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?

ubik - but there are many versions of that story. my parents left where they grew up and moved 100s of miles for work.

some of my family still live in the area which is now one of the top 10 for deprivation. they lead stressful lives, with little money, in boring dead end jobs.

my parents got out and they were the lucky ones.

Yes because if you are childless Tough shit put up with it

Mijas my mum is Italian. If these close knit familes in the predominantly Catholic countries is so great why has she been living in the UK since 1960.

Poverty has a huge mental cost. I think for anyone who's been through it it's the sheer unrelenting quality of it that drags you down. The lack of any sort of light at the end of a tunnel.

I lost count of how many times I'd take on some extra work, or sell something, or make sacrifices to save for something or pay off a debt, only for some white goods type product to break, or the car to fail its MOT, or both DC wearing out shoes and outgrowing coats in the same month, or a dentist visit to pay for, or an unavoidable trip incurring transport and parking costs to be paid for. I'd find myself not just back at square one but several steps further back. That's soul destroying after just a year. For some people it's their whole lives.

Poverty costs money. Buying cheaper goods means you have to replace them more often. Over time, this means you've spent much more. Paying utilities on pre-pay cards/meters, means you pay a steeper tariff. Doing without a car means you have to pay for public transport and are reduced to shopping locally, which may be more expensive.

Getting out of poverty costs even more money - clothing, childcare, commuting.

101 things to do with mince and packet minestrone soup can't alter any of those factors.

Darkesteyes, I didn't mean as a permanent solution, but as a stop gap while you turn things around.

Really??? In the sixth richest country in the world And how are you going to turn things around while sofa surfing and doing bits of work here and there.

Cos an employer does expect you to have a permanent address on your CV.

And ppl with children wouldnt be expected to do it at all not even as a stop gap.

Stressed, can totally relate. 3 with ASD here, plus ADHD, complex medical issues and mobility problems

I did it with children when I intentionally made myself homeless by leaving my children's father. I stayed with a friend for as long as it took me to sort myself out. We are still friends. It worked out fine. Everyone got on despite the fact we were chronically overcrowded.

That said, it compounded my sense of failure and emphasised my lack of control over life. In my case I knew it was temporary because I was in gainful employment and buying a house, but I think if I'd been at rock bottom it could have tipped me over the edge.

Dahlen that was tough. Im sorry you had to go through that.

The tipping over the edge thing..... Do we really want a country full of people who have nothing to lose and the consequences that could result from that?
YY Dahlen

It sucks, doesn't it, Gobby! I don't very often feel sorry for myself,but today I'm just so tired that i's all a bit much. Must stop moaning. I just sometimes wish that other people realised how difficult it is for the children, especially as they have to contend with me being ill now as well.

I know more money wouldn't fix things but I can't help thinking that it might make them a bit easier to bear.

Darkeyes, my town is full of people on the edge with nothing to lose and it's not pretty. We have areas that are permanently no-go even for the police. Buses don't go to certain areas after 6pm, taxis won't come after about 10pm until 7pm the next morning, the schools all have resident police officers, if you go into town at almost any time, you can be practically guaranteed to stumble across fights, often knife fights, involving both men and women, drug deals being made in plain sight etc. it's not a place I want my kids to be when they grow up, my ambition is to get them all to the point where they can move away and make decent lives for themselves.

StressedHEmum - when i read your post it helps me to understand why suggesting ideas like sacks of rice, car boot sales & table top sales is so futile. You sound like you are doing an amazing job in difficult circumstances. I wish you were this end of the country and I could help cheer you up.

The thing is that me making someone up a parcel of basics, or posting a recipe or 4 for food that can be made from some nettles, a tin of basics beans and a kettle is that they don't do anything much other than make me feel better. It doesn't do anything to address the very real issues that cause and keep people in poverty in this country. The whole 'big society' thing is nonsense because it's all about giving those with more than enough a warm, fuzzy glow of charity while sweeping the real issues under the rug.

Arbitrary it does help though. Not only do people feel cared about, it gives them practical help. Though I agree it doesn't solve the long term problem.

I know more money wouldn't fix things but I can't help thinking that it might make them a bit easier to bear.

