UK: ‘I save £60 a month by growing my own food’
Demand for allotments has risen as supermarket prices soar
By Rachel Mortimer
is a personal finance reporter at The Telegraph
Sept 4, 2022
Excerpt:
For Ayesha Hooper, 50, growing her own food has always been a passion, but her green-fingered hobby is about to reap dividends.
This year she dug up her front garden and replaced it with a vegetable patch, insulating herself from rising food costs.
Ms Hooper, who has been head of the South West Counties Allotment Association for 14 years, said: “The rising cost of food is a big issue for everyone at the moment, as is the lack of it on the supermarket shelves.
“People who have an allotment or space in their garden to grow are the lucky ones. I can’t see out of my front window anymore, but it’s definitely been worth it.”
Supermarket prices have soared owing to a toxic cocktail of the war in Ukraine, the global supply chain crisis, strike action in Europe and recent extreme weather.
Food inflation rose to 9.3pc in August, up from 7pc in July, and fresh food prices jumped by 10.5pc, up from 8pc the month before. Both rates were the highest recorded by the British Retail Consortium since the financial crisis in 2008.
Experts have predicted that food inflation will remain at its current height for at least six months, warning the situation is “bleak for both consumers and retailers”. A growing number of people are turning to their gardens and allotments to ensure they have cheap and fresh fruit and vegetables in the coming months.
