The Rising Cost of Food

grandmasam

Have been reading this thread with interest, I buy a 28lb net of 'horse' carrots from the local farm supply store for £3!! this is shared between family, with them 'paying' me back in whatever they have produced ie tray of eggs [small] beetroot etc. Sometimes in the winter they have swedes for the same weight and price.Thinking a bit outside the box can give surprising results! My share is made into soups, cakes ,and prepared to freeze for meal size portions.Cheap!

3v3

Confuzzled wrote: »

i found this response to the second link you supplied interesting, i'm not sure how accurate it is but if it IS accurate then my suspicions about supermarkets actively discouraging us buying wonky fruits due to profit losses was correct, tragically so ..

Ah, now, that is where I become a bit ambivalent?

On the one hand, the regulations come from the EU; in response to that, the supermarkets saw the potential to max the "production" of regular sized produce, thus saving on production, complying with EU regs, giving the customer a "guarantee" of product. Business isn't there purely to give the customer what the customer demands, it is there to make a profit to satisfy the shareholders.

Now, we can all plead "manipulation" by the supermarkets, but, by doing so, we are proclaiming ourselves as moronic victims with no thoughts or free will of our own; if it was so in contrast to what the majority of consumers wanted, they would vote with their purse!

The fact is, the consumers wanted the cheapest goods for their money; they wanted a quick and easy way to prepare those goods (regular shaped items fit the feed-chutes of food processors more easily ). Simple!

We all look to "blame" someone, some thing because it is so much easier than to look at our own ethics. Supermarkets offer a good; it is up to *us* to decide if we purchase that product or not. Clearly, the majority bought into it - if they didn't, trust me, the supermarkets would rethink their shelf space!

Who was exploiting whom? Were the supermarkets exploiting a way to make things more uniform? Or, were the consumers exploiting a "uniform" product for the sake of a cheap (and in some cases a more practicable) product?

I cannot recall such a prolific thread on here which bemoaned the mass production of cheap food; on the contrary, the whole ethos of this website it to find a way to hit back at the companies either through exploiting loopholes, or, by sharing "cheap deals". Yet, now prices are rising, people are now becoming *very* aware of how it impacts on *our* lives - irrespective of how, in the glory days, our cheap food impacted on the lives/livelihoods of others But, hey! Let's ignore our own ethics and when prices rise, blame the supermarkets to salve our own choices

Erm ... who *forced* anyone to shop at a supermarket and ignore their local butcher, baker, fishmonger, newsagent, greengrocer? Ah, yes, ... it was greed consumer greed ... supermarkets offered it cheaper, all year round, uniform quality (buy it in Lands End , it'll be the same "quality" as you would by in John O'Groats )

Supermarkets aren't to blame for seeing an opportunity in EU regs: we are!!! For wanting ever decreasing prices on ever increasing (perceived) "quality".

notatvstar

3v3

... brave post - so here's to yer!

:beer:

Also - loving the idea of buying 'horse carrots'. I'd do that - but I grow my own.

FTR - It took some tantrums to get the OH to use the dodgy shaped veg - even it was our OWN PRODUCE!. Also the notion that you can cut out the bits that have got wriggly things in was a difficult one to beat into him.

Confuzzled

3v3 wrote: »

Erm ... who *forced* anyone to shop at a supermarket and ignore their local butcher, baker, fishmonger, newsagent, greengrocer? Ah, yes, ... it was greed consumer greed ... supermarkets offered it cheaper, all year round, uniform quality (buy it in Lands End , it'll be the same "quality" as you would by in John O'Groats )

Supermarkets aren't to blame for seeing an opportunity in EU regs: we are!!! For wanting ever decreasing prices on ever increasing (perceived) "quality".

while i see your point and accept some of the blame i can't actually shop at my local bakery, greengrocer or butcher, we have none anywhere near us! thankfully we have a butcher in a nearby village that does weekly deliveries and yes i do use him despite it being more expensive, he does good meat and supports local farmers.

it's not all the supermarkets fault but it's not all our fault either, many of us had no choice of these things changing, all i want is the OPTION to buy wonky veg if there was a green grocer i'd use them but there isn't alas the supermarket CAN offer wonky veg they just don't want to! i've already tried my ONE option for a veg box scheme and found their products dismal and in poor condition and having participated in 3 previous box schemes i DO have something realistic to compare them to. however some won't have any choice for even that.

i'd happily buy day old bread and baked goods too if they had shops like that here (they're very popular in the states). i count myself lucky i even have any access at all to a somewhat local butcher, so few do here in scotland and i know it's happening that way more and more often in england as well.

everyone plays their part but not everyone gets a vote that gets listened to, when the options are removed, regardless of how you personally feel about it you are forced to go to the supermarket and thus they continue to control things and remove even more options.

