Food prices to stay high for a decade

[Bill Fernie]

Fuel prices are rising and now we get confirmation that soaring food prices are here to stay. This item in the Times http://business.timesonline.co.uk/to...cle4029500.ece

Do we all need to get back to growing our own vegetables as soon as possible.

What else can we do?

Waste less, buy less, eat less - a heap of food is thrown away in western countries, we could survive on less especially meat products and eating less might halt the obesity problem.

As fuel prices rise more farmers especially in the USA are running their farm to grow crops for bio-fuels instead of food crops. Rice has doubled on the world market and is still rising. Shop prices all over the world are rising.

Has anyone adjusted their food buying habits yet?

A new allotment scheme in Alness had the allotments snapped up immediately and they have growing waiting list (sorry about the pun). http://www.highland.gov.uk/yourcounc...8-05-21-05.htm Should we be looking at more allotment schemes or are folk still not interested in growing their own food - many gave this up a long time ago or never started thinking it was somthing their grandparents did. Is it timely to begin to think about organising plots for folk to once again grow their own vegetables or would folk not take it up seriously. Do we wait until we are forced to do it by necessity?

Or do you think it is all exaggerated and that things will settle back down again.

[emb123]

This generation is going to leave quite a legacy for our grandchildren.

Doesn't surprise me Bill, I think there is value to returning to a simpler life, but deep down I must have the heart of an Amish I reckon

This is a very wasteful civilisation although I've noticed that the gulf is continuing to widen between the 'haves 'and the 'have-nots' at the moment. I think this will stop, fairly soon.

I think that we will all need to tighten our belts a bit and stop being so cavalier in our attitudes to waste, environmental damage and fossil fuel use.

I believe the real problems we are starting to see in the world are occuring now because the people who are making the important decisions don't have to deal with personal hardship. Too many tough decisions are being procrasticated over in the name of profit and laissez-faire.

I've not looked at the figures or done any statistical projections (I'm not a mathematician in any case) but I could see it being a tough decade ahead that we're only just scratching the surface of at the moment. It's not like folks ten years ago cannot turn round and say we told you so, because they did.


As I suggested initially, what sort of world are we going to be leaving for our Grandchildren ?

[Valerie Campbell]

I for one have changed my family's eating habits. We've cut out some of the treats we used to get, and alcohol consumption is now practically zero whereas before we thought nothing of going out and buying a bottle of wine whenever we felt like it. I used to shop exclusively at one store, now I go around two or three and it's paying dividends. We've also decided to use the open fires more (although not at the moment!!) as we can get the wood for free locally. We installed gas central heating 18 months ago and have watched it rocket in price, just like the cost of diesel and petrol, so we're economising where we can. The car is costing us a small fortune so hopefully our economising in the house is balancing it out, for now anyway. If fuels goes up to £1.50 then further measures will have to be taken.

[Mister Squiggle]

I was watching that "11th Hour" documentary on Channel 4 last week and I thought a pertinent point was made by one of the speakers who said we need to return to the idea of being "frugal" - of only buying essential food, of re-using as much as possible (including clothing, shoes etc) and growing as much produce as possible given your space restrictions ... basically re-thinking our consumption along more sensible, less wasteful lines.
Then, later this week on Channel 4 I caught a bit of that dire "10 Years Younger" where the poor specimen on show was being pilloried for buying clothes from op shops. But isn't this recycling? Shouldn't we all be re-using as many items as possible rather than being laughed at for doing so?
It seems inevitable that much of the choice about whether we go on as we have been so merrily doing for so many years will be taken out of our hands. Rising food prices and skyrocketing fuel is forcing people to make some long-overdue choices in terms of personal consumption.
Were I the one in charge of the new "Curriculum for Excellence" being flogged by the Scottish Executive, I'd make gardening for food, sewing, animal husbandry and practical repair skills central to a child's schooling experience, alongside maths and reading. These basic skills will be the ones which get people through tough times, just like they did in our great-grandparents' era.

[MadPict]

Maybe we will see back and front gardens turned into vegetable plots (like during the war) and folk growing their own.
Might be an idea to stock up the book shelves with "Vegetable Growing For Dummies".

And will homes be turned into mini bakeries as we all turn to baking our own bread. It's funny how in just a short time many have lost the ability to actually produce their own food.

