The Truth About Food Prices

The price of basic foodstuffs is increasing dramatically and the surging costs are being felt by consumers in the UK who are seeing their highest food bills for years.

The price of wheat has doubled in less than a year, while other key ingredients such as rice, corn, maize and soya are trading at well above their 1990s averages.

Dispatches investigates the causes of these price rockets and the impact it is having on shoppers and food producers. Jay Rayner, food critic, journalist and author, asks why the UK has become so reliant on food imports and if enough is being done to stem the problem of price inflation.

He travels around the country meeting consumers, food producers and key experts to find solutions and establish which key decisions need to be taken immediately to prevent food inflation becoming a disaster.

The investigation examines whether the growth of bio-fuels and city speculators are having a negative effect on prices, asking whether the government is doing enough to tackle the issue of rising food costs.

The role of the supermarkets in price inflation is also examined as Dispatches tracks price increases over the past year and senior industry figures are asked about what they doing to help customers.

The film features the stories of how two families are dealing with increasing prices. Food expert, journalist and author Kate Colquhoun offers them advice about how to eat more economically and cook with left-overs to reduce food waste.

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