"they ate fast food and junk food but had splashed out of a plasma TV."

[ConfusedPixie]

This comment just came up on the radio news, supposedly said by Jamie Oliver about one of the families he was working with in his new TV show.

AIBU to wonder how the fuck what you eat relates to what TV you have?

Surely this just reinforces stereotypes of the people likely to have bad diets through lack of education on the matter? What a bullshit statement.

Ironic given how much money he makes from his television shows, ad campaigns, etc. Sanctimonious knob of the highest order artisanal of course

Ready meals? I wasn't talking about a lasagne you put in the microwave.

I used two very good examples of food being cheaper if you don't make it from scratch.

Sirzy - true. But you need to know how to cook. Many people were never taught at home, or, sadly, at school.

And you have to put up with meatless meals and an endless rotation of beans, pasta and rice. Not everyone wants to do this week in, week out, for life.

A sausage roll or a pasty from Greggs is about £1. A lot cheaper than a meal made from scratch which contains meat.

< Hollow Lol > at Jamie Oliver making millions from appearing on TV, advertising Sainsbury's on TV etc, then getting all horrified when the poor get above themselves and try to buy themselves an appliance to watch him when they could just as easily entertain themselves spending their evenings counting lentils.

God yes,there he is in his billion pound house lecturing the poor on eating.Not to mention his billion pound fee for doing so.

you can mix fresh with ready made food

fish fingers with home made potato wedges and beans, sausage casserole with mash and veg

a basic tomato sauce made with tin tomatoes, an onion, a few herbs and garlic can be added to mince or veg costs very little to make

it takes a little time and effort but you can feed your family healthy meals cheaply

Fish fingers are expensive.
I haven't bought any for a while as have been running my freezer down.

I was going a sainsburys order as am moving. Removed the fish fingers from my basket.

I am not poor anymore (grew up in extreme poverty), but we have to watch the pennies.

I am shocked at food prices. I shop at Aldi & then get what I can't get there in Sainsburys/Asda. I have the luxury of being able to shop around. I can cook. I have cooking facilities. A decent sized freezer.

Meat is very expensive. The only beans I can eat are chickpeas. Can eat eggs as protein.

We are not poor. And yet we have to be very careful with our shopping bill.

I did. The sainsburys order, the next morning I removed everything I could get at Aldi & despite moving will go to Aldi as cannot justify the cost difference.

And again, I will repeat, we are not poor.

So, my god, people who are on the bones of their behinds must be buying a tv before their food.

And we don't have to follow his recipes either. No harm in taking ideas and modifying them . A basic tomato sauce can be done fairly cheaply. Passata is 29p In aldi. Granted not everyone has fresh herbs growing everywhere but every supermarket has a reduced to clear counter where you can pick up cheap meat and fish. Won't be greatest meat ever but better than a kebab or cardboard burger. Lidl sell meat really cheaply too. Can't see how a family who can afford to go to KFC and buy the bargain bucket, can't afford a pack of lidl mince, a jar of pasta sauce and some mushrooms /onions and pasta. Plus you would get two meals if you were careful. What you supposed to do with soggy left over chicken and chips. That's a waste of money of they didn't have it.

meals 95p each

Sirzy - true. But you need to know how to cook. Many people were never taught at home, or, sadly, at school.

Which is what needs to be tackled.

Places like farmfoods now do big packs of frozen meat very cheaply. It may not be as fantastic as buying it from the butchers but it is cheaper and its much better than buying ready meals/take aways etc

It is possible, and the "its too expensive" excuse simply isn't true but people have to want to make a difference and that is the issue that needs to be tackled.

WireCat sainsburys is the most expensive supermarket. Waitrose is cheaper when buying basic. I use mysupermarket which shows you the cost at each of the big 4 and I was shocked!

To be fair to JO, I think he does care about this. He is being sanctimonious and blinkered, but his intentions are good. (Maybe not to begin with...) And of course, he has made millions out of telling the poor to eat better. But I genuinely believe he wants to help. Just has no clue how.

Is he making a point that they could afford better food?

I have a flat screen too but was taught how to cook even on a limited budget. Lots of families have nobody who was taught to cook which is a shame.

Got £15 off a £60 shop at sainsburys.

Sirzy it is bloody time consuming trying to cook from scratch. I work 4 day a week and it's a hassle! But I know how to do it.

So you cannot sneer at people for buying junk when that's what they know and then expect them to miraculously turn beans and chickpeas into a meal when they don't know how.

Tv buying choices is irrelevant and a red herring.

34 fish fingers for £2.80 900g

frozen cod £4 for 400g

And that's frozen cod. The fresh stuff is even more expensive.

So please tell me, microwave meals and eating fish fingers is MORE expensive than eating the same from scratch?

It's NOT just about needing to cook!!!!

I'm an excellent cook but it is a FACT. It's cheaper to eat ready made food than it is fresh.

I've given you all examples!

why all the excuses. it is not hard to cook, yes some have a natural ability more than others but there are plenty of cookery books that give clear instructions and websites

cooking can be boring at times but it is a choice do i bother to cook or do i prefer to do something else that is not as boring

i prefer to cook and make a healthy meal for myself and ds, not always but most of the time as it is very important

As a ballpark estimate, a 50" flat screen averages £10 a month in depreciation over its lifetime. How much difference to the quality of food will £10 a month make?

But its not about comparing like for like meals ohshit its about making good meals on a budget which IS possible no matter how people try to argue otherwise.

There is nothing wrong with fish fingers anyway so that is a rather strange point for you to start your argument with anyway. People have given plenty of example when it is cheaper to make a proper meal than use a ready meal/take away type meal.

They're sticking their fingers in their ears and saying "lala" Ohshit.

It's difficult for people to understand that just because they know something, other people don't. Then they blame it on buying a TV.

Excuses? Not having enough money for fresh food and living on the poverty line is an excuse?

Or below it in many cases.

There is also a big difference between a one off large purchase and spending ££ every week. Most of our large cost items were presents or we saved up for. It's harder to Save up each week for a food shop.
(Plus I hate JO so totally biased)

*I'm an excellent cook but it is a FACT. It's cheaper to eat ready made food than it is fresh.

I've given you all examples!*

and people have given you plenty of examples to show your FACT isn't actually a fact at all. You are simply trying to take one angle to back up a rather badly made point.