The "Sell by date" fixation that we have developed (I admit to being a victim sometimes) resulting in edible food being thrown away should stop too. How on earth did people survive before fridges? I recall visiting an Aunts when I was younger and she had no fridge - it was a wire fronted cupboard/larder in the kitchen. She had a butchers shop round the corner and a grocers/post office (run by my Uncle) five minutes walk down the village. They wasted nothing. Food is getting more expensive so why throw it away?

I think the modern generation needs to go back to that practice, but it is made difficult with all the local butchers and bakers and greengrocers all being forced to close, as the big players move in. When you're forced to drive 5, 10 or 15 miles to get your essentials, or can't because fuel costs so much and you've had to sell the car, then perhaps the warnings about the closure of your high street shops will suddenly hit home...

Now where did I put Mrs Beeton?....

[TBH]

Nowadays there is not much point of in using your own garden for growing vegetables. With a lack of security, the theiving element would have you raided as soon as their was anyhthing worth harvesting. Community allotments are a great idea though.

[MadPict]

Well, to be fair, allotments get raided too - my local allotment doesn't allow sheds for fear of squatters (like we get a lot of them out here...) while in the next village they do (but tools often get nicked).
So, if the will is there, the thieving scumbags will nick anything. Maybe the erection of a good barbed wire fence and machine guns and spotlights in goon towers might persuade them to stay away....

Ahhh, that Dunkirk spirit....

[TBH]

Well, to be fair, allotments get raided too - my local allotment doesn't allow sheds for fear of squatters (like we get a lot of them out here...) while in the next village they do (but tools often get nicked).
So, if the will is there, the thieving scumbags will nick anything. Maybe the erection of a good barbed wire fence and machine guns and spotlights in goon towers might persuade them to stay away....

Ahhh, that Dunkirk spirit....

I could stretch to some barbed wire and security lights but Unfortunately, from a legal aspect, a gun tower would be unacceptable and I couldn't afford to hire a marksman anyways nor do it myself as I couldn't hit a coo's backside with a banjo. But, If there was a community allotment scheme where I live then I would accept having to pay a little extra for security measures.

[badger]

The "Sell by date" fixation that we have developed (I admit to being a victim sometimes) resulting in edible food being thrown away should stop too. How on earth did people survive before fridges? I recall visiting an Aunts when I was younger and she had no fridge - it was a wire fronted cupboard/larder in the kitchen. She had a butchers shop round the corner and a grocers/post office (run by my Uncle) five minutes walk down the village. They wasted nothing. Food is getting more expensive so why throw it away?

I agree about Sell by dates - mostly nonsense. Another thing that would cut waste is to get rid of BOGOF offers and "3 for 2". I'd much rather pay half price than buy twice as much as I need just because it looks like a bargain. Except in large families these things must result in masses of waste. Half price offers would benefit everyone.

[tootler]

I just went and had a wee peek at the allotments in Thurso last weekend because I was thinking about getting one (they're just off St Andrew's Drive, beside the cemetery) and I was really surprised to see that most of them were overgrown and unused... does anyone know who runs them these days - is it still the council?

I've got a few veggies growing in my back yard and no-one's nicked them yet... I guess as long as Tesco sells food in packets they'll get nicked before my wormy carrots do!

[scorrie]

For a while now, we have lived in a consumer society driven by spend, spend, spend. It has been all about more, more, more. We have been consuming at an exponential rate, and it could never last. Sub-prime lending, Northern Rock, Food and Fuel prices are all going to force most of the belts in a notch or two. Only those who sold the dream in the first place are able to wave these concerns away as trifling matters.

ps Is it just me, or did "Sub-prime" seem like a euphemism for "Crap"

[scorrie]

I agree about Sell by dates - mostly nonsense.

I ate a yoghurt that was 10 weeks out of date and it was fresh as a daisy!!

[Anne x]

I agree about Sell by dates - mostly nonsense. Another thing that would cut waste is to get rid of BOGOF offers and "3 for 2". I'd much rather pay half price than buy twice as much as I need just because it looks like a bargain. Except in large families these things must result in masses of waste. Half price offers would benefit everyone.

I agree with you in Perishable food bgof for us a complete waste of money as they end up getting wasted bogof in Cleaning items and Toiletries not so bad I would prefer to see the Items prices reduced but in larger families maybe they do save some money on the offers
I see quite a difference in our weekly shopping bill with most things greatly increased in price
maybe we should plant some veg provided you have the space I have this year planted my own herbs as found the supermarket prepacked far too much for what I needed and getting wasted