Bread. Eggs. Milk. Cheese. Butter. Baked beans.

Not exactly the shopping list of an oligarch.

Yet in recent years these everyday staples have become noticeably more expensive, and for many families the weekly shop now feels less like a routine errand and more like a minor financial event. In this episode of Mark and Pete, we look at the continuing rise in food prices and ask why so many people feel poorer even when politicians insist the economy is improving.

The discussion begins with two humble items that have sat on British kitchen tables for generations: bread and eggs. Neither is remotely glamorous. Neither attracts much attention until the price starts climbing. Yet both have risen sharply since the cost-of-living crisis began, reflecting wider increases across the food supply chain.

Along the way, Mark and Pete explore the economics of everyday life, the difference between inflation slowing and prices actually falling, and why ordinary people tend to judge the health of the economy by what happens at Tesco rather than what happens in Westminster.

There is also a look at how rising food costs affect pensioners, young families and those on fixed incomes. After all, when staple foods become more expensive, there is nowhere to hide. Nobody can simply stop eating.

The conversation wanders, as conversations tend to do, into memories of cheap fry-ups, beans on toast, packed lunches and the sort of meals that once stretched a household budget much further than they seem to today. Somewhere along the way we ask whether modern Britain has become strangely accustomed to things becoming steadily more expensive while pretending this is perfectly normal.

As always, there is a Bible verse, some gentle theological reflection and a healthy dose of common sense.

If you enjoy commentary on economics, current affairs, food prices, inflation, Christianity, British culture and the realities of everyday life, this episode is for you.

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