Cost of Living - Shrinkflation is speeding up at an alarming rate

[jpaul]

Ketchup - been using Chef brand sauces - coming from Ireland though availability/price was another victim of brexit, currently nursing the last of some bottles.

The consumer pressure for reducing calories, well, tax sugar, is predominately the government trying to reduce NHS cost of the likes of 10% budget diabetes cost (see that threads just been kicked) -
not a futile goal, but trying to nudge the consumer via their wallet; perhaps govt should legislate more on some of the anonymous takeaway stuff too.
but they perversely backed off on the new high fat sugar legislation because might hurt food companies when they feared recession

 

[chaparral]

The country is fat because they consume too many carbs, of which sugar is included.

People are thinking eating fat makes you fat, it’s equal to whatever random tribe somewhere thinks that if they shake this stick at the sky the rain will come tomorrow.

That a good thing, I been trying to put on weight for most my life and at last after all them years I have

I used to hate weighting only 8 1/2 stone and now am around 12 1/2 stone

 

[Hedge]

Ketchup - been using Chef brand sauces - coming from Ireland though availability/price was another victim of brexit, currently nursing the last of some bottles.

The consumer pressure for reducing calories, well, tax sugar, is predominately the government trying to reduce NHS cost of the likes of 10% budget diabetes cost (see that threads just been kicked) -
not a futile goal, but trying to nudge the consumer via their wallet; perhaps govt should legislate more on some of the anonymous takeaway stuff too.
but they perversely backed off on the new high fat sugar legislation because might hurt food companies when they feared recession

If the government wanted to really improve NHS costs then I think gyms should be subsidised, sport and phys should be pushed harder in schools, tax should be removed from gym supplements / protein shakes etc.

The likes of Just Eat doing deliveries from shops and garages is just utterly bonkers. It would take me about 7 minutes to walk to my nearest shop for basics. But I could pay to have someone deliver that.

Convenience alone must have made millions fatter than they would have been 20yr ago.

 

[MichaelAwkward]

If the government wanted to really improve NHS costs then I think gyms should be subsidised, sport and phys should be pushed harder in schools, tax should be removed from gym supplements / protein shakes etc.

The likes of Just Eat doing deliveries from shops and garages is just utterly bonkers. It would take me about 7 minutes to walk to my nearest shop for basics. But I could pay to have someone deliver that.

Convenience alone must have made millions fatter than they would have been 20yr ago.

This, and per mile charging for cars with different rates depending on the fuel type/size so that it's even more effectively taxed than just the duty on fuel.

The amount of people I see travelling 1 mile around the corner to the shops who I know live locally from my walks around the estate is ridiculous. And yes, most of them are on the larger side too.

 

[GIBURROWS]

This, and per mile charging for cars with different rates depending on the fuel type/size so that it's even more effectively taxed than just the duty on fuel.

The amount of people I see travelling 1 mile around the corner to the shops who I know live locally from my walks around the estate is ridiculous. And yes, most of them are on the larger side too.

1 mile is around the corner, do you live in Oz?

 

[MichaelAwkward]

1 mile is around the corner, do you live in Oz?

No. "Around the corner" is a well known idiom, or I thought it was, meaning nearby which is what I'd class ~1 miles as being, within walking distance. In my case, the shops are literally around the corner following the road.

 

[robfosters]

It’s a mile from my house to my nearest Lidl. I certainly wouldn’t want to walk it carrying shopping. Up to about 0.4-0.5m is around the corner

 

[GIBURROWS]

No. "Around the corner" is a well known idiom, or I thought it was, meaning nearby which is what I'd class ~1 miles as being, within walking distance. In my case, the shops are literally around the corner following the road.

Around the corner is not a mile even for Roger Bannister!

 

[MichaelAwkward]

It’s a mile from my house to my nearest Lidl. I certainly wouldn’t want to walk it carrying shopping. Up to about 0.4-0.5m is around the corner

Surely depends on how much shopping? Obviously not going to carry a big shop that distance but 1 or 2 medium-full bags of shopping shouldn't be too much to carry a mile.

It's probably more a reflection on your fitness level if that's a struggle for you. It's a 15 minute walk depending on terrain...

 

[MichaelAwkward]

Around the corner is not a mile even for Roger Bannister!

Who's Roger Bannister?

 

[mattyprice4004]

Who's Roger Bannister?

If only search engines existed to help with such queries!

 

[GIBURROWS]

Surely depends on how much shopping? Obviously not going to carry a big shop that distance but 1 or 2 medium-full bags of shopping shouldn't be too much to carry a mile.

It's probably more a reflection on your fitness level if that's a struggle for you. It's a 15 minute walk depending on terrain...

I didn't say it was a struggle I just said you were wrong in saying a mile is around the corner.

Talks about fitness but has no clue about Roger Bannister.....

 

[Bear]

This, and per mile charging for cars with different rates depending on the fuel type/size so that it's even more effectively taxed than just the duty on fuel.

That amounts to the same thing. A fuel guzzler drinks more fuel per mile thus gets charged more per mile travelled compared to a small shopping car. Fuel duty works perfectly well

 

[MichaelAwkward]

That amounts to the same thing. A fuel guzzler drinks more fuel per mile thus gets charged more per mile travelled compared to a small shopping car. Fuel duty works perfectly well

It doesn't though because it's not a 1:1 relationship. Many things other than your mileage can affect your fuel efficiency and ultimately fuel duty is charged on the quantity of fuel, not the mileage.

Someone who lives in a more congested area may be doing less miles but consuming more fuel than someone in the countryside because they're sat in traffic for a lot of it.

