The Rising Cost of Food

Gigervamp

Yes, it does. People usually get around this by getting together with neighbours and all ordering together.

tori.k

Ask about you may find some others that would like to club together, a small group of us spilt the cost on AF and so far its worked well, Is there a Lets group near you? you could always ask if you could share the cost of fuel and do a monthly supermarket run? we use a local fruit/veg suppliers but I do a weekly supermarket run with my mum and we split the cost on bogofs and cheap deals, Often a local Church they can be quite good a putting the word about someone there might offer you a lift to& fro the shops. lose nothing by asking

Reverbe

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 )

QUOTE]

TBH I'm sure there are a lot of ppl like me who would use those shops if only we had them. In 15 yrs Ive lived round here we never had any of the listed.

Reverbe

3v3 wrote: »

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!!!!can turn things around

In my town til recently there was only one supermarket available to those without cars , old ppl. students etc a v small tescos and they dont sell any of those stuff either.. so not much choosing to go with supermarkets went on there..:cool:

Red_Doe

Thanks guys, I don't really have any neighbours though apart from one elderly couple. Och well, it was worth a try.

Red_Doe

I don't think it's so simple as greed to be honest. If, for example, you're a young mum with a family to feed and limited funds, are you going to use your hard earned money to pay premium prices for locally grown food, or get the cheapest you can afford and buy plenty of it compared to what else is on offer? Kids are hungry, after all, and often bottomless pits.
And even the elderly (speaking as nearly one ) who also have limited funds...if prices at local shops were cheap enough to afford, of course we'd use them! But there's no denying the simple fact that supermarkets offer cheaper food and you can buy more of it and when your every penny is stretched to the limit, that's what is the deciding factor. That isn't greed but necessity.
Many superkmarket shoppers are only buying what they can afford, they don't all splurge on junk food etc, and must make their money stretch to afford what they can, and still eat as healthily as possible.

Gigervamp

Another thing to consider with supermarket shopping, is that they're open late and on Sundays. With most women working now, the small independent shops aren't open when people have the time to do their shopping.

taurusgb

Greyqueen - can I just say a huge 'thank you'.....your posts are so well written, full of common sense and funny too!

In the small rural town where I live (population app 6,000) we are very lucky as we have 2 butchers, a green grocer and 2 Co-Ops (one used to be a Somerfield but Co-Op bought the chain) the prices are slightly higher than the big 4 supermarkets but this is offset by saving of fuel by shopping locally. I try & use the local shops and just do a top up online delivery with Sainsburys ocaissonally of stuff I can't buy locally.

What makes me mad is that up until about 3 years ago our pop was 1500 less than it is now, but too many large houses built & bought by well off families who commute and shop outside our town mean our shops are doing less well with a larger population and we are now in danger of losing some of them completely.

notatvstar

I've been watching this debate with interest...

I can't remember which thread it was (it may have been this one!) but I recall that someone posted that the proportion of our money we spend on food has declined significantly during the last century due to increasing farming efficiencies, advancing technologies (etc, etc, etc to fade...), thus making a greater proportion of our money available to what were perceived to be luxuries (TV's, vacuum cleaners, washing machines, gym memberships, X boxes etc...). So much so, that these luxuries are now basic fundamental items. Also the convenience factor has freed up an awful lot of time and so it's no longer necessary for there to be a full time domestic engineer. Therefore (if you like) cheap food, all in once place has been a driving force for a form of social evolution.

I can't say I'm an expert on micro-socio-economics - already I've been accused of living in an underground cave - but hey - it's cosy down here ), but I think people are getting a wee bit defensive. No-one is saying that we must all go to small local butchers, bakers, farm shops. No-one is saying that people are evil if they shop in supermarkets. What's happened to the high street has happened over decades and is still happening now.

The lack of 'real' veggies that look like male genitalia in supermarkets is a 'chicken and egg' thing. The 'seeds' (if you like) for this sad, sorry, state of affairs were planted years ago.

We are a product of evolution.

[Deleted User]

I used to belong to a suma wholefood cooperative and we took turns to weigh and pack for a group. It was a good way of buying wholefoods then, 35 years ago. I bellieve that suma still supply to groups that haven`t local wholefood shops. Red doe it might be worth following this one up as you would only need to get together with a few, once a month or two months