"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.

And a massive massive luxury in Malawi

I think there's some middle ground to be found, but it requires prejudice to be left at the door.

I don't think anyone would deny that cheap recipes and suggestions can only be a good thing. There is no denying that in some cases a poor diet is the result of a lack of education about food, not just what to cook but where to buy it from, how to cook it and how to do that consistently over time on a budget.

However, in other cases, no amount of frugality and clever ideas will help. For a woman with two children who has just left her abusive partner and is moving into accommodation where she literally has just the clothes on her back, many of these recipes are unsustainable because she doesn't have a cooker, fridge, freezer or the pans/utensils to cook with. There used to be a grant for people in this situation. It's been scrapped as part of the austerity measures.

For a single person living in B&B. Again, s/he'll have access to a microwave and a kettle. A fridge if very, very lucky. You can't cook a proper meal, much less store ingredients or freeze leftovers.

If you have a family of four, well-established in their home with no need to buy pans etc, you'll still struggle if you only have £25 to feed them on for that week. No amount of cheap recipes is going to solve that because it simply isn't enough money.

Why have they only got £25? Well, perhaps they have a bedroom tax to pay because when they were housed the authority gave them a three-bed house because that's all they had available, but because their two children are same sex, it's now considered superfluous to their requirements, but they can't find a two-bed property in their area because everyone is after those. They could move - at considerable cost - but that would mean changing the DC's schools, leaving Granny (who needs looking after), etc.

Perhaps both children needed shoes in the same month. Perhaps it was a cold winter. Perhaps the washing machine broke down and needed replacing (with a £50 second-hand one, but that's still a massive chunk of the monthly food bill). There are a whole multitude of reasons and the longer you live in poverty, the more frequent they become. Sometimes, when you can't afford toilet paper to wipe your arse on, splashing your last £1.50 on some cheesy chips to feel, just for a few minutes, that life can be enjoyable, is the only thing standing between you and suicide.

Sometimes, there just isn't enough money to feed people properly. Selling your TV can provide only the most temporary of solutions.

my Punjabi MIL would probably die on the spot if she thought there was a country where onions were a luxury.....

No usual my children have never eaten a takeaway.
They have eaten fish and chips in Cornwall on the beach.

This has to be one of my favourite MN quotes ever and sums this place up for me.

For basics I don't think Waitrose is that expensive to be honest, isn't Sainsburys meant to be more expensive?

I am just back from Sainsburys. The shopping came in £2.50 cheaper than Tesco and Asda.

Shopping anywhere else would involve multiple bus journeys and more than a fiver on a taxi so is a false economy. (Plus Tesco's meat is absolutely crap).

i think going to the supermarket (any supermarket) is the expensive part because they are very good at getting you to part with cash and believe you must have this or that.

i am always amazed on these thread what other people eat and how much posters expect to spend.

we eat organic and our weekly bill this week is £46.17 for 2 adults including tampax and that's replacing any store cupboard item we have run out of in the last week. and it also includes organic pizza bases (for just under £3) and fresh coffee and balsamic vinegar so clearly not trying to shop cheaply.

What does he think people watch his stupid TV shows on? Twat.

faster what is your point? that that was a cheap shop? i'm lost.

£46pw at the supermarket is a vast sum imo and i don't know how it is supposed to relate to people trying to feed on a budget.

many are looking at shopping for a family of four on £20 - and yes they too need tampax

i don't doubt that some people are trying to do that.

faster what is your point?

most people spend a lot at the supermarket and it creates an unrealistic sense of what is required.

The good thing about Waitrose is that I haven't spent more than 60p on a loaf of pre sliced bread in months. When they reduce, they do it properly and as we eat a loaf a day and freeze multiple loaves immediately, I save a fortune. I bought three loaves of Jackson's Yorkshire bread (full price £1,55) for 29p each this morning.

