To think processed and pre cooked food is way too common in this country?

I do not understand how 'time poor' can work in terms of preferring to use UPF.
In my freezer are quite a few 'ready meals' aka something I cooked masses of but froze the surplus.
CBA to cook tonight, so we are having fish pie from the freezer (taken out this morning to thaw) with home grown carrots and frozen peas. Easy peasy and will take 5 mins prep/intervention & 25m of unsupervised cooking to cook. Whereas microwave ready meals for 4 of us you are forever wacking stuff in the microwave and working out timings. Needs supervision for 20-25 minutes and that's aside from specifically shopping for it.
Non freezer, I always have mince - defrost 3 mins microwave then cook, pasta/spaghetti tinned tomatoes and frozen chopped onions and basil from the garden & grated cheese = spag bol in 20 mins.

I both agree and disagree at the same time.

Yes, people are often tight on time. And yes, some dishes can take ages to cook, plus, if you’re watching every penny for your gas and electricity costs, it can be tricky.

However, what I disagree with is the idea that all home-cooked meals are time-consuming or expensive. In many cases, it’s really about convenience. People often choose what’s easiest, not necessarily what’s best or most economical.

Sometimes I wonder how people manage to watch hours of TV in the evening when, as you mentioned, they come home from work, sort out the kids, and still need to eat. It makes me think that for some, convenience has become the top priority , so they can spend the rest of the evening sitting on the sofa doing absolutely nothing. And that’s fine occasionally everyone needs downtime, but when it becomes the default, it’s part of why people stop seeing cooking as worthwhile.

What people often forget is that taking a little time to cook something from scratch isn’t just cheaper it’s so much healthier. You actually know what’s going into your food, and it doesn’t take as long as many think. I don’t believe most people realise how big of a difference it makes for their health and energy levels in the long run.

Take a simple spaghetti bolognese, for example. A bag of pasta costs less than £1, add some tinned tomatoes, mince, and Italian herbs (you can buy a mixed herb blend instead of several separate jars). From that, you can make several portions, bringing the cost per serving quite low — and it doesn’t need to simmer for hours. There’s no way that buying ready-made versions os spag bowl is cheaper, especially since you’d need multiple of them To feed everyone. And for those who can plan ahead, it’s easy to make a bigger batch and freeze portions. That way, you’ve got quick, homemade meals ready to go and much healthier ones too, without all the added sugar and preservatives you find in ready meals.

Don’t get me wrong, I sometimes buy ready meals too. I’ve got a few “emergency” ones in my freezer for when life gets crazy, and I think that’s exactly what they’re for. But I wholeheartedly disagree with relying on them. When ready meals become the everyday solution, that’s when it turns into a habit that’s hard to break and honestly, it’s our health and wallets that pay the price. It’s false economy for sure.

That’s just one example off the top of my head. I’m not saying anyone should live on spaghetti bolognese 365 days a year, but I hope you get the point I’m trying to make :)

Why is my comment appalling? Because there’s a risk your country could be insulted?
I’m quite pissed off with the idea that bashing the UK is perfectly acceptable but unacceptable if it’s another country. Do you not see the irony?
You only have to glance on AIBU to see threads in a similar vain daily.
FYI, whenever I’ve been to Italy I’ve seen many obese people so I’m not certain your idea that the U.K. seems to exclusively have a high rate of obese people can be true.

@SeagullSam2027

Not everyone has the luxury of choosing where to shop, especially for fresh produce. Economically deprived households/social housing tenants often have to rely on on local corner type shops (which generally have limited or poor quality stock) as there is nothing else nearby - not even a Tesco Express...

No. You warm some oil and some garlic, throw a handful of fresh cherry tomatoes (cut in halves) and make them cook slowly whilst the pasta cooks. When the pasta is ready you throw it in the pan with the tomatoes and add a tiny bit of pasta water if needed for creaminess. Add some fresh basil and a bit of greated parmesan if you like it and yoi have the most delicious meal ever. This is what people in Italy eat all the time, takes 10 minutes, it s healthy, cheap and puts a smile on your face.

I'd say our supermarkets contain everything you need for a UPF free existence. Thinking of our local, which is Tesco, there's 2 large aisles of fruit and veg, another aisle of raw meat and fish, flour (of many types), rice, pasta, oats, frozen fruit and veg, oil of every type. Milk, butter and lots of cheese and pulses (dried and canned). Dried and fresh herbs. Tea, coffee and chocolate. The in store bakery bread isn't too bad (unless you have an issue with ascorbic acid).
Not sure what else is needed.

I don't think you can really blame the supermarkets, you pay your money and make your choices.

The whole dish sounds dull and lacking in imagination.

It’s not a nuanced discussion though, is it. It’s ’the UK is awful and everywhere else is better’.

So we can’t cook, and and now we’re touchy because we don’t want to be insulted. Got it 👍

I just looked at my tin of Biona black beans, purchased from Tesco and it contains only black beans and water.

Exactly. Pasta is JUST 2 ingredients. Have you seen what goes into you standard supermarket loaf? I can assure you that pasta is absolutely not the same as the vast majority of bread.

The PP gave a simple recipe that is frequently used and its avoids using the chemical laden crap our food is pumped full of. Our food is a disgrace. You can’t buy a tin of black beans in this country that doesn’t have chemicals added to it, just look on the back.

But the use of UPF is increasing in many countries including Italy, Greece and Spain. They aren’t where we are yet but they are using more of them and that trend will likely continue so they aren’t immune either.

But pasta is just (normally) white flour and water. It's constantly bandied about as a better option to something ready made. It's not. It's cheap and cheerful, not massively filling and lacking in many nutrients. The nutrients it does have are only there because the flour has been fortified (and does that maybe make it a UPF?). Then the rest of that recipe, a bit of oil, cheese and a tiny portion of veg. It's not nutritionally superior, just because you've slaved over it.
I've seen people stressing on MN about not being able to buy UPF free tinned tomatoes fgs, it's just another form of food obsession.

Because this post is about diet and processed foods not obesity 🙂

I'm curious what countries DON'T have these foods commonly available?

That's because it's an M&S ready meal. Go and look at Tesco's, Aldi's or Asda's cheapest lasagne ready meal and I'm sure you'll find it's full of added junk and salt. The premium versions of everything are generally UPF free or have minimal UPF, while the cheapest versions are loaded with them. This is true across the board - jar sauces, cakes, biscuits, pizzas etc. As usual it's the poor who suffer the most.

What you are saying though is exactly what I meant when I said that the UK has an issue with food culture to start with. In Italy (and I am sure in many many other countries all over the world, not just Europe), even the poorest people have some basic food knowledge, in fact I'd say that it's perhaps even more common across lower income classes as they are more accustomed to cook from scratch, can't afford to eat out or have lots of ready meals etc. I come from a very humble family, nobody was educated (I am not talking about uni, not even high school), low income etc but yet eating healthy food, cooking our own meals with the best possible ingredients available to us, eating tons of fruit and veg has always been a staple in our home. Same for many other people in a similar situation I know back home. It is a food culture issue, not an income issue.

A tomato sauce takes a lot of good quality tomatoes and herbs and at least a couple of hours of gas or electricity.

I’ve spent time in plenty of other countries thanks.

what difference does it make if Italian kids are obese because they spend too much time gaming and eating pasta? They’re still obese.