Until 15-20 years ago British food really was bad. I think it relates to either the post-war years or the 1970s processed food revolution. The quality of food in some of the minor towns is still some of the worst I've ever had outside of the former USSR.

There is a bright side though which is that London is now one of the world's great foodie cities. Whilst it's true that the most obvious good food is at high prices, there's a rapidly increasing number of reasonably or even cheaply priced high quality food. UK supermarkets are also leading the world in high quality, fresh partially prepared foods.