The great british menu - food poverty... AIBU?

[Bogeyface]

I hate myself for thinking this but, AIBU to think that Lady Whatsername who said in the 90's that the reason poor people couldnt manage on benefits was because they lacked the ability to cook good simple nutritious meals, may have had a point? The way she said it was totally U and she was very sneery, but I cant help thinking that there might be a grain of truth in it.

Of the three families I have just seen in this program I saw what 2 of them ate in a day. one was a mother and daughter who's only meal of the day was a microwave burger each costing £1 each, and the other was a family where the children had fish fingers or nuggets and oven chips, while the parents had tinned veg.

£14 per week that the first family spent is enough for a bag of baking potatoes, some basics pasta, baked beans, passatta, a pack of frozen sausages, a bag of porridge oats, some cheese, some sandwich meat such as Haslet from the deli counter (35p per 100g in my tesco) and milk. The DD would be getting free school meals if I heard correctly about her age and their income. Far healthier, more filling and more than one meal a day!

The second family, again, for the price of nuggets, fish fingers and oven chips they could make a spag bol using basics ingredients that would feed them all well.

RAther than focussing on the cost of food, which is only going to rise, surely it would be better to focus on educating people who eat badly because the food they choose is more expensive than cheaper, healthier alternatives that require a bit of cooking knowledge?

obesity comes from eating crap food tho goodtouch......
Some people have to drive...!

marriedinwhiteagain your fish pie sounds lovely, but you could make it much more cheaply simply by using fish other than cod, which is one of the most expensive species you can buy. For instance, a mixture of pollack and smoked haddock works well. I could make a fish pie + veg for 4-6 adults for about £7-8 (though I would still consider this dish an occasional treat rather than a staple).

There are loads of used appliances sold on eBay or Freecycle/Gumtree for not that much money.

I can't begin to imagine how hard it must be having to survive on tiny amounts of money for food, specially if one has children.

However, there are thousands upon thousands who have to get by and I suppose they just have to be resourceful and ultra imaginative.

Many posters who are in such situation have commented upthread that they don't have time to shop for bargains, don't have Lidl, markets, etc near, actually prefer processed food to home cooked, ad nauseum.

Hence there are no bargains/special deals on my little list and baking bread at the same time as one makes a large lasagne/shepard's pie/ vegetable curry/ simple cake/etc makes the process more efficient.

WireCat, I never cook from recipes.
From the list above, I would make potato/cauliflower/spinach/onion curry;, pork goulash with 300g of sliced/diced pork; egg fried rice with mixed vegetables and bits of bacon; pilchards mushed up with spices and fried with onions served with pasta; turkey leg would make a huge pot of soup, mixed vegetables, barley, split peas, fried onions and a rasher of minced and fried bacon to add flavour etc etc.

Will continue later as must dash (if you're interested that is).

GoodTouch, you're saying you would refuse food unless people are completely on their uppers - unless their lives are absolutely, unrelentingly, miserable?

Nice.

This might be a good time to remind the thread we live in the world's sixth richest nation. And we're too selfish to feed our own poor.

GoodTouchBadTouch
The problem of obesity & lack of money go hand in hand. I know that sounds a bit ridiculous & a few years ago, I'd have probably thought. The same thing.

But carbs are cheap, especially crap carbs. It's cheaper to buy some cheap flavoured noodles & cheap sliced bread than it is to buy whole grain bread & some eggs for instance.

I was in a supermarket in a deprived area a while back. Same supermarket chain as I go to near me sometimes. The offers were are crap food stuffs. I had gone in to buy a top. I needed a 12. I struggled. The sizings were mainly 20, 22, & 24.

Again, I also google recipes, but if you don't have e knowledge to cook in the 1st place then you won't.

I actually went back on the fags (roll ups) when I was in the shit financially. Don't underestimate the stress of worrying all the time, every day about bills, school shoes,a roof over your head and just how it's all going to get paid.
I am not saying that me spending a fiver a week on baccy was a great idea, but people are human beings! We sometimes buy a bar of chocolate, or occasionally give in when our kids are desperate for a particular comic.
It' s all very well to make shopping lists (although frankly I would keel over if I ever witnessed ds eating a lentil) but for many many people the grind of poverty is EVERY DAY.
And of course people need food banks. Why do you think they use them?? For giggles?
And actually I bet a LOT of people using them are working, and not just "on benefits" (by which I assume you mean unemployed GoodTouchBadTouch"

Thank you threemusketeers

GoodTouchBadTouch those who use food banks are not just used by the stereotypical fag smoking, beer drinking, feckless, flat tv screen owning single mum.
Working people also use them.

As do people on benefits in genuine need.

"stereotypical fag smoking, beer drinking, feckless, flat tv screen owning single mum."

Are you stalking me WireCat..?!

Yes

I can see your 100" tv from here.

