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AIBU?

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Original poster

To be sad and appalled that a healthy diet is now beyond the reach of many.

489 replies

Darkesteyes · 01/05/2014 21:51

Absolutely appalling. And it will have an effect on the NHS. Poorer people are bashed for being poor.. and bashed for being overweight. Why do I have a feeling its only going to get worse. Sad Angry

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-27225323

OP posts:
GarlicMaybeNot · 02/05/2014 00:42

Seriously?

A great deal of lentil bolognese. Thick soups made with a chicken carcass, beans & veg. Curried this & that. Braised cheap cuts, and this & that made from the cooking remains.

I grow herbs so, whenever I got a good crop, I made green slop instead Grin

fairyfuckwings · 02/05/2014 00:55

I know prices in the supermarket have increased massively over the last 5 years. I'm not trying to detract from the argument, as I know it's an issue in the UK, but I was absolutely stunned at the price of food on a recent trip to France.

It was my first time in France and their supermarket shop must easily be double ours. I know their average wage is lower than ours. Maybe their housing costs are lower (I don't know). Everything (bar fois gras, fags and wine) was soo much cheaper here in the uk. Even french branded products like maile and bon maman are cheaper in the uk.

I would hazard a guess (and it is a guess because I'm not an expert) that it's really not food prices that are a problem. And I don't think it's wages either since ours are comparatively high. I think it's bloody housing costs and energy costs. That's (my personal opinion) where we're being screwed.

ChampionofWitterers · 02/05/2014 00:56

Yes, seriously. As I make a great deal of what you refer to as 'slop' as well. What on earth's wrong with lentil bolognese? We had it on Monday. We all like it. It's nutritous, and put with peas and/or potato wedges, it's a perfectly adequate and healthy dinner.
I'd rather so called 'slop' from good, healthy big bags of food that last several dinners and can make varied different dinners than a couple of ready meals or whatever that just lasts the one meal.

CorusKate · 02/05/2014 01:12

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

KenAdams · 02/05/2014 01:25

I don't understand why you'd buy bottles of gin and vodka when you knew you'd be back to nothing after that money was gone though? Surely saving it to use so you'd have a bit more over a few weeks would have made life a hell of a lot easier?

GarlicMaybeNot · 02/05/2014 01:49

Ken, this isn't about my finances. I said I was on £61 a week for most of last year. This is the basic rate of £71 less £10 for hardship loan repayments.

As it goes, I didn't want to spend all of my 'bonus' as I did, but 14 months of privation does strange things to a person's mind. I may wish I hadn't spent it, but I perfectly understand why I did.

I'm clearly unsuccessful in communicating the difference between ongoing, unrelieved poverty and a nice middle-class exercise in saving a bit of money. If I hadn't been middle-class before joining the bottom class, I'd have far fewer coping tools: something I'm acutely aware of, but most seemingly prefer to ignore by 'othering' the poor.

I'll leave my perspective in the more capable hands of fellow eyes-open posters.

PinkSquash · 02/05/2014 07:46

I think people are just thinking of what they can get and thinking it applies to everyone. Where I live, the only accessible supermarkets are Lidl and Iceland. Kitchens in the typical home here are tiny, kitchen equipment is limited as is storage space.

It's all fine and well saying you can buy thus from X supermarket and Y from this one, but that costs more in travel than its worth. It's a luxury.

Bananas here cost £1.20 whereas cheapy crisps are 69p. I buy bananas over crisps here, a lot of others don't because they cost too much.

Just because it's cheap in one area, doesn't make it the same across the board.

PinkSquash · 02/05/2014 07:48

Oh and 'stocking up' is only something a person can do when they have extra money.

Montegomongoose · 02/05/2014 08:28

It's not a popular or fashionable view, but learning to cook will go a long way to easing some of these problems. It's a disgrace that our children do not know how to make themselves something cheap and healthy and instead it's the norm for them to get chips/burgers/fast food on a daily basis.

Ditto walking as someone mentioned earlier.

YouAreMyFavouriteWasteOfTime · 02/05/2014 08:43

most people prefer the taste of unhealthy food than healthy food. this is why people of all income brackets eat a less than ideal diet.

if carrots tasted like chocolate I am sure we would all eat more carrots. we are wired to like the taste of sugar and fat. and its is very available from endless shops, takeaways, restaurants etc.

iwantsun · 02/05/2014 09:34

I don't think a healthy diet is out of reach of most people. I bought a small carrot from Asda the other day for 8p and a small banana for 10p. Perfect for my DS. Crappy crisps and chocolate cost more than this!

