More price increases

[Spectric]

Went out today to look at getting some landscaping materials to finish some pathways in the garden, went to a supplier who has been around years and sells the real stuff, not the cast in concrete and was suprised how empty his yard was. Well looks like MDF and wood may have been hit, but so has landscaping materials and for several reasons, some common to other products. First issue is the cost of shipping and shortage of materials in asia. The cost of a full container inc shipping has more than doubled but this could be covered by adding a tenner to each square metre, a bigger issue is that there are no containers due to a worldwide shortage and lots of empty ones that just have not be picked up as it is not cost effectice to just ship empty ones. Then there has been a very high death rate of Indians that has resulted in many quarries being closed, others were washed out in the typhoons. In the UK large amounts of aggregate are being consumed by HS2, including products that were aimed at landscaping but are being crushed to be added to concrete. As for cement, both HS2 and Hinkley are just taking everything, so much for carbon neutral.

 

[doctor Bob]

Not sure that is correct in the correct sense of eating better. They will certainly eat at better restuarants, be more willing to travel to find a decent restuarant and probably do not set foot in places that sell rubbish where the packaging contains more nutrition than what has been classed as edible but when you look at how they cook al carte it may taste great but it is not healty, just watch the chefs prepare these dishes and it is large quantities of butter and lots of seasoning, read salt so maybe smaller portions that cost a lot more but not always healthy. I suppose in comparison to the very poor then yes the more money you have the more you can spend on food but maybe not always home prepared but not microwaved dishes either.

The wealthy are healthy these days, it's the poor who are out of shape and fat, as an average.

 

[D_W]

The wealthy are healthy these days, it's the poor who are out of shape and fat, as an average.

The reason for this isn't solely income, though, or means. A "poverty diet" as my grandparents would've eaten (limited meat, more beans, more vegetables, etc. - but not lots of fresh delivered leafy vegetables, more like peas/corn, etc, that are higher calorie) isn't terribly unhealthy.

What is unhealthy is a lack of discipline and drifting toward processed carb foods and fried stuff, sweet or salty.

It's not generally acceptable to be wealthy and tubby in the US - it looks bad. If you get so wealthy that you don't care what other people think at all, then that's different (see our last president, as well as some tycoons who love food and alcohol).

took a vacation this year in the same place as usual ( a beach where new construction averages about $6MM). We go a little off season and much of the foot traffic at that point is residents (very small limited area is hotels - 95% is residential ). the residents are *very* well kept and keeping appearance in line is obviously important. Plenty of plastic surgery among the young ladies, too, if natural proportions aren't as kind to them as their parents' budget is.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I've been on Perranporth beach early in the morning three days this week (stunning) - I've never seen so many grossly obese people. I mean grossly obese as being probably 50% over their proper weight, not a bit on the plump side, and a disturbing amount of children.

 

[Doug B]

It’s well known that obesity is at much higher rates in poorer areas particularly in children

 

[TRITON]

It’s well known that obesity is at much higher rates in poorer areas particularly in children

This is primarily to do with cheap food being stuffed with the main preservatives, namely salt and sugar. Food manufacturers seem to be able to dictate thier ingredients away from health towards profit.

 

[doctor Bob]

I put it down to grazing and glutteny, people seem to be like cows these days. They need to learn a little bit of hunger between 2-3 main meals is not going to kill you.
The fella opposit my workshop once eat 4 papa johns pizza's on his own because they had a deal and it was better value, WTF.
Having said that I have addiction issues so maybe food is just another addiction.

 

[D_W]

I put it down to grazing and glutteny, people seem to be like cows these days. They need to learn a little bit of hunger between 2-3 main meals is not going to kill you.
The fella opposit my workshop once eat 4 papa johns pizza's on his own because they had a deal and it was better value, WTF.
Having said that I have addiction issues so maybe food is just another addiction.