3v3

Confuzzled wrote: »

while i see your point and accept some of the blame i can't actually shop at my local bakery, greengrocer or butcher, we have none anywhere near us! thankfully we have a butcher in a nearby village that does weekly deliveries and yes i do use him despite it being more expensive, he does good meat and supports local farmers.

it's not all the supermarkets fault but it's not all our fault either, many of us had no choice of these things changing, all i want is the OPTION to buy wonky veg if there was a green grocer i'd use them but there isn't alas the supermarket CAN offer wonky veg they just don't want to! i've already tried my ONE option for a veg box scheme and found their products dismal and in poor condition and having participated in 3 previous box schemes i DO have something realistic to compare them to. however some won't have any choice for even that.

i'd happily buy day old bread and baked goods too if they had shops like that here (they're very popular in the states). i count myself lucky i even have any access at all to a somewhat local butcher, so few do here in scotland and i know it's happening that way more and more often in england as well.

everyone plays their part but not everyone gets a vote that gets listened to, when the options are removed, regardless of how you personally feel about it you are forced to go to the supermarket and thus they continue to control things and remove even more options.

Everyone had a vote, when supermarkets competed with the local butchers/bakes/grocers/fishmongers/newsagent - and that is my main point!!! People *chose* to go to the supermarkets because they could get it cheaper/in bulk/uniform in appearance - the supermarkets didn't remove the option, the consumer did by voting with their feet/purse!!!! No one forced anyone into the supermarket regime: yes, the supermarket (with their bulk buying/sell cheaper ethos) lured people into a "buy cheap" competition; but, the ultimate choice was that of the consumer - who cannot now bemoan the loss of "choice" through complaining their are no local grocers/bakers/etc., available to them. The quality of a traditional butcher (etc.,) was truly incomparible - but, the consumer wanted the cheap/cheap/cheap lifestyle on the food front and didn't give a fixed hoot about the comparative quality. Now, in more recent years, to distinguish between the supermarket foodstuffs, we have the advent of "organic"/"free range"/ and people pay a premium for those goods Ironic then that they were not prepared to pay that premium in the "good ole days" of traditional traders (who were never out to "rip people off", but to make an honest living and cover their costs with a bit of profit on top) . Supermarkets also have to cover costs and make a profit on top to satisfy their many, many shareholders: if the shareholders pull out - bang go jobs!!! That was the pay off.

You *have* no choice in bakers/butchers/etc because ... the local chose supermarkets Voting at it's basic level!

Farmers markets are trying to revive the wholesome food at realistic prices ethos ... but, times are hard now ... will they survive the bulk buying supermarkets? Unless people put their principles above their budget, it's unlikely.

Even the largest supermarket chain has to respond to consumer demand - that is the basics of economics/marketing. Never feel you have no voice .. rally enough like minded others and you can turn things around

Going4TheDream

Excellents posts 3v3. It is almost becoming like the novel 1984 by George Orwell where people could only buy 'Victory Gin or Victory Cigarettes' described as awful. As Supermarkets gain more and more power through buying they will push smaller suppliers selling quality products to the wall as supermarkets will not stock their products based on price and there will be no where else for them to sell them as most quality specialist local shops are disappearing. We will have less and less choice being offered and the quality of products will decline even further as the supermarkets push those left further down on price. We all drank from the devils cup and this is the result. Not only do I find it quite scary that £1 in £7 of ever pound spent in the UK is spent at MR T, I find it very dangerous that one company has so much influence over the populations spending habits.

[Deleted User]

Going4TheDream wrote: »

<<. I find it quite scary that £1 in £7 of ever pound spent in the UK is spent at MR T, I find it very dangerous that one company has so much influence over the populations spending habits.

>>

a bit like one man (Murdoch) having power over the media/government methinks

GreyQueen

Excellent posts, as usual, 3v3, thank you.

The rise in supermarket shopping, as opposed to making multiple calls on many independant food retailers, is driven by more than just costs, if we pause to think about it.

Once upon a time, there existed, en masse, persons called Housewives, now seldom seen in their purest form.

Housewives had a different timescales to the rest of us, and it was feasible to make small excursions to multiple places. Indeed, as domestic refridgeration is a relatively new phenomena, it was usually necessary to shop on a daily basis. When we had Retail Price Maintenance (abolished in 1964), goods would have been the same price at corner stores as opposed to big stores, so you went where it suited you.

In the early 1960s is was the expected thing that working-class women like my Mum and her peers gave up paid employment, usually on marriage, but definately at the birth of their first child. Within living memory, women with professional jobs like teachers would be dismissed for getting married. They had husbands and homes to look after and that was considered a job in its own right.

Compare and contrast the lives of modern women; a typical working woman could be Colleague X, married, late thirties, mother-of-two. One in primary school, one at nursery.

X's weekday begins well before 6 am, getting herself up and the children up. Before 7.30 am she will have to have delivered the children to her sister. Sis will take the eldest to school with her own, and then youngest to nursery. X knows she is very lucky to have Sis living nearby and able-and-willing to do this. X couldn't cope without this family help as she doesn't earn enough for paid childcare yet her income is critical to family survival.

