Claire Everett
Food prices are soaring. That’s the message everywhere at the moment. In a direct sense, the facts have been laid on the table by the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation with the Food Price Index having risen for the eighth consecutive month (FAO, 2011). In a less obvious way, the ever-increasing advertising and presence of supermarket deals seems to indicate a certain panic to retain consumer confidence and spending.
There’s no single factor causing the prices rises. It’s a combination of rising oil prices, crop failures, demand for food, and increasing market speculation where investors in financial markets see prices are rising so buy now, which drives the prices up again, and so on (in effect betting on food prices). In addition, all of these causes are themselves subject to a number of influences such as political unrest and natural disasters.
The problem we face, is that while we might be able to tighten our belts when it comes to buying clothes or other non-essential commodities, we need food to live. So what can we do to keep the price of our weekly shop as low as possible?
Grow your own - I know, I know...no garden, no time, no pots or tools etc etc – none of these are valid excuses! Grow what you can, where you can, when you can - using yogurt pots and your hands if that’s all you have! It’s the perfect time of year for planting seeds and when you see how many cherry tomatoes you get from a £2 pack of seeds compared to how many you get in a £2 punnet you’ll be wondering why you’ve not grown your own before! www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/gardening_guides/
Don’t waste food – Whether we’re talking getting your portion control under control, using up leftover veg in a soup or stew, or dicing broccoli stalks to put in a curry, make the absolute most of what you pay for. www.lovefoodhatewaste.com
Batch cook – Cook enough for a few meals, then keep in the fridge or freeze. It could be a whole meal like lasagne, or a part meal like chilli that you can then vary by having with rice or a baked potato. As well as saving time, this is the best way to take advantage of nearly-out-of-date reductions and seasonal offers! www.bbcgoodfood.com/content/recipes/favourites/batch-cooking/
Snack pots – Instead of buying snack size things, buy bigger size ones then portion them up yourself. From treats to everyday eats, it almost always works out cheaper to buy in bulk. (I’ll blog some ideas for this soon!)
Come Dine With Me – If your friends are on a budget too, use the extra time you have from not going out as much to cook dinner for a group of you and rotate the host role. Theme it by calendar event (Valentines, Easter, Halloween...), country (Indian, Spanish, Thai...), season (salads, stews, courgettes!...) or random theme (your favourite colour, round foods, finger foods...).
Plan your meals – it helps you budget, buy in bulk and avoid waste. www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/save_time_and_money/two_week_menu
No-one can be expected to suddenly do all of these, but even trying one could save you a valued bit of cash. If anyone has any other ideas, please feel free to post!
Don't go shopping hungry - you end up buying what you fancy and not what you need.
ReplyDeleteGo with a list - stops you impulse buying.
I think grow your own is great. Also eating seasonal veg too. We are however having curly kale most days and i am running out of ideas.
ReplyDeleteDepending on you city location, get in contact with your local council who may have allotment space available. The following website provides details of how to get started if you have a plot.
ReplyDeletewww.startuk.org/eat/how-to-get-an-allotment