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A Funeral for Fish & Chips
(www.theguardian.com)
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this post was submitted on 20 Jul 2023
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UKCasual
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Sad and accurate. Energy bills + cost of living + the political event that cannot be named here and suddenly a traditional meal that we all expect to always be there and always be good value is just too expensive. Two small cod + chips is £20 near me these days.
Pubs are going the same way too. I don't mean the big soulless chains like Spoons but the smaller locals. Since COVID, 4 pubs in my town have closed, unable to compete. The ones that survived aren't cosy locals anymore, they survived by having themed events two or three times a week. I don't blame them but it seems the days of just nipping into the pub for a quiet pint or a chat with your neighbours are gone.
This is happening because our wages haven't kept up with rising costs. Otherwise paying £20 for a fish and chips wouldn't be an issue.
Yep, that plays a significant part too. But when you've got a fryer who's monthly running cost has gone from £600 to £2000 that's unsustainable.
Of course - unless your prices increase to match, which requires consumer prices to increase to match too.
My angry point is - small, independent businesses shutting down is inherent to the system as it stands.
It's all about the greedy energy generating companies sucking many many billions out of the useful economy.
Went to our local chippy the other week for when my parents came to visit - fish and chips for 5 with a few extras was well over £50. It was great and I'm not complaining because the place nearly closed for good last year, I'm glad they're charging what they need to to keep open. But it's why it's the sort of food you have once in a blue moon now.
Most pubs charge extortionate amounts for second rate beer, at least souless spoons has the capacity for a decent price rather than the brewery owned gastropubs that are the only ones surviving these days. Even microbreweries charge a shitton for a pint of terrible citrus tasting beer (god I hate that stuff, so hoppy it tastes like bong water)
This sounds like politics!
It's impossible to not at least allude to the fact it exists in this context really. It's either that or say 'there seems to be no reason why chippies are closing' which is clearly untrue.
It'd be interesting to see the number of other fast food closures.
Purely anecdotal, but no chippies have closed in my town but numerous pizza and kebab places have opened, plus chains like pizza express and wagamamas.
I wonder if it's just dietary changes?
I think it’s more complex for chippies. Fish and chips was meant to be a cheap treat, that’s why it has such a strong working class heritage behind it. So the price rise makes it untenable in a way that may not affect other takeaways. Like, if I’m going to pay £20 for some fish and chips, I might as well have a Chinese. It’s a cultural thing.
That's from a time of plenty, overfishing has decimated fish stocks and trawling is destroying the sea bed.
I'm not going to mourn the loss of that 'industry', we can make sustainable protein, and high prices help to attract investment