Before 8 am X will have taken the bus down into the city centre and will be serving customers before 9 am. She will clock-off at 3 pm and take the bus back to the suburb. She won't be in time to collect the kids from their respective places so will collect them from Sis. Since you can't really grab-and-go, X will sit down for a cup of tea and a chat. She'd glad of the break, really, as has had only total of 30 mins break in her shift.

By the time X is home with the children its time to get the tea on, OH arriving hungry from long working day; homework, family time, bath and bed. X and OH finally sit down about 9 pm and are in bed by 10 pm.

I often bump into X at the supermarket on Sunday afternoons; plus OH and children. She's tired, distracted and harrassed. You don't even want to get into the logistics of her life now the summer holidays are here; it makes the term-time regime look like a walk in the park.

X is Everywoman, doing the best she can. If she didn't work, the family couldn't pay the mortgage on their very very modest home; she's told me the figures and she's right. Their working tax credits are a princely £30 a month.

Could X realistically shop at many small independant retailers? I don't believe she could. She's perpetually exhausted and stuggles to keep up with the laundry, the housework and to have a semblence of normal family life. Leisure time? She'll laugh hollowly at the idea.

I'm a singleton and buy my supplies here and there, a mixture of independant retailers and supermarkets. I dive into them in time fragments around doing other things; to and fro work, on way back from my allotment. I couldn't do this if I had screaming kiddies in tow (and I have shopped with other people's children and it's both exhausting and maddening).

Apart from the rise of the working woman, there is also the advent of the car; towns and cities are often hollowed out, with the retailers up on the edges, making life grossly difficult for non-car owners like me. I lived in a major city which had been donutted like this, in a bedsit without a fridge, for 3 years. I'd have to shop daily and would go into the corner shops. Fresh food was almost non-existant.

Highlights included a packet of sausages which turned out to be seeping clear liquid into their wrapper. Closer examination revealed they were days past their use-by date. I took them straight back and the shopkeeper wordlessly refunded my cash before slinging the package back into the chill cabinet for some other customer. My mother worked in corner shops in the late 1950s and I can assure you it wasn't a halycon era of rosy-cheeked, aproned shop-keepers and lots of lovely grub.

Nothing had best before dates and one of Mum's chores was to dust the tins and packages; things loitered on the shelves for such a time that they acquired dust.

Can we go back to lots of little shopping trips to lots of little shops? Perhaps, in retirement, some of us can, but I cannot see the demise of the supermarket on the horizon at any point in the near future.

ceridwen

...and some valid points clearly put GreyQueen.

I certainly am aware of the fact that people "should" buy our food from "proper" shops on the one hand and why a lot of it is bought from supermarkets on the other hand.

I see my own mother gave up work when her first child was born and didnt resume work (part-time) until quite some years later and she has a husband with a car (ie my father). It has to be said that she could have easily kept up shopping in "proper" shops - but DID swop to getting everything possible in a once a week supermarket shop anyway by choice and because they are cheaper than "proper" shops. At present - she now HAS to shop with as little effort as possible because of ill health being very restricting to them both - so is now following her usual shopping pattern by necessity rather than choice.

I dont have a car (by choice - as well as I cant afford it anyway) and DO do a lot of my shopping in "proper" shops and not that much in supermarkets (as I feel guilty at shopping in them - because I know one "shouldnt" really). One of the reasons that any supermarket shopping I do is in S*ainsburys is to make sure it ISNT in Tescopoly-land. I manage to use "proper" shops as frequently as I do because I chose to live in a location where there were/are likely to continue to be plenty of facilities AND I have always chosen jobs that have a location that suits me/my Life and I can shop in "bits and pieces" of time centring round my workhours - so rarely have to go out shopping specially. In my mind - going out means "going out" doing something I choose to do - and not going out specially to shop.

I suspect a lot of people dont have the chance to design their job and their shopping around what suits their Life and have to muddle their way through taking jobs miles from their homes/going out specially to do their shopping/etc and this is where we get the problem in the main.

Red_Doe

I'd love to have the choice of shopping at supermarkets or local shops. I live so remote, there's just a wee shop some five miles away, and I've no car and there's no public transport. So choices are limited for us here. That wee shop is a Spar, but as 'supermarkets' go, it's the size of your average livingroom, shelves are stocked to bursting but not with fresh fruit and veg and unless you can afford to shop there every day (transport and cost issues~) then by the time I do get in, the tourists have stripped the shelves bare. Mustn't grumble though, must I? Because that's them, apparently, contributing to the local economy. I come on here and read about 'whoopsies' and mark down fruitnveg and special deals and go once a week to the Spar shop and look at the half dozen wrinkly apples and gnarled turnip and expensive tins and packets of stuff I rarely eat, and frozen foods more expensive than most here would believe (with the excuse of extra haulage costs lumped on to the customer) and I'm envious, don't mind admitting.
Nope, before anyone tells me to, I can't afford to move at the moment (and if they think I can, try reading the problems regarding rent prices elsewhere on this site )
So if anyone here fancies a future enterprise, please open a supermarket in the far north west of Scotland that will give us rural folks the same choices southerners in other rural areas have.