100% accurate for here. My parents had us convinced that we were poor, but we weren't allowed to get fat (I'm a bit fat now, and my mother lives 4 hours away but when I see her, she blows her cheeks up to let me know what she thinks I look like at 5'9" and 200 pounds).

the friends of mine who were poor had no limits on what they could eat (everything in the house that was edible came in a box and was dry), and the couple of wealthy friends had no personal possession of anything bad -it was metered to them in very small amounts by the parents. On the way to a particular friend's house, I walked past a drug store on the way there and bought a small bag of 10 cent candies. When I walked through the door eating some, his mother caught me and confiscated the bag "you've probably had enough".

The difference at that time is that I wasn't at all fat, but she wasn't having any of it.

We were not allowed to eat between meals in general - getting candy on the run was a rare treat but my parents allowed it (eating between meals was disallowed both for fear of making fat kids and for fear that we'd waste food. This would've been 35-40 years ago. in terms of portions, four people for dinner and we never had more than a pound of meat. My wife cooks two (I'm the only tub in the house, though).

 

[Terry - Somerset]

Fundamental change in attitude over the last few decades - people now eat when they are not full, previously they ate when they were hungry.

A bit of a generality but probably true - the wealthier bits of society:

• probably eat out more frequently simply because they can afford it. When they do they will tend to eat quality not cheap junk
• if eating at home will tend towards quality not low price
• are likely to be more informed about diet and exercise, belong to gyms and clubs, access to dieticians, doctors, trainers etc.
• can afford to pay someone else to take care of the chores

Processed food is much cheaper than buy the ingredients and cook it yourself. A little like furniture - cheaper to buy a completed kitchen (or most other furniture) from a shed than buy the wood and components and process.

Without much cash most will go for the processed option - I say"most" as it is possible to eat cheaply and well providing you have the knowledge and desire for a largely veggie existence. Fillet steak, sea bass and lobster won't play a major part in your diet despite being high quality low fat protein!

As an aside - more than one kitchen (+ basic kit in a garage/home office etc) is a pointless extravagance, largely the preserve of those more interested in status and statement. It simply creates hassle - more things to breakdown or fail, more effort to refurbish and renew at regular intervals to stay up to date with latest colour supplement trends.

 

[doctor Bob]

Fillet steak, sea bass and lobster won't play a major part in your diet despite being high quality low fat protein!

Chicken, cheap as chips, yet tends to be eaten deep fried from KFC rather than grilled.

 

[D_W]

Chicken, cheap as chips, yet tends to be eaten deep fried from KFC rather than grilled.

Milk and chicken are both cheap here, but they wouldn't satisfy someone who has grown used to the dopamine hit from fried or sugary foods. Frozen vegetables, beans and rice are also very inexpensive.

I checked the cdc stats and poor, but not absolute poverty makes for fat men and women. Absolute poverty makes for less fat men but high level of fat women. The income brackets stop at 350% of federal poverty line, which doesn't come close to being "affluent ", but obesity rates above that line are much lower, as are they if you sort on college graduates. None of these are surprising. Obesity in Avalon nj on the island is probably below 3%, but you can exclude areas of the town that are off the island to get only truly wealthy.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

This is primarily to do with cheap food being stuffed with the main preservatives, namely salt and sugar. Food manufacturers seem to be able to dictate their ingredients away from health towards profit.

If it's advertised as low fat it'll be high sugar and salt, low sugar will be high fat and salt and low salt will be high sugar and fat. They have to make cheap ingredients taste of something.

 

[doctor Bob]

people over estimate required calories and under estimate consumption.

 

[Doug B]

It doesn’t help that there are 5 times the amount of fast food outlets in poor areas than in wealthy, I guess some will say they are filling a demand but it certainly isn’t helping the situaction.

 

[doctor Bob]

It doesn’t help that there are 5 times the amount of fast food outlets in poor areas than in wealthy, I guess some will say they are filling a demand but it certainly isn’t helping the situaction.

