Do high food prices still make us angry? That’s the question the latest episode of The Full English asks us. This less-than-a-year-old documentary podcast hosted by chef Lewis Bassett explores England through food, with guests who have included fellow chefs Margot Henderson and Andrew Wong, historians David Edgerton and Catherine Hall, as well as farmers, critics and food manufacturers.
We start with an astonishing fact delivered by economist James Meadway. “Over the last year, the average price of food has gone up 14.5%.” He explains that the cost of living crisis is the combination of prices rising quicker than overall inflation and wages rising slower. Brexit and Russia’s war with Ukraine are root causes too. Next, he looks into the history of food riots, including a protest in Somerset in 1801 in which increasing prices of basic commodities led to large crowds forcing fair-price agreements on producers and local magistrates.
