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Potato prices treble
Potatoes are going to be a rare sight on school menus in Nottinghamshire, because they are now deemed 'too expensive' by Nottinghamshire County Council. In just a year, the price per tonne has trebled.
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Will the humble potato no longer be on the menu?
Mashed, roasted, chipped or boiled, potatoes have long been a part of our staple diet, but rising costs mean this could be about to change.
The price of spuds has soared in the last 12 months leaving one county council in our region to decide it can no longer afford to serve them as often in schools, as Gail Mellors reports.
Rocketing potato prices force chips off school menu
Potatoes will be a rare sight on school dinner menus in Nottinghamshire, because Nottinghamshire County Council say they are simply too expensive.
The price of potatoes trebled in just a year, from £91 a tonne in 2012, to £295 a tonne this year.
Bad weather conditions are being blamed for the price hike, with many crops producing lower yields of poorer quality.
Farmer Edward Hammond, of Morton Manor Farm in Southwell, said: “The conditions just do not make for a good spud and this is hitting us all very hard.”
Catering companies and local chip shops are also affected.
Julie Charalambous, who runs the Rectory Fish Bar in West Bridgford, said: “Prices are the highest they’ve been since 1976 and we are struggling to survive”.