Maybe in the city, but if you take a typical small town then we all have access to the same takeaways. Some choose to eat there 7 days a week others choose not to.

The free food at the beginning of the pandemic was a typical reaction "we got a loaf of bread and some potatoes, how is chardonnay supposed to eat that"............ well the answer is the family eats it and you buy a few treats but unfortunately some families dont want to eat bread and potatoes............

 

[NormanB]

Pure speculation and wrong. The wealthier the client the better they eat. Read it in the papers every day.
The wealthy do not buy micro meals.
As a general rule wealthy clients tend to be very fit and healthy and love cooking good food. Who do you think buys microwaveable ready burgers in buns?

Thank you for your opinion.
1. I did not equate to ‘wealthy people’.
2. Don’t believe what you read in the papers.
3. In the U.K. at least the sale of processed, ready to eat meals (heated by pings) continues to grow as the ’food‘ industry claws it’s way up the value chain. This is not confined solely to a habit of the lower socio economic groups. This can be witnessed by the proportion of floor space given over to this sort of food in the UK‘ higher end supermarkets. Supermarkets are about profit/per square metre - this stuff is shifted in volume - it is not window dressing.
4. Even when you move away from ‘food’ and talk about ‘real food’ it is increasingly prepared (salad and vegetables - convenience and value chain.
5. I have witnessed what I described in family members and work colleagues (ostentatious impressive kitchens that are a triumph of form over function - well they could function - but are not used so much and the freezer (huge) and the microwave are the engine room.
6. I cannot believe the USA is that much different in this specific regard but I do of course bow to your native insight.

 

[RobinBHM]

people over estimate required calories and under estimate consumption.

Theres a big difference between how much processed food we consume in the UK compared to say Italy.

this country has lost its ability to cook and prepare from raw ingredients.

my wife and I do a menu for the week and order all the ingredients as needed, we waste almost nothing, it Takes more effort than ordering takeaway but it’s so much better cooking from scratch.

 

[Spectric]

This is primarily to do with cheap food being stuffed with the main preservatives, namely salt and sugar.

Not to mention god knows what other products, a lot of people don't eat the crap from fast food outlets because they want to, it is an addiction just like smoking, alcohol and drugs and carries it's own set of long term risk.

But like many things that are not right they eventually become the acceptable normal, those fat wobblies on the beach think they are normal, and hence why they have fat obese children. When you see documentaries showing the past you cannot but notice that the people are much lighter build, no space hoppers amongst them and if you were at school in the sixties & seventies then being honest you must remember that any kid that was remotely overweight got a very rough time, now in this modern society you cannot say boo to a goose without offending someone or some thing. Why is honesty now thought of as offensive, a statement is just that so politely mentioning that someone has gained a bit to much weight that could be unhealthy is really doing them a favour, if all they get is compiments saying how great they look then eventually they it.

Then you don't have reality, how many images of people on social media are a true image of themselves, most have been doctored so the person looks like what they think or want to be, even on our Tv's we are seeing people that have been through a bodyshop to make them to a standard that is deemed presentable.

Chicken, cheap as chips, yet tends to be eaten deep fried from KFC rather than grilled.

Thats such a good point, even the most healthy food can become unhealthy due to the method of cooking, but for some reason unhealthy is addictive, people seem to like the bad rather than the good otherwise so many addictions just would not happen. To fix fat kids you need to start educating them when thy are in junior school about food, once they know the facts they may steer clear, show them what fat does to the bodies organs and take them to an abatoir at least they will have the facts.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

those fat wobblies on the beach think they are normal, and hence why they have fat obese children.

I suspect part of it is they think their fat children make them look normal - it's a genetic thing, it runs in the family - it's a glandular disorder etc. As an acquaintance, a PT instructor used to say - no one over came out of Belsen fat because of a glandular disorder.

 

[thetyreman]

most fat people are lazy, I know that's not very PC but it's true in most cases, I don't even buy stock I make my own from scratch, so much better than the crap you can buy in cubes.