As an OSer scratch cooking, what ingredients are going to be effected by poor crops?

Butterfly_Brain

It is scary especially with the big changes in benefits next year a lot of people will be thrown into the doo doo, because there are not enough jobs to go around. That is another reason to set up a good stock cupboard.

[Deleted User]

Well last night at Sainsbobs at around 8.30p.m. they were reducing some veg and I snaffled at 7KG net of onions, a 465gm box of tomato's, a 200gm bag of cut runner beans, 2 x 5 kg bags of spuds, plus 2 Galia melons all for 10p each.My DGS had the melon after lunch today and it was delicious as I had put them straight into the fridge so they were nice and cold .The onions I have split up and given bag fulls to my neighbours and cut and diced lots and put in the freezer in boxes and when frozen will donate some to each of my DDs.The potatos went to my youngest DD as she has a large family and at 20p they will all be used within the next few days.
70p for a large bag of veg must be my bargain of the week.everything that I can freeze I have done so and the rest will be eaten up or shared with my two DDs
I think it will be a case of treking to see what stuff is being reduced when you can and freezing as much as possible when its possible.My freezer is packed with stuff ,most of which have been reduced in price.

valk_scot

I'm actually wondering whether it might be more cost effective in the long run to spend any spare cash on a second freezer, rather than stockpiling now. If you start buying non perishables now there is a chance that the price increases might be less than you expected, or you may find them on reduction anyway. Whereas with a freezer you can buy up whatever you find unexpectedly on good offer, it doesn't have to be non perishables. Meat, cheese, butter etc all keep really well, are expensive at any time but can also be found really cheaply in the Reduced cabinet if one is lucky. And of course freezers help cut wastage by improving portion control and being able to batch cook and freeze leftovers. There's no point in saving 5p in the £ buying rice now for example, if you're still cooking too much and have no space to freeze the leftovers. So perhaps it's worth spending on a better/bigger storage system and saving the pennies that way?

sophlowe45

JackieO wow to your amazing shopping haul!!

i don't think i would even manage one 5kg bag of potatoes on the bus or tube! Heavy stuff i can only do through online shopping.

interesting idea valk_scot, what i really wish for is community centres and similar places to be able to be able to have projects and volunteers who could bulk buy food and keep in freezers there and people could go there to have cooked meals and pay cost price or a bit more for the meal.

People in flatshares, many with no living rooms have very little kitchen space and it would be so great to be able to go to local venues where they have the space and you could eat together with other people too.

[Deleted User]

On T.V.last night at 8.00 the programme mentioned a place in Yorkshire called Todmorden where every spare bit of space is used to cultivate food The scheme is called Incredible Edible It sounds like a brilliant idea and one that perhaps could be copied a bit more in the community.Because of the amount grown its not going to impact much on local greengrocers I would have thought and it seemed a great way to get the spirit of Britain moving again.I am a great believer in the goodness of folk and not all that we read in the papers is accurate ,especially about young folk.Look up the website and see what I mean ,or maybe you live in the area and could comment about how its going.I have a 75ft garden that I would be happy to let anyone grow things in as I can no longer do it myself

Cheapskate

The Todmorden group is a fantastic idea - they came to talk to our community group (I live in a town not a million miles from Tod), and are so inspiring. Not all their ideas would work everywhere, but it's getting people to understand more about growing their own food, and that it's not hard or faffy. There's also a scheme (Landshare?) that matches up people with spare land with those who wants some to grow edible crops, but none near me, unfortunately.

Almost everyone I talk to is starting to grow something, even just salad stuff and herbs - the same people, mostly, who laughed when I said food was going to get really expensive again, and who said they'd always have enough money for food - think what I've said has been backed up so often by the news that it's sunk in with them!

I'm going to grow spuds, onions, try carrots and celery, and loads of herbs (the latter seem to do really well in tubs here), even just a bit will help costs!

A xo

Gigervamp

JackieO wrote: »

I have a 75ft garden that I would be happy to let anyone grow things in as I can no longer do it myself

Have a look at Landshare. It was set up by Hugh F-W a few years ago. It matches people who have land (whether it's a garden or field) with people who would like some land on which to grow veggies.

Possession

JackieO wrote: »

On T.V.last night at 8.00 the programme mentioned a place in Yorkshire called Todmorden where every spare bit of space is used to cultivate food The scheme is called Incredible Edible It sounds like a brilliant idea and one that perhaps could be copied a bit more in the community.Because of the amount grown its not going to impact much on local greengrocers I would have thought and it seemed a great way to get the spirit of Britain moving again.I am a great believer in the goodness of folk and not all that we read in the papers is accurate ,especially about young folk.Look up the website and see what I mean ,or maybe you live in the area and could comment about how its going.I have a 75ft garden that I would be happy to let anyone grow things in as I can no longer do it myself

Actually JackieO that could be a fantastic project to set up - those who can no longer manage their gardens donate their space, and in turn get their gardens managed and have no need to pay gardeners/have the garden fall into chaos. And presumably get some fruit and veg out of it too!
I have stocked up on oats, bread flour, pasta, lentils, rice, tinned potatoes & carrots, tinned tomatoes & passata, value rice pudding etc. I'm planning to get cooking/olive oil when I see a good deal.

mardatha

Everybody in this village has a big garden and when we first came here they were all full of veg, as the people were mainly retired farm workers. Now it's mainly yuppies like architects and office types who commute and the gardens are not used. It's a shame - I wish we were fitter and able to do a lot more, there's nothing like the feeling of growing your own food.

Kitchenbunny

Has anyone had experience of seed swapping? Either in a local community arrangement or of any websites which might be useful? Either way, it's another way to consider for increasing our own garden produce. When I can, I shall be devoting a lot more time to growing my own, but if I collect seeds from produce like peppers I'd like to know if there's some way I could help someone else out.

There was an interesting article on the BBC website (which I can't find the link for now) concerning alternative food sources that were being looked into. I think more people are aware of the situation - more from an increasing population's influence on food resources rather than more immediate issues - and are looking at the problem.

With the use of land for bio-fuels I can see prices of pretty much everything going up. Meat, certainly, and as already mentioned anything else relying on grain. Flour does freeze, so I am certainly thinking of getting my chest freezer back into commission. One for day to day freezer use and one for stores.

K xx