Why we should be tucking into tongue and turnip

It seems our course is set. Food prices are rising at the fastest rate in more than 40 years, taking the average family’s yearly grocery bill over £5,200 – and there’s no relief in sight. Lord Woolton would be rubbing his hands at a situation so ripe for his ingenuity and optimism – and perhaps his namesake pie and the national loaf might find themselves resuscitated before long. But his 1945 call for ‘a simpler diet’ of bread, potatoes and vegetable oils won’t help much in 2022. According to the Office for National Statistics, ‘low-cost’ everyday staples are seeing the greatest price rises of all, with the average cost increasing by 17 per cent in the past 12 months. Vegetable oil is up by 65 per cent, pasta by 60 per cent and bread by 38 per cent, far outpacing inflation.

Belts will be tightened; braces must be braced. With rents, mortgages, bills, fuel and travel all heading upward in an unbending trajectory, discretionary household spending must go in an equal and opposite direction just to stand still.