Why the UK has such cheap food

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-45559594

by druml • 8 years ago

3 2 8 years ago

bbc.co.uk

Because it has to be! look at the increases in the spending on services, transport and housing vs the 50s figures, were the food any more expensive (which it will be very soon once this brexit shitstorm fully kicks up) then people are going to struggle to pay their bills

i have a feeling we will be seeing a lot more people on the street in the coming years (like its not bad enough already!)

jaclaz• 8 years ago

With all due respect for the Professors that wrote this piece, it is rare to see such a mish-mash of semi-random data (IMHO very badly) assembled together, from the beginning:

So the percentage of total household expenditure used for food has decreased, actually halved in the last 60 years, fine.

Sixty years ago, that is the '50's, the UK (like a number of other Eu countries) were just after World War II and in the linked article, there is already an explanation:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-42735294

People's resources were more meagre and essentials such as food and clothing took a bigger share of the budget.

and:

A typical household had a third less to spend per week: £381 in today's money, compared with £554 at the moment.

8% of £554 is 44.32 and 44.32 is almost 12% of 381, so that already justifies a lot of the decrease, but something is way off.

The present article affirms that:

Britons spend an average of 8% of their total household expenditure on food to eat at home.

The linked to article affirms that:

What we are allocating to food has more than halved. It was a third of spending, at 33%, and now only 16%.

So it is either 8% or 16% and it was in 1957 either 16% or 33%.

to the end: > In January 2017, cold weather in Italy and heavy rainfall in Spain caused a "perfect storm" for courgette importers, pushing up prices at a time of year when Western consumers demand healthier food.

And how this exceptional weather in 2017 will possibly affect 2018/2019 prices is left to the imagination of the reader.

Why the UK has such cheap food

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