Sunday roast trend highlights grim reality of cost of living

One in four Britons are making fewer roasts to save money

Saman Javed
Friday 23 September 2022 11:13 BST
Comments
Energy firm boss tries to justify price increase amid cost of living crisis

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Meal planning, making fewer Sunday roasts and ditching alcohol are some of the diet changes Britons are making as a result of the cost of living crisis, according to new research.

A survey of 3,000 people has found that people have cut consumption of alcohol by as much as 22 per cent, while a fifth of respondents said they are buying less red meat and avoiding snacking in between meals.

A significant change in eating habits is the abandonment of the Sunday roast. As more than one in five stated they are using their oven as little as possible, 26 per cent of people said they are less likely to make the traditional offering on a weekly basis.

Of those surveyed, 18 per cent said they have switched off their oven for good and no longer use it.

The news comes as people across the UK are struggling to afford their gas and electricity bills, and food prices continue to rocket. The Bank of England has forecasted that inflation will likely rise to 11 per cent in October.

Last month, retail data company Kantar predicted that shoppers could expect to see their food and grocery bills increase by more than £500 per year, with items such as butter, milk and poultry seeing the biggest jump in price.

According to the BBC’s Good Food Nation survey, almost a third of shoppers are swapping branded items for supermarket own brands in a bid to curb costs, while a quarter are shopping less frequently.

Additionally, 22 per cent of people said they no longer stick to a single supermarket and will shop around for deals and reductions instead.

Some parents are opting to send their kids to school with packed lunches (15 per cent) as opposed to paying for school dinners, while others have changed what they pack for their children to save money (30 per cent).

Meanwhile some adults said they are implementing meal planning around ingredients they already have that are set to expire.

The survey also asked children aged between five and 16 about how their families could increase budgeting. The top responses were using up food that is already in the house (61 per cent) and buying cheaper ingredients (55 per cent).

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in