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?

Yes, but I'd choose plain couscous over rice with chicken, tastier and less spent on energy in its preparation... makes up for the fact it is more expensive than rice...

Approved food sometimes sell packets of cous cous for 10p each, new customers get free delivery and returning customers are offered free delivery occasionally.

luis so I costed up your list from tescos....you could get that and some other stuff for 20 quid including delivery.

Is there mileage in trying to hook up mners who could afford that with those it will make a substantial difference to?

I agree it is a plaster....but I am seriously worried with school hols coming up that people will miss the free dinners....

Some survey sites pay in luncheon vouchers. It's useful having a few vouchers to fall back on when the bank account is down to pennies.

I reckon you might be onto something there ICBINEG. Can you post the list and prices? I usually buy tesco value products where possible. BUT they are not always cheaper if you compare price per unit. Value products can sometimes be a slightly smaller quantity than own brand, so look cheaper but aren't.

Hadn't thought of school dinners actually. That's going to leave a big hole for some families.

My partner and I have been economy shopping and eating for ages. This has helped with budgeting now that I am about to have a baby and our funds have dramatically reduced (stat mat pay). Most supermarkets do some great deals on meat at the moment, 3 packs for just £10. This includes mince, chickens, diced pork, lamb chops, etc. We easily make 3 packs of meat last the full week with a bit of imagination. You don't need a massively stocked store cupboard. We have some curry powder, mixed herbs, stock cubes, chilli powder, pepper and salt, plus your normal staples like rice and pasta. Which last us ages so you could say its more of an investment purchase than anything else. Like Wallison points out these are fairly expensive, maybe this is the kind of thing we need to be donating to food banks. I think some need to be educated in how to cook from scratch. I think in a supermarket if your looking at 10 ready meals for about £10 and look at 3 packs of raw meat for £10, on a budget and not having much cooking knowledge then of course the ready meals are the most tempting. I guarantee though that 10 value bolognaises has less meat content than a pack of mince of about £4. £14 a week really isn't a lot to feed yourself and yes I think it is a struggle and no I don't think it's enough but there is no reason to be eating a £1 microwave burger a day. £14 can stretch a lot further.

For those with no car may I suggest an 'old lady trolley'. Up to 25kg of shopping and it'll go on the bus no dramas.

I use mine with pride & the biters argue over who's pulling en-route

I fine the best way to budget shop is to know the cheap price per kilo/litre and compare products carefully as often what appears to be a bargain (those end aisle bits) are actually a diddle

1 Tesco Ingredient Lemon Juice 250Ml£0.50
1 Tesco Malt Vinegar 568Ml £0.49
1 Lea And Perrins Worcestershire Sauce 290Ml £2.20
1 Tesco Pure Vegetable Oil 3L £4.00
1 Tesco Everyday Value Plain Flour 1.5Kg £0.65
1 Tesco Everyday Value Garlic Granules 130G £1.00
1 Tesco Everyday Value Beef Stock Cubes 95G 10Pk £0.15
1 Tesco Everyday Value Vegetable Stock Cubes 100G 10Pk £0.15
1 Tesco Everyday Value Chicken Stock Cubes 100G 10Pk £0.15
1 Tesco Everyday Value Mixed Herbs 30G £1.00
1 Tesco Everyday Value Ground Black Pepper 100G £1.19
1 Tesco Table Salt 750G £0.29

£11.77

delivery is around 3 quid (although that may seriously change by location - I haven't a clue...)

I would imagine people could use:

1 Tesco Everyday Value Long Grain Rice 1Kg £0.40
4 Tesco Everyday Value Passata 500G £1.16
4 Tesco Everyday Value Spaghetti 500G £0.76
1 Miscellaneous Granulated Sugar Packet 1Kg £0.99
1 Tesco New Potatoes 2.5Kg £1.90

making about 20 quid all in....

I admit I removed white sauce (because it may be less mainstream)...

I was thinking similar re co-op buying. On a smaller scale, my friends and I get bogof deals and split them. Also local organic food farm has half barrels out the front with herbs and the offer to take what you need. I think that's a great idea but would need to be central. Could go further and take over a plot of unused unloved land ( council?) and do some guerrilla gardening - free veg in exchange for some time helping on the plot.

For those with gardens, what about cutting and seed exchanges?

I wonder if I go to the cash and carry and get big catering boxes of things like stock cubes, could the food bank split them up or would they need to be passed on in manufacturers packaging?

What about reaching out to folk who grow their own and suggest donating a glut to the food bank? Maybe a volunteer might need to collect?

Hmm. Anyone on mumsnet work for or run a food bank?

Or has anyone worked in a Center providing meals for folk who need it?

I'd happily cook extra and give a cooked meal to a family near me - economy of scale plus my oven would be on for us anyway... ( though I tend to cook several things at once - cake etc.

Another site I looked at and used some recipes from is
www.cheap-family-recipes.org.uk/ which claims to feed 4 for a month for £100 ( prices calculated 3 years ago) and does require a freezer.

ICBINERG If there's a Lidl by you get in there for the passata..29p for 500g.

(I get it's all about not being able to travel but I just thought I'd say cos that's some saving per pack)

ICBNIRG maybe teabags? milk powder?

Cornflour
Tins of tomatoes

Just a thought. I think pasta shapes, something like penne or fusilli is more versatile than spaghetti.

3L of oil is quite a big bottle store.

yup I thought that about the oil...although you can make carrot cake with it...

what can you make with pasta shapes and not with spaghetti?

I know that other places might be cheaper here and there, but the idea would be to get together a list that people could just send to those in need with minimum thought/personal effort....and tescos probably has reasonable delivery coverage...unlike lidl.

milk powder is good.

You can make pasta with sauce as you can with spaghetti, but you can also make a bake with penne or fusilli. I'd also use shapes for tuna and sweetcorn pasta.

What about mayonnaise?

ohhh - I genuinely thought you were nuts..but you have a point! pasta bake really wouldn't work with spag....

Pasta bake with spag can be done if you break the spag up first!

Wouldn't it turn out a bit flimsy?

No, not really, and has added benefit of looking like worms in sauce a la Apprentice Deadly Dinners. Honestly, it actually works fine.

But my tuna pasta mayonnaise salad works best with shells, and wouldn't work with spag in any form.

While I think of it - Marrow Fat pea shoots link I used a container that I hadn't planted anything in this year, and had just enough compost to cover them.

Thanks, I'll bear that in mind for if we run out of shapes.

Fab list ICBINEG! The reason I put packet white sauce on is because butter is increasingly expensive and it makes a quick base for cheese sauce, parsley etc.

Don't use it myself but thought it would come in handy. Some packet mixes like cake, dumpling or bread mix come in cheaper than buying raw ingredients.