. my OH gran had big metal boxes with seemimg tonnes of it. she gave it all away to everybody just before she died.