Also two rump steaks at £2,15 each, a pack of 8 organic chicken thighs for £1,20, a pack of plum tomatoes reduced from £1,69 to 40p and a 2Kg bag of Charlotte potatoes reduced from £2,30 to 75p. None of these things need eating straight away-the meat will be frozen and the tomatoes are still firm.

Yes I know you cannot rely on these bargains all the time but get in the habit of popping in if you can and you will be pleasantly surprised at what you will find if you are prepared for a little culinary spontaneity.

I use Waitrose, Aldi and my local market. And I work full time. It is hard work yes but I detest paying any more than I should have to.

In parts of the world, I think Seattle is one, they have been planting free food parks. Would be good to bring it here. Fill the centres of the concrete squares with fruit trees instead of paving slabs.

here is a cheap healthy diet from Tom Sanders, a professor of nutrition at Kings College London:

www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22065978

looks much more like mine SAF than your fatty yuck.

Parts of London have been trying to do the same Gibber by turning communal spaces into food gardens. I'd like to see much more done in schools too, both in domestic science and in proper sustainable growing for nourishment rather than as 'class' projects. Some schools are better than others.

Where I live, large ish Scottish town, there is a charity have planted veg and fruit all around, in previously overgrown places, window boxes etc, anyone can take it. Loads of it. The local railway station has an embankment full of carrots, etc.

I spent £80 for 3 adults (plus dd's boyfriend is visiting so 3 and a half adults really). That included meat that will do for 2 weeks of meals. Also had run out of quite a few cleaning things and toiletries. Also stocking up my baking cupboard as I got the Great British Bake Off book for my birthday and wanted to try out a few recipes. Without the cleaning, baking and toiletries it would have been nearer £60, including the meat for 2 weeks.

None of it is organic. A few things were reduced items. Aldi is too far for me and our market is awful.

I think he is a patronising git: most people in this country know how to budget and cook and we don't need his chummy chummy mockney books/programmes to tell us how to make a bacon sandwich/roast a chicken/put some butter on a cabbage.

I'm lucky enough to be able to afford food for my family without worrying; but it doesn't take a genius to work out that some people do not have access to a supermarket, or utensils, or a cupboard full of spices etc which while cheap by the teaspoonful are not necessarily that cheap by the packet. A bottle of olive oil is an unthinkable outlay for some people.

The man is a fool and, worse, uses all the "Saint Jamie campaigns" stuff just to build his brand. Isn't it about now that books for the Christmas market are launched?

And while I'm at it, his restaurants are crap and a rip off second only to legoland

I was thinking more of places that didn't require much maintenance rather than a kind of shared allotments space but those are good too. People need to be willing to put the hours in though.
There are loads of different things that could be done if people were given a little assistance. Land share, councils not selling off allotments, provision of window boxes and seeds (I used to grow all my herbs in old baby milk tins on my internal windowsill), guerrilla gardening... (People need to be willing for these though which is why I suggested the free food parks)

15 in Cornwall isnt crap, its actually really lovely. Dont know about the rest of them.

my fatty yuk? wtf? where'd do you get that from. do you have kids by the way?

as we are being frank about each others diets, your looked heavy on animal fats and low on veg. some veg but not enough. i was quite surprised it was not healthier after your comments on mine.

not yet. how come you want to know?

Fair point empress, I haven't been to that one; but 15 in London is a rip off and not very good and Jamie's Italian (s) are awful

i haven't described mine so great assumptions there. i said people can eat all sorts but need variety and named loads of different types of food people commonly eat or get suggested on these threads. you know nothing of my diet.

i asked about kids because this about feeding 'families' including growing children and you were coming up with a tin of tomatoes and an onion or throw in a carrot and some lentils and that'll do fine for nutrition and hunger needs. your not having kids makes more sense of your comments on this thread. when you do let's hope they get a more varied diet than canned tomatoes and pasta.

also makes sense of the whole, it's easy, it's no problem, we live on pasta and lentils.

try having the children and feeding them for a few years before you think yourself an expert.