The Rising Cost of Food

jpscloud

GreyQueen wrote: »

....and just think that the days of sleep-walking around the supermarket, shopping on whim without thinking how it'll all fit together are on their way into the great dustbin of history.

I suppose it's a return to the art of housewifery (whether you are a lady or a gent) and getting back to basics with some OS skills.

I resemble that remark!

I'm in my late 40s and, embarrassingly enough, am only just learning how not to sleep walk around supermarkets shopping on a whim. I really feel so ashamed to think how much money I've wasted over the years.

I'm now just learning to live on a budget properly, although heaven knows where I'd be without my parents who help me to keep a car on the road - I need the car because the only permanent job I could find is 20 odd miles away, and I couldn't manage on the money I got from temporary/supply work any more.

Far from feeling poor or deprived though, I am finding the experience of choosing value/basic groceries and BOGOF offers very empowering. I've started to realise how sadly taken in I was by food adverts and how deeply I'd bought into being a good little consumer.

Yesterday I paid less than £15 for a (substantial) top-up on groceries, yet only a few months ago my cheapest bill at the checkout would be around £50, and most of that would be convenience/junk food and unnecessarily expensive "stuff" that caught my eye as I blundered around just waiting to be conned into buying it!

The price rises have done me one favour - the more things go up, the more determined I now feel to pay less for my shopping. Although as some people say - I don't know what I'll do when even the cheapest things become too expensive to afford.

UnluckyT

ceridwen wrote: »

Some valid points there:

- certainly I think people who've got even a pathetically tiny bit of land (ie matchbox garden/balcony/yard) shouldnt give up trying and grow what they can and make maximum utilisation of what space there is available on the one hand

- on the other hand I think its good for people to lobby LONG and HARD for allotments - because The Other Side (ie developers and those wanting to build extra roads) are certainly lobbying hard to grab for a lot of our "green space". So we have to lobby at least as hard back - if only to keep the balance - and hopefully to slant it towards us. There are STILL existing allotments being grabbed and built on - so obviously we arent yet lobbying hard enough to stop this.

EDIT: and re your post on whether it would be "like-minded others" or "nasties" pretending to be "like-minded others" in order to get a foot in the door looking for opportunities for no-gooding..

I dont think we can start from that viewpoint - there will always be ne'er do wells in anything (and I've encountered a thief in a "good cause" group I was in before now - in fact, as far as I know, was the first one to suspect him of being that sort of person). However - there is a much much higher percentage of decent/normal (maybe even downright altruistic and High Giver type people) in this type of venture than one finds generally. So - I've never heard of thieving/etc taking place in this type of scheme to date - so I would say its rare and peeps shouldnt be put off from trying because of the very occasional thief/etc that might even wander into these groups. If one bears in mind how much nicer/more honest the vast majority of people in these groups are than one usually finds elsewhere - then I would say it more than counterbalances.

Its easier for younger people to make errors of judgement re peoples character - but one advantage of having made a lot of "character misjudgements" over the years (and I've certainly made some lulus...) is one comes to a point in one's life where you can pretty much spot "a wrong 'un" before they even open their mouth - so I would imagine you would have picked up how to spot them by now and could avoid inadvertently "taking one on board".

well said. perhaps this is the way to go i feel. band and stick together etc.

parsonswife8

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2031978/Spaghetti-bolognese-menu-25-rise-price-mince-makes-family-staple-expensive.html

Traditional family meals such as shepherd’s pie and spaghetti bolognese are becoming more expensive as the price of minced beef rockets.
Some supermarkets have hiked prices by a quarter in the past month, it emerged yesterday.
Morrisons has forced through a price increase of 25 per cent on a 400g pack of its budget mince, to £1.20 and Sainsbury's has increased the price of a 400g pack of basics mince by 25 per cent from 96p to £1.20.


