It is enough to revive memories of Tom and Barbara happily destroying the serenity of 1970s Surbiton — thousands of homeowners are turning back the years and growing their own fruit and vegetables in an effort to beat the credit crunch.

New research claims that one in ten shoppers have followed the example of The Good Life, the ever-popular sitcom, and have dug up the garden in the past six months in an attempt to save money at the supermarket.

Around a fifth are walking to the shops rather than using the car; a similar number are shunning prepared meals. Nearly 20 per cent are making their own packed lunch to take to work or cooking smaller meals for dinner. Not quite the flight from the rat race that drove the Goods’ switch to self-sufficiency, but nevertheless, according to Joanne Denney-Finch, chief executive of the Institute of Grocery Distribution (IGD): “We are seeing the biggest changes in shopping habits for at least a decade.”

The research comes two weeks after a government adviser urged Britons to pick up the pitchfork and dig up their gardens or head to the local allotment. Tim Lang, Professor of Food Policy at City University, said that homeowners were taking more control of their “food systems”.

Councils around the country report a sharp rise in demand for allotments. Dorchester Town Council said that the waiting time in the town is more than a year. Six years ago, many of its 250 plots were vacant.

The IGD, which plans to unveil its research at its annual convention in London today, said the efforts that consumers were making to save money could fundamentally alter shopping habits. It said that while nearly 60 per cent of shoppers had sought to economise over the past six months, only 9 per cent believed that the quality of the food they had bought had deteriorated. About 20 per cent thought that quality had improved.

“Economising is not the same thing as downtrading,” Ms Denney-Finch said. “We’re all very good at problem-solving and good at adapting, so people are finding a way to get what they want without compromising standards by doing things differently. Shoppers have been jolted out of their habits. When they change and they like the outcome, these become new habits.”

The IGD said that high petrol prices and energy bills were the main catalysts for the changing behaviour. Consumers were beginning to set up car pools to save money on fuel. More than a quarter of shoppers were shopping around between supermarkets to cherry-pick promotions.

Last week Justin King, the chief executive of J Sainsbury, said that more customers were cooking for themselves and that demand for recipe cards was up by 30 per cent.

Marc Bolland, Wm Morrison’s chief executive, said that there had been a huge response to the chain’s “Let’s Grow” schools campaign, which is designed to encourage children to grow their own vegetables.

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