| Archive for Downsizer For an ethical approach to consumption |
| Rob R |
Dispatches: The Truth About Food PricesDispatches: The Truth About Food PricesSome interesting points raised in this programme, not the the truth, the whole truth & nothing but the truth, but enough for the public to be going on with. Going through that idiots bin & the kind of stuff they were chucking away was just shocking [a whole unopened pizza that could have gone in the freezer].  The excuse; 'we find it hard to buy things that will last the week' [so we buy more than we need & throw a lot of it striaght in the bin], if anyone can explain that one to me, answers on a postcard please. 
|
||||||
| wildgarlic |
I found the programme didn't tell me much that I hadn't already read on forums such as this one - do those people REALLY throw that much edible food away each week, or was that a set up for the cameras? | ||||||
| JB |
Don't suppose you could give a quick precis could you? What did they identify as the major causes of food price inflation? | ||||||
| Rob R |
Erm, well it's on 4od if you want to check but the reasons I can remember (in no particular order) were: - biofuels (and the 5% & 10% pledges) - supermarkets increasing their margins on the back of general price rises - the futures market (ie people investing in wheat futures & pushing the market price up) - drought in Australia - increased prosperity of China - fuel price increase There may be more reasons, but they were also talking about how we could save, mainly on: - shopping around, away from supermarkets - wasting less - buying from discount supermarkets |
||||||
| JB |
Ta for that. 4od was whinging about not having windows media something or other. Slightly surprised that Chinese prosperity appears as a reason for increased food prices, how does that work? |
||||||
| Rob R |
The richer they get, the more wasteful they become, like us 
Edit: Apparently they are also eating more beef and, apparently, it takes 7kg of grain to produce 1kg of beef 
|
||||||
| bagpuss |
isn't that down to increased demand, more prosperity means less subsistence and more demand for cultivated food so the prices go up as more people want the same number of resources |
||||||
| marigold |
If people in this country stopped wasting food, presumably that would actually help to drive prices UP, as supermarket profits would be reduced and they'd increase prices to compensate for falling sales? | ||||||
| jema |
I only had half an ear open but the people seemed clueless as to the cost of what they put in their own shopping baskets. No idea even what a loaf of bread cost
|
||||||
| RichardW |
Yes but you would be buying less to start with too. Also most of the waste is pre consumer. Rejected by the supermarkets standards or out of date & damaged stuff. RichardW |
||||||
| marigold |
I thought someone had done a survey that showed that people chuck out 30-40% of the food they buy? http://www.wrap.org.uk/retail/food_waste/research/the_food_we_waste.html |
||||||
| Rob R |
I find the 30% figure totally believable, based on my experience of non-downsizerish aquaintances. They also mentioned on the programme that supermarkets, although giving the impression that they compete on price, actually compete on market share. They give that impression to lure people in, even though the local butcher or greengrocer may be considerably cheaper. Most people choose which supermarket to attend on proximity, not price. |
||||||
| RichardW |
Read the full report (237 pages) & 19% of that is unavoidable (bones, veg peelings, teabags etc) Sort of takes the wind out of the 40% figure. Still to much mind. RichardW |
||||||
| Rob R |
Isn't that 19% of the 30% of waste, so effectively 6% of the total? |
||||||
| Treacodactyl |
One of the main reasons given was the increased consumption of meat. I can't remember the exact numbers but it was a huge amount of cereals for a small amount of meat.
I'm not sure if that's a problem. We don't really throw out anything and I don't tend to know the prices for many things. I've no idea how much a loaf of bread costs but that's mainly because we've not bought one for years. |
||||||
| marigold |
A used tea bag isn't waste in the same way as an uneaten ready meal is. Doesn't matter whether it's 10% waste or 40%, the principle is still the same, if supermarket turnover drops because people waste less and therefore buy less, then the supermarkets will have to increase their profits somehow and prices may go up. |
||||||
| Rob R |
They're doing that already though, that's part of the problem, people just don't realise it (because the adverts said they were cheaper...) |
||||||
| JB |
Not just consumers after they buy the produce; Grocer's anger at small kiwi rule |
||||||
| RichardW |
No of the total or thats how I read it anyway. Will check RichardW |
||||||
| Rob R |
I've found it myself now & will post it so you can make your own minds up:
|
||||||
| RichardW |
I agree. But if you look purely at the numbers. If a shop sell you £100 of food in week one & you chuck 50% the shop took £100 & you spent £100 & lets say they made £20 But then you think bugger this & only bought half as much eventualy the shop would double it prices (so ok in the mean time you save). So again you spend £100 & the shop get £100. The shop will actualy make more money in option 2 as they only bought half the stock, half the transport smaller shops, less delivery so much less overheads. So if consumers half their buying shops can double prices & we are no worse off. In actual fact they would only need to raise prices by double the profit margin to break even. So £50 worth of shoping at todays prices would cost£70 but will still feed you for as long as £100 used to & the shop will be making the same amount of money for less work. RichardW PS
Hum yeh does seem to mean 19% of the total wasted not 19% of total bought. Lies, dam lies & statistics |
||||||
| marigold |
Makes sense, thanks  . I'm not clever with numbers  .
|