Charging per mile is far fairer than what we have now which is primarily about emissions and not usage. If we want people to drive less rather than just driving cleaner vehicles, we need to charge on the usage and not just on the almost unrelated product being consumed in the process.

 

[Bear]

It doesn't though because it's not a 1:1 relationship. Many things other than your mileage can affect your fuel efficiency and ultimately fuel duty is charged on the quantity of fuel, not the mileage.

Someone who lives in a more congested area may be doing less miles but consuming more fuel than someone in the countryside because they're sat in traffic for a lot of it.

Charging per mile is far fairer than what we have now.

No it isnt, you could drive 5 miles in London which could take an hour stuck in traffic yet waste loads of fuel polluting the city. The current system works perfectly well, you burn more you pay more its that simple. If you charge per mile a 100 mile journey would be the same regardless if you drove a 800cc smart car or a 8l Dodge Viper despite the vast difference in pollution

 

[MichaelAwkward]

No it isnt, you could drive 5 miles in London which could take an hour stuck in traffic yet waste loads of fuel polluting the city. The current system works perfectly well, you burn more you pay more its that simple. If you charge per mile a 100 mile journey would be the same regardless if you drove a 800cc smart car or a 8l Dodge Viper despite the vast difference in pollution

But that's exactly it - I'm arguing to charge per mile to stop being driving unnecassarily. Nothing to do with pollution.

Ideally you'd need to do both. Charge per mile AND levy on polluting fuels to encourage greener vehicles.

It's totally different policy objectives. Already we're seeing that VED is being extended to electric vehicles despite them producing no emissions directly apart from tyre particulates which isn't targeted by the levy. It'd be fairer if they paid no VED and a separate charge per mile to discourage unnecassary journeys. The whole taxation system needs to be rewritten from scratch quite frankly.

 

[Bear]

But that's exactly it - I'm arguing to charge per mile to stop being driving unnecassarily. Nothing to do with pollution.

Ideally you'd need to do both. Charge per mile AND levy on polluting fuels to encourage greener vehicles.

It's totally different policy objectives. Already we're seeing that VED is being extended to electric vehicles despite them producing no emissions directly apart from tyre particulates which isn't targeted by the levy.

A per mile charge might prevent someone travelling 100 miles to see friends but it wont stop someone driving unnecessarily 5 miles down the road and about 55% of car journeys are below 5 miles https://www.cycling-embassy.org.uk/...nsportation-or-commuting-needs-of-most-people unless you make the first 5 miles £5 a mile it isnt going to put anyone off and its those people you want to put off using their cars

 

[MichaelAwkward]

A per mile charge might prevent someone travelling 100 miles to see friends but it wont stop someone driving unnecessarily 5 miles down the road and about 68% of car journeys are below 5 miles https://www.sustrans.org.uk/our-blo...key-walking-and-cycling-statistics-for-the-uk unless you make the first 5 miles £5 a mile it isnt going to put anyone off and its those people you want to put off using their cars

Great idea. Tapering makes a lot of sense.

 

[Rroff]

But that's exactly it - I'm arguing to charge per mile to stop being driving unnecassarily. Nothing to do with pollution.

Ideally you'd need to do both. Charge per mile AND levy on polluting fuels to encourage greener vehicles.

It's totally different policy objectives. Already we're seeing that VED is being extended to electric vehicles despite them producing no emissions directly apart from tyre particulates which isn't targeted by the levy. It'd be fairer if they paid no VED and a separate charge per mile to discourage unnecassary journeys. The whole taxation system needs to be rewritten from scratch quite frankly.

But aside from pollution/environment and maybe traffic levels in some areas what is the problem with people driving "unnecessarily"?

A lot of these schemes are just going to hit poorer/hard working people hardest and those driving large, polluting vehicles are probably well off enough they won't care.

If the government wanted to really improve NHS costs then I think gyms should be subsidised, sport and phys should be pushed harder in schools, tax should be removed from gym supplements / protein shakes etc.

The likes of Just Eat doing deliveries from shops and garages is just utterly bonkers. It would take me about 7 minutes to walk to my nearest shop for basics. But I could pay to have someone deliver that.

Convenience alone must have made millions fatter than they would have been 20yr ago.

Time/energy is also a factor - during the height of the pandemic I was working 3 day weeks and was spending at least 1 day a week getting some good time on my gym equipment, not so much these days. Increasingly with modern working patterns and the erosion of the traditional weekend a lot of people are only getting 1 day off at a time as well, which personally I think is bad, which further reduces the scope for getting in some gym time, etc. for a lot of working people.

 

[MichaelAwkward]

But aside from pollution/environment and maybe traffic levels in some areas what is the problem with people driving "unnecessarily"?

A lot of these schemes are just going to hit poorer/hard working people hardest and those driving large, polluting vehicles are probably well off enough they won't care.



Time/energy is also a factor - during the height of the pandemic I was working 3 day weeks and was spending at least 1 day a week getting some good time on my gym equipment, not so much these days. Increasingly with modern working patterns and the erosion of the traditional weekend a lot of people are only getting 1 day off at a time as well, which personally I think is bad, which further reduces the scope for getting in some gym time, etc. for a lot of working people.

The original post I was replying to was about what the government could to encourage healthier lifestyles to reduce NHS expenditure. Gettiing people to walk those short journeys that they currently drive is an obvious target to get people to be more active, raise average fitness levels and reduce the occurence of poor health resulting from modern lifestyles. Healthier eating habits would be the other easy target but we've seen how pointless the sugar tax has been.

Obviously if we had a competent government it would link up these initiatives with greater investment in public transport etc so that the poorer/working people aren't hit hardest.