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?

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

Wake up and join the real world. Social workers are up to their neck in dealing with real problems.

I did watch the show, and I don't understand how two working parents are so poor. That's definitely tragic.

crashdoll - Id say that constitutes a real problem. Starving your children so you can smoke is surely neglect. Probably indicative of other parenting problems too.

Have just read through the whole thread and have to admit that I am one of those people who buy meat and bread when they're reduced and freeze them and couldn't understand why people weren't doing the same.Having taken into consideration people's comments about electricity needed to do so,distance from supermarkets etc I now understand that it just isn't an option for some people and I find that extremely sad.We are a very frugal household (I live at home with my disabled Mum,stepdad and brother) and while the boys would quite happily waste money on rubbish,Mum and I are constantly on the lookout for reduced items or offers on things we usually buy (we live in a village with just a Co-op so even reduced items are often more expensive than they would be in a supermarket).We also use coupons where we can (another good use for the internet,some companies will post them to you rather than you having to print them).We eat well and healthily but won't buy a chicken unless it looks like it will do at least a roast and a risotto for 4 (bones and leftover meat are then used for stock and frozen).We also buy reduced fruit and veg,blanch and freeze them or make them into jams and chutney.Mum would have chickens so we didn't have to buy eggs if my stepdad would let her but we already have 3 dogs and 2 cats who also need feeding (dog food meat from local butchers £1.40 a kilo,but again not everyone has this option and then you still have to cook it,using gas or electric).I didn't realise until I watched the show just how lucky we are and now I'd like to do something to help.We have a local food bank but I'd like suggestions of what would actually be useful to donate,rather than me just taking them stuff that we would have.Thank-you for any replies xx

cheekylilbint86, tinned and dried foods. Things like pasta, tinned fish, meat, fruit and veg.

Sorry but when I am in my period I spend five quid on sanitary towels...how in hell is fourteen pounds enough to shop for a week for two?! Soap, washing powder, toothpaste, bleach, and a bag of value pasta? What about five a day?! It's a bloody joke. On us. How anyone lives like this week in, week out, and doesnt decide to blow the lot on white cider is the amazing thing.

The Bbc should be fucking ashamed for even trying to tackle this issue from an education standpoint. However clever you are, dragging yourself miles in old shoes to buy kilos of lentils is just going to make you feel depressed and like eating shit instead. Those chefs were not feeding the meter, using corner shops, working twelve hour shifts before even starting a meal and had professional cookware and a store cupboard box of goodies for fucks sake. So yes, give them a medal for being so wise and creating a meal that still didnt cover the five a day on budget. Well done bbc. All helping to propagate the daily fail style myth that poor people are choosing to be poor.

Some people wouldn't go near a lentil. Never have, probably never will. Some people wouldn't recognise a chick pea if it was put on their plate. The staples of the third world (dahl, polenta, couscous etc) are the meal deals of the relatively educated and aware, possibly midldle class in developed countries. That said, you'd be better with value pasta, pasta sauce from a jar and some cheese than a microwave burger. Healthwise that is. But the burger is probably tasty to people whose taste buds are used to high salt, high fat foods.

Thanks totempole,will they not take any fresh foods at all?xx

Goodtouch one of those parents is on this thread, why dont you ask him?

cheekylilbint as Totem said, I do also take some fresh fruit (underripe bananas, apples, etc) but check with your local food bank.

I also take tea, coffee, UHT milk, sugar, cereals, bread, and some biccies and cakes - I volunteered at a food bank years ago and people always brightened when there was a little 'treat' type thing in their box.

Tinned stuff is good because at a pinch it can be eaten cold.

It's been interesting to notice how my taste has changed since getting poor. Some of this is due to health issues, but not all of it by any means. A 2kg bag of sugar used to last more than a year. Now it's more like two months (also, it's granulated white rather than raw cane sugar.) I used to buy an 800g loaf at the weekend and throw half of it away the next Friday - now I get through two or more a week. I'd buy or make a really good fruit cake every two or three weeks; now I finish two packets of biscuits a week. I use more potatoes, white rice, white pasta, couscous and pulses. I eat a lot of pancakes, made with white flour and sunflower oil.

Richer, I ate mountains of fresh fruit & veg and had high-quality protein (organic meat, eggs or fresh fish) three times a day. My diet now has less soluble fibre, more heavy foods, fewer proteins, more chemicals, more simple carbs and more sugar. Probably more fat, too, as I now eat things like toast & marge with jam when I would have had something more interesting & nutritious.

marzipanned, I didn't realise some take fresh food. That's good to know.