The list works

If you have a tesco/asda/morrisons/sainsburys

Living in Jersey we have none of the above. We have Waitrose, M&S, Co Op or Iceland. And local tax means iceland is higher priced than the uk

Cost of living is higher than wages but not by as much as is currently on the uk mainland.

I would honestly kill for a tesco at the moment tbh as even buying the basics for the family per week costs me about £80 not including luxeries and we are a family of 4.

Yeah, but your fags, booze and giant telly are cheaper

Fags are cheaper by a little, booze not a chance and giant tv's? You're having a laugh, its cheaper off amazon!

ok goodtouch when they don't bother sorting out my benefits for two months like they did last time and I can't pay the rent I will sell my crappy car (probably still won't cover the rent) and then cut my chances of being able to find work in my rural area by about 90%.
The only reason I as a lone parent can survive on benefits is because my exh pays child support which brings my income up enough to survive. If he didn't pay I'd be screwed. I really feel for lone parents with no maintenance coming in.
Some people like the disabled or lone parents are likely to be on some benefits at least on a long term basis - who are we to say whether they can have a car or a tv or a sofa to sit on?

I wish it was cheaper for fags and booze. i enjoyed my bad habits once. sigh.

"you're saying you would refuse food unless people are completely on their uppers - unless their lives are absolutely, unrelentingly, miserable? "

Not sure how you got that from my post, but of course not. I said that if you choose to smoke rather than eat, I don't see that as a real problem, more a choice. So I don't feel the need to donate.

Wirecat - interesting about the cheap food making you fat. I can certainly see how that would be the case. Don't agree about the cooking though. There are walk-throughs on the internet, from how to boil an egg, to make a white sauce.

Ifnot - Im sure people don't use food banks for um, giggles. But they may well use them to help cover the cost of say, tobacco.

A its been pointed out before but

Its all good and well reeling of a bunch of meals that are cheap and balanced foods but you have to be able of afford the electric to cook them. Yes they could make their own bread with a 15p sack of flour but the cooking it would cost a fortune!

I was brought up by a single mum who was on benefits till I was 18. (She went to work when the youngest went to high school)

I can remember being hungry all the time, especially in the school holidays.

My mother could cook. She could make a white sauce, bolognaise, stews etc.

She didn't drive. There were no supermarkets within walking distance, only corner shops.

It is not easy by any stretch of the imagination. The daily grind of worrying where the next meal comes from, takes its toll.

If my kids need a snack, there is something available, apples, cheese, dare I say a bag of crisps. They have a choice of breakfast cereals.

My mother bought apples on a Monday. Once they were gone, they were gone.

This programme (& the following one with Nick & Margaret) has taken me down a memory lane that I try to forget.

When a low food budget is for life, it sucks the life out of you.

And it's only being a parent that makes me realise how heart wrenching it must have been for my mother, knowing her children were hungry.

My food bill is enormous, a lot of it dp won't eat, he likes junk so he get's crap processed food like chips, burgers, pizzas, chocolate, crisps etc... His food costs are a fraction of mine and toddler dds. I'm constantly amazed at the fantastic food deals on crap foods, you could stock your fridge and freezer in lidl for 20 euro full of stodgy filling meals and put lots of sugary treats in the presses. Far more appealing to a hungry stomach than a plain vegetable soup!!! Anyone can eat cheaply if they have access to lidl or aldi, but I don't think they could eat very well if we define 'well' as healthy and satisfying!!

GoodTough if and I am saying if a Mum or Dad used a food bank "to help cover the cost of say, tobacco" does that mean their kids don't deserve the food from said bank either?

Am completely gobsmacked you don't donate simply because you know a few poor people that smoke. Do you ever think about all those that don't?!!

Sorry GoodTouch - Freudian keyboard slip maybe

"if a Mum or Dad used a food bank "to help cover the cost of say, tobacco" does that mean their kids don't deserve the food from said bank either?"

Well, if you have parents who prioritise cigarettes over feeding their children then they need social services involvement.

Im not saying who deserves what, just that I don't donate to food banks. We give to charities, but from what I see myself, I don't feel food banks is really necessary.
Maybe Im being dim, but if one family can afford to eat and smoke on benefits - cant they all afford to? Maybe its not that simple, I don't know much about the system.

Well, I did say "if". In reality I highly doubt people sit down and think, you know what, we'll use the food bank cause that way we can afford some fags. I'm fortunate enough to never have needed to use a food bank myself, though I do give to them, but I've worked with families who have. Trust me, none of them wanted to go there. There's a lot of shame involved.

Fair enough, it's entirely up to you to give to whom and what you choose. But, honestly, if you have a flick through this thread you will see just how necessary food banks are.

Most families on benefits work. Just like any working family, they have different incomings and outgoings. (Rent, council tax, energy, transport costs, just to get you started...) So some might have a fair bit of extra cash at the end of the month and some might only have pennies - just like anyone not on benefits.