Fishstix · 02/05/2014 10:41

Garlic, Corus, laksy...our posts are all making me nod my head in agreement.
When DH and I Were first married and he was doing a masters I was earning a pittance and we lived hand to mouth. We were right in the city centre and in those days there was no Tesco metro or anything like it so we had to walk miles to the supermarket. It wasn't just that we ate cheap and often bland food, it was the sheer exhaustion of having to plan and plot every meal way in advance, I hated never just being able to eat something you fancied because you had a meal plan to stick to, never being able to invite friends over for dinner because you didn't have enough, of trying constantly to make things stretch just a little further.
We only had to manage it for a year, and on the rare occasion that we got extra money of COURSE we used some of it to buy the things we usually missed out on, because when you have spent 4 months craving an ice cold beer in the pub with your mates then it's natural to choose that over the pants you need to replace!
The most difficult thing about poverty is inequality. If everyone we knew was in the same boat people would cope. But it's bloody miserable being skint and seeing those around you eating what they like, driving in a car, going on holidays, having a tv, ANY of the things you cannot do.
There can't be a single person on this thread who isn't currently hankering in some degree after something they can't afford. For most of us if we're lucky it's big ticket items. For others who are having to cope with living on the edge, and have no hope or end in site, then it's something as simple as a rich tea. Can most of us hand on heart say we know his that feels? Every day? Every week? Every year.
How the heck can ANYONE judge them for choosing a treat like a biscuit over yet another practical decision which doesn't fill them. (Eg an apple or carrot.)
The real issue here is that we are living in a country where a politician who steals 40k isn't imprisoned, where many more politicians are claiming money they don't need to pay for homes they don't live in, where companies are able to avoid millions in tax, where banks are propped up with public money yet take huge bonuses for their employees...whilst regular people starve.

Fishstix · 02/05/2014 10:42

Your posts, not our Blush

iwantsun · 02/05/2014 10:43

But it's bloody miserable being skint and seeing those around you eating what they like, driving in a car, going on holidays, having a tv, ANY of the things you cannot do

That is just life. Why shouldn't other people go on holiday and eat what they like if they can afford it? You would

Fishstix · 02/05/2014 10:45

But iwantsun. If you have four kids then your banana and small carrot aren't going to stretch as far as that 15p packet of biscuits...

iwantsun · 02/05/2014 10:50

ok give the four kids 15p biscuits and end up with obese kids - that isn't going to help either

40p for 4 bananas and 32p for 4 carrots - still cheaper than a lot of crap food

Fishstix · 02/05/2014 10:52

Yep iwantsun, and I Do. I'm not saying anyone shouldn't. BUT it's the extent of the disparity. How is it ok for 1% of people to own 80% of the wealth that they accrue by being allowed to have crappy policies like zero hours contracts?
I'm lucky, but I'm still able to understand why people who don't have that luxury might choose a less healthy option if it makes them feel good than a healthy one.
I hate the judgement against the poor that the government and media have very successfully whipped up in us. they have used every tool possible to dehumanise people and categorise the poor as ignorant scrounges. I'm sure there are some people out there who fit that description. BUT most don't. Most are just trying to get by in a society geared up to make life harder for the poor.

Fishstix · 02/05/2014 10:52

40p for 4 bananas and 32p for 4 carrots - still cheaper than a lot of crap food

Not if you only have 20p left in your pocket. ;)

iwantsun · 02/05/2014 10:54

It is not ok for 1% of people to own 80% of the wealth that they accrue by being allowed to have crappy policies like zero hours contracts. I agree

But you have to get inventive when you are on a crappy contract. I have had my hours dropped to less than half and me and my family have had to change the way we shop. We still eat a very healthy diet. I have to run round more looking for bargains and shop a lot but it is not impossible

Making use of coupons, special offers, buying short dated food etc

Fishstix · 02/05/2014 10:54

And I agree that obese kids are not to be wished for. I'm just saying that I can understand the psychology behind that choice.

iwantsun · 02/05/2014 10:55

Not if you only have 20p left in your pocket. ;)

eat the crap and get obese - costs you more in long run Grin

crappy carbs wont fill up the 4 kids - they will still be hungry

WorraLiberty · 02/05/2014 11:02

I still don't think eating crap leads to obesity, as long as the portion sizes are small and people aren't constantly snacking, while taking little to no exercise.

Yes, they'll be unhealthy with a constantly crap diet but not necessarily fat.

Blaming obesity on poverty doesn't help people to lose weight, if they think they're poor so they'll automatically be fat.

Fishstix · 02/05/2014 11:03

Iwantsun. Sometimes it's a question of education. Where are the home economics lessons these days? Does anyone teach kids about how to manage their household finances anymore if their parents can, or won't?
Sometimes it's a question of location as others have described above.
The thing is its EASY to budget and plan if you are starting from a position of having more than you need, even if only a little. Because you have the ingredients you need to make things tastier. But having lived without salt, pepper, sugar or any spices this week I can get why someone would choose a flavoursome packet of biscuits that will give me a treat all week rather than a one off healthier option that doesn't really fill me up.
I'm not a big fan of Polly Toynbee but I read her book Hard Work a few years ago and it really opened up my eyes to how bloody impossible it is to extricate yourself if you are on the poverty line. And that was a few years ago, these days government policy has made it even worse.
If you have no hope and no real life why would you have the motivation to eat right?

Fishstix · 02/05/2014 11:07

Don't get me wrong Worral, plenty of people who are obese are not poor, just as plenty of people who are poor are not obese. it's about unhealthy choices across the spectrum. I'm just saying that I can understand Why in some cases someone who has little money might make an unhealthy choice.

WorraLiberty · 02/05/2014 11:12

That's what I'm saying though

Making unhealthy choices don't necessarily make you obese - but eating too much food and taking little to no exercise does.

Being poor and eating crap will undoubtedly lead to ill health, but not obesity if portion sizes aren't huge and that person isn't constantly snacking and not exercising.

I think it's important not to automatically link the two, or poorer people may just assume they're doomed to a life of being fat because they don't have much money.