:eek::eek::eek:

Butterfly_Brain

lollyfin wrote: »

I am worried a lot about the rising cost of food as at the end of the day there is a point that you cant cut back any further or people start going hungry, we are not near that point yet thankfully but im sure some are
We dont have meat every day,( bacon used to be for bacon butties or fry ups, now if we have it at all its as a main meal), when we do have meat its main meal only
i bulk a lot of things out with lentils, pulses, rice and pasta but what happens when these things become more expensive
i tried growning veg last year but it was a bit disasterous but am determined to give it a go again and to reduce our waste to a minimum
i am shocked when i look in other peeps trolleys (nosy me) and see nothing but ready meals and junk food that stuff is ok very occasionally as a treat but imho is quite vile to eat every day. i know some people cant cook, i couldnt when i left home i lived on pot noodles, toast and digestive biscuits, but why not make the effort to learn, that bit i dont get. I suppose something that might come out of higher food prices is peoples diet may improve as they need more nutrition for less money
*the allotments here in my village were sold off last year so houses can be built, i was v surprised at that as i know there is a demand here but obviously
the money for selling was greater than the rents from allotments

One lot of Allotments here was sold off to extend the cemetery here :eek:

ceridwen

Butterfly_Brain wrote: »

One lot of Allotments here was sold off to extend the cemetery here :eek:

Future manure for food there??:rotfl:

Soz...excuse t'sense of humour there.

Well - that didnt make much sense did it? The living come before the dead (bodies of that is....) and there is t'other method after all (ie crematoriums).

Churchmouse

Allotments are rarer than hen's teeth in my area too. Long waiting lists, and I shan't be putting my name down. I do think it's a resource that could be handled much better. Why, for instance, are the plots in an area all the same size. Surely, to be fair, there should be different sizes allocated as to whether you are a one person household, a couple or a family of 4, 5, 6 or more? And maybe priority should be given to flat dwellers who don't have gardens. That way lots more households could be accommodated. Obviously too sensible for the powers that be

I think "landshare" sounds very good in theory, but I'd be wary of elderly people allowing unvetted total strangers access to their property. Much better if it can be arranged through someone known to the owner who can vouch for the gardener.

bonnie_bumpkins

Flibsey wrote: »

I am also teaching my daughter how to be frugal with food and how to cook. she's 5. never too young

I've done much the same with my children. From age 5 ish I taught them to sort washing as well

I did laugh in Waitrose yesterday when I saw a tub of frozen veg stock... for £2.99 :rotfl: I'd love to know how many they actually sell and if the people that buy it realise they have it already on a daily basis if they are cooking veg for supper every evening.

NoGoodNamesLeft

mesh wrote: »

A bit off key but having read the the whole thread I wanted to add my bit (if you don't mind!)...

I live in a small market town in Suffolk and we have a number of supermarkets.

I was in my local Mr S at the end of the day and they had a large number of single bananas which were bruised and said looking, I asked if I could have them cheap and was told no, they go to the local zoo for monkeys and chimps!!

I had to smile cos I said straight faced, do they pay for them and the young lad said I dont think so.....

I couldn't begrudge the primates their nanas now could I??:rotfl:

I used to volunteer at a local zoo and almost all our fruit and veg was the stuff supermarkets wouldn't sell. We would get 4 deliveries per week and each time it was a van full.

Two lots came from a local supermarket chain who charged us £50 for it, but the other two came from Sainsburys, who donated it free. Sainsburys also donated loads of food to the emergency services when we had the floods up here, so they are in my good books!

There was hardly anything wrong with it really. Even the bananas were quite fresh and had hardly any black spots. Not that the greedy monkeys would have cared!

We got sent some strange stuff too. I'm not sure which animal Sainsburys thought would eat the daffodils, or the garlic croutons, or the choc chip muffins.

So not all food is wasted. The supermarkets don't want to sell it cheap as it would cut into their profits. Or maybe they have to remove it from the shelves after a certain length of time. But at least a few of them are donating it to local zoos or animal rescues.

bonnie_bumpkins

NoGoodNamesLeft wrote: »

the other two came from Sainsburys, who donated it free. Sainsburys also donated loads of food to the emergency services when we had the floods up here, so they are in my good books!

That's good to know. Well done Sainsburys.

NoGoodNamesLeft wrote: »

I'm not sure which animal Sainsburys thought would eat the daffodils, or the garlic croutons

:rotfl::rotfl:

meg72

ceridwen wrote: »

Future manure for food there??:rotfl:

Soz...excuse t'sense of humour there.

Well - that didnt make much sense did it? The living come before the dead (bodies of that is....) and there is t'other method after all (ie crematoriums).

Love the sense of humour but did choke a bit on my beans on toast.

Our local powers that be, hijacked our allotments for building, now say they will use some of it as a playground. Hope the poor little sods do not get rickets due to lack of veg.