This.

arbitary it doesn't particularly make me feel better, it feels like a tiny gesture in the face of huge need....but it might help somebody out now and the goverment isn't going to be sorting things out any time soon protests or not
moot point anyway as no-one has contacted me

This is going to sound harsh but I think many people have a very defeatist attitude - its certainly coming across on this thread. Im just remembering stories that my grandparents used to tell about their parents and growing up through the wars. They also raised 10 children of their own in a small house on a very limited budget and they never complained about it.

If they had to walk 2 miles carrying a large bag of rice that would have fed their family for weeks they would have just got on with it! If they had to eat bland food for a few days because the money had run out - well, that was just the way it was. My grandad used to walk miles to go fishing at the weekend (they lived in the city) and bring home what he caught for dinner. If he didnt catch anything then they just had potatoes and a bit of veg that night.

I think I agree with the earlier poster who said that peoples expectations of what they should have are much higher than they used to be.

Oh well woop de doo. Lets all drink tea instead of eating and be GRATEFUL.

bumbley - the difference then was that was the reality for a great deal of people. That's not the case now. Poverty is set at relative terms. It doesn't matter, for example, how you compare to people in the third world or even the UK 50 years ago, what matters is how you compare to those around you now.

The rich are getting steadily richer. These days, not having access to the internet will put you in poverty, because the cheapest deals for utilities, car insurance, etc are only available online. This is a world in which even benefit claimants have to submit claims online. Not having instant access to a computer and the internet puts you at a significant disadvantage in the job market. Libraries are shutting (some in rural communities have to travel more than hour to get to one) and internet cafes cost money.

Is it a survival necessity to have the internet? No, of course not. But it's a necessity for effective living in the current UK climate. The same could not be said for those living in post-war Britain, where houses could still - in the main - be heated by burning fuel that could be scavenged or collected if not actually bought, where food could be caught or bartered in a way quite unlike the present day, where jobs could be sought simply by traipsing the streets or queuing up on recruitment days rather than online application processes.

You can't compare then and now.

Which isn't to say it wasn't bloody awful back then either.

bumbleymummy FFS that's what everyone did. But no one expected children in lovely clothes, top set for everything and some career path in mind. It's the competition, the "if you tried harder to earn more" rather than the acknowledgement that lots of worthwhile things don't pay.

Now being poor is a judgement on "if you could be bothered at school". "picking a financially lucrative career" or just class.

It should be "you're worthwhile you just you don't earn a lot".

This evening I cooked a recipe inspired by ...... cant remember his name, chef in India on TV last night anyway! It was curried potato and cauliflower, looked delish.

Even buying the chilli powder and bits and bobs it worked out at much less than £1 per portion.

It was 'orrible.

Sorry, my point there was that even if you can cook and do have some spices etc in it doesnt actually mean it will make a good meal. Which I rather think means I have YABU'd myself :o

I've made a few of those type of dishes myself.

Bogeyface, was it really that bad? I started reading your post and was thinking potato and cauliflower curry ooh lovely.

I understand some of the things u guys r saying but some of its harder than it seems...
Like im 14 in the uk living with my family of 5 people & a dog
My dad works on buses 7days a week 50+ hours he pays mortgage sky & council tax
My mum works 5hours a week on the books( taxed) earns £100 a month also has some small jobs of cleaning £30-40 for 4 hours private cleaning houses
She pays gas & electric 80 a month
She also pays tv license
She then needs to buy food if none of her clients need there house cleaned she left with under £20 so all she can afford is cheap basic stuff like for my lunch i have a packet of crisps during school
None of us have breakfast
My dad eats fast food out because of his hours he buys himself something cheap from a place like greggs
My mum doesn't eat all day until dinner she has some toast my bro buys his own butter ham & makes a sandwich for his lunch
Me & him share a cheap packet of own brand super noodles
My dad buys himself a cheap ready meal
We dont apply for any benifits & i get moaned at at school in pe cos i dont have enough energy to do it & about my school shoes which r 2.50 plimsoles from primark

My mum knows perfectly wel how to cook but cant afford it she cant get any other jobs as she left school young because her brothers were bad behaved so automatically she was thought of as bad! All she does is clean houses etc

Sorry for this bible but it annoys me how some people on benifits eat better than us