Poor People Can't Cook!!!!

[HeeHiles]

Baroness Jenkin

AIBU to be getting fucking sick of this demonising of poor people? I'm not rich, wouldn't put myself in a poor bracket, but I can cook.......Is it OK for me to say 'Rich can't Cook'-with their maids and servants, blimey! Can the rich dress themselves???

Plebs, Stupid cab drivers, white van man, it's all getting a bit ridiculous now isn't it?.......or is this just the Media stirring things up before an election?

I'm sure some ready meals ARE cheaper than raw ingredients. This lasagne caught my eye in Tesco the other day, would prob feed most families of 5 (2 adults, 3 kids) with some frozen peas or cheap beans. Not sure I could cook it for the same price, even if you assume you have herbs/flavour adding stuff in your store cupboard, especially once you take electric costs of making the ragu, bechamel, washing up water etc into account.

LIke any business supermarkets definitely have loss