Yes - nothing refrigerated but the one I go to will take certain fruits - nothing like berries but I guess bananas, apples and oranges are pretty sturdy! They won't take any fresh veg though which is a shame as some lasts for ages.

I did want to watch that programme, but now I don't. I sm going to look into donating to food banks too. I know how lucky I am at the moment and I remember having no money as a child, although I don't think I ever went hungry. Reading this it's clear to me that my parents (and then just my mum, as my dad left the scene) would probably have gone hungry so that we could be fed.

It breaks my heart to think of hungry children whose parents can't afford to feed them

Thanks marzipanned I'll check with the church that runs our local one :) xx

Oh!also,are they likely to take pet food for those families or older people with pets does anyone know?xx

Sorry to keep posting,just found this dealarea.foodbank.org.uk/resources/documents/Shopping-list-for-bins.pdf xx

GoodTouch On these sorts of threads, there's always a few posters suggesting that the reason some people cannot afford food is because they smoke/drink but these sorts of people are the minority. It's just another stick to bash the poor with.

Goodtouch - most people use foodbanks as a stopgap when their benefits are delayed and they have no money coming in at all. This happened to me when I became unemployed and had to claim jsa. I put all the forms through but didn't get any money for weeks as they have to be processed and they were missing a piece of paperwork but didn't bother to tell me for two weeks and then after I had sent it off and called the call centre they said everything was late because they were all on strike and there was a delay. Luckily I managed to get through without having to use a foodbank but many people in this situation can't. It's not people not managing their money - it's people having no money to manage.

Thing is GoodTouch this isn't a benefits thread.
There was a WORKING family, a WORKING lone parent, the only person featured who was on benefits was a pensioner.
So why try and make it about benefits?
Not that £72 a week is rolling in it, but its not the issue here.

I do a monthly big shop for our local food bank - tins, cereal, biscuits, pasta sort of thing.

But I'd like to know - what about household products? I have tons of sprays, bleach, washing liquid, soap powder etc because I work for a company developing them and a perk of the job is a shit load of free stuff each week.

I commented ages ago on this thread! I am a working single mum with 1 DD!! Childcare has increased, housing benefit decreased meaning I have to find an extra £100 a month and an extra £45 for council tax. Bus fares to and from work have increased too as well as other bills. I am not unemployed on JSA, I had £8 last week to do a food shop. I am dreading my period as tampons are expensive. DD needed new shoes this week and I found a lovely pair in a cheapie shop for £4 but they won't last long. Ex is not paying any maintenance, although the CSA are chasing him up and as of next week with it being the summer hols DD loses her 15 funded hours at nursery meaning childcare will outstrip my wage. I am trapped in a low paid job (I am applying for others) I have a Masters Degree and cannot get any help for other courses. Ex has the life of reily and barely sees DD where I struggle and will do for the foreseeable!

We are a family of 5 (4 adults and 1 child) and there is absolutely NO WAY you can feed us lot healthily for £14 per week. We shop at Lidl or Aldi and very rarely Asda but food prices are creeping up even at Lidl for basics such as potatoes and veg.

I agree with you Wallison you cannot just buy one egg, its 6 or 12 and even they aren't cheap anymore. Bread is not cheap either.

Plus as one poster stated you have to have a cooker/hob and utensils, if you live in a shared B&B this is not an option or if you live in a hostel too. I wish people would stop looking down on people.

The £14 a week was based on 2 people having £1 a day was it not? So a family of 5 would have £35 a week.

I read lots of this and then got thinking.......
What scope is there to pair people who are going without, with those with space for an extra body or 3 at their dinner table from time to time?
There must be loads of people, average, not massively well off, who could do this.
Would people accept such offers of help? Where would you start?
Possibly way too idealistic, but one of the posters had a daughter the who must be the same age as my youngest - just got me thinking, pop round, kids play, have dinner, home for bedtime. No expectations either way. Best case outcome, a friendship gained and fully tummies.

Good Touch said.
Maybe Im being dim, but if one family can afford to eat and smoke on benefits - cant they all afford to?

yes because they are one big homogenous mass. This has to be the most idiotic question ive seen on here.

So a stupid question deserves a stupid answer.
Harold Shipman was a middle class doctor.
Would you say all middle class doctors were like him.

Or do you only save the generalizations and disscrimination for people who claim benefits and/or the working poor.