Food Prices ?

[sidevalve]

Looking at our expenditure I must say that for us food just hasn't gone up much over the past four years.
When I retired we set a budget with the hope of being able to stick to it as long as possible - well we're still sticking to it. We eat just as well as we did [OK we only have a major take away once a month now instead of every weekend but maybe that's no bad thing] but otherwise not much has changed. We don't live on beans and rainwater [or fast food] or grass stew. We still have the 'full english' on a Saturday and have a pretty full freezer. Must admit to being a bit baffled by the cries of so many 'Oh the food bill is HUGE these days'.
We are not talking fuel or car prices here just food, I'm sorry but what do some of these people spend their money on ?

 

[classic33]

For some, what they were brought up on. Ready made meals.

That from seeing what went out every day in the baskets and bags.

 

[Cinisajoy]

A full English/Irish/Big breakfast is a fairly cheap meal.
Now what does add up in a hurry is boxed cereals, cookies, individual packaged chips (crisps), pre-made everything.
The biggest problem in my opinion is that parents give their kids whatever was advertised on the brat/junk food channels. Those foods are always expensive.
Many people also don't shop to the sales.

 

[Elawin]

For some, what they were brought up on. Ready made meals.

That from seeing what went out every day in the baskets and bags.

Exactly! Most young people I know can't cook to save their lives unless it's to stick a ready meal in the microwave or a packet of something in a pan of water.

All the ready meals in my freezer bar one are home-made. Pizzas and burgers (bar one which is organic and hand-made without preservatives) are home made. Bread is home made. My favourite breakfast muesli is organic and hand-prepared at a farm - I could make it myself but their sacks of oats etc are pretty large and far too much for one person to use in a reasonable amount of time Even the yoghurt I eat is home-made.

I do have a little food growing but it is regularly trashed by my young neighbour-from-hell who also ridicules my cooking, baking and preparing my own food. She cannot understand why I can't buy my food "from the supermarket, get a takeaway, or go to a restaurant the same as everyone else does".

 

[Elawin]

A full English/Irish/Big breakfast is a fairly cheap meal.
Now what does add up in a hurry is boxed cereals, cookies, individual packaged chips (crisps), pre-made everything.
The biggest problem in my opinion is that parents give their kids whatever was advertised on the brat/junk food channels. Those foods are always expensive.
Many people also don't shop to the sales.

The only boxed cereals I can remember from my younger days were Weetabix, Shredded Wheat, and Shreddies. Crisps were either salted or salt-free, depending whether you used the paper twist of salt inside the packet, and we never had any pre-made food other than baked beans and bread. The first time my Mum ever bought any convenience food, it was a packet of fish fingers! We had fruit trees and bushes, and vegetables growing in our own garden, and we kept chickens and rabbits. Everything else was bought from the greengrocer, butchers or grocers and was prepared and cooked in our own kitchen. There was no waste - leftovers were either reused to make something else or used as animal feed. We used to go out once a year for a meal - to the Ford employees' Christmas buffet and dance (it was free!) - or slightly more often if there were any family weddings, christenings or funerals in the offing. And we didn't have a TV!

 

[classic33]

Bring back cooking & home economics as lessons at school. For all.

Including the dirty parts. One lass fainted when the sheep was gutted at school. Their teacher had a friend who was a butcher by trade, and worked in the slaughter house in the town centre.

 

[Elawin]

I never did cookery at school (1950s/early 60s). There were strict rules re subjects. In the first year the girls could do art or needlework. In the second year, the subjects were art and needlework, or needlework and cookery BUT you could only do cookery if you took needlework in the first year. Guess who did art In fact I never even cooked anything until I was about 14, and only ever cooked regularly when I moved to Germany several years later.

 

[classic33]

Girls only for the cooking from the start. With only four lads doing it for their final two years.

Set up in a way. They got the girls to opt for woodwork or metalwork, then claimed it was unfair they couldn't choose cooking.

 

[Cinisajoy]

I never did cookery at school (1950s/early 60s). There were strict rules re subjects. In the first year the girls could do art or needlework. In the second year, the subjects were art and needlework, or needlework and cookery BUT you could only do cookery if you took needlework in the first year. Guess who did art In fact I never even cooked anything until I was about 14, and only ever cooked regularly when I moved to Germany several years later.

In our home ec class, the first semester was cooking (not anything really useful) and the second semester was sewing.

 

[Cinisajoy]

The only boxed cereals I can remember from my younger days were Weetabix, Shredded Wheat, and Shreddies. Crisps were either salted or salt-free, depending whether you used the paper twist of salt inside the packet, and we never had any pre-made food other than baked beans and bread. The first time my Mum ever bought any convenience food, it was a packet of fish fingers! We had fruit trees and bushes, and vegetables growing in our own garden, and we kept chickens and rabbits. Everything else was bought from the greengrocer, butchers or grocers and was prepared and cooked in our own kitchen. There was no waste - leftovers were either reused to make something else or used as animal feed. We used to go out once a year for a meal - to the Ford employees' Christmas buffet and dance (it was free!) - or slightly more often if there were any family weddings, christenings or funerals in the offing. And we didn't have a TV!

Now they have cocoa puffs, fruity pebbles, sugar smacks, lucky charms, trix, frosted flakes, and at least a dozen others. My mom didn't allow any sugared cereals in the house.

 

[Cinisajoy]

Exactly! Most young people I know can't cook to save their lives unless it's to stick a ready meal in the microwave or a packet of something in a pan of water.

All the ready meals in my freezer bar one are home-made. Pizzas and burgers (bar one which is organic and hand-made without preservatives) are home made. Bread is home made. My favourite breakfast muesli is organic and hand-prepared at a farm - I could make it myself but their sacks of oats etc are pretty large and far too much for one person to use in a reasonable amount of time Even the yoghurt I eat is home-made.

I do have a little food growing but it is regularly trashed by my young neighbour-from-hell who also ridicules my cooking, baking and preparing my own food. She cannot understand why I can't buy my food "from the supermarket, get a takeaway, or go to a restaurant the same as everyone else does".

As to your neighbor, well you can't fix ignorance.
Might I suggest planting some rose bushes or cat claw and some horse cripplers (ball cactus) near your garden.
You would just have to be careful or wear gloves but it might break her/him from messing with nature.

 

[Elawin]

As to your neighbor, well you can't fix ignorance.
Might I suggest planting some rose bushes or cat claw and some horse cripplers (ball cactus) near your garden.
You would just have to be careful or wear gloves but it might break her/him from messing with nature.

The blackberries (brambles) should be enough but unfortunately they are not. Obviously her skin is as thick as her brain.

 

[Elawin]

Now they have cocoa puffs, fruity pebbles, sugar smacks, lucky charms, trix, frosted flakes, and at least a dozen others. My mom didn't allow any sugared cereals in the house.

I only get [a supermarket equivalent of] Weetabix because greyhound owners here use it as dog food (breakfast). It does come in handy though if I run out of muesli

 

[epicuric]

It is staggering to look in some people's shopping trolleys. It is also worrying how many people think that cooking decent food is too expensive, then proceed to fill their trolleys full of processed cr*p that actually costs far more. Is it just stupidity or just an excuse for laziness?

 

[Cinisajoy]

It is staggering to look in some people's shopping trolleys. It is also worrying how many people think that cooking decent food is too expensive, then proceed to fill their trolleys full of processed cr*p that actually costs far more. Is it just stupidity or just an excuse for laziness?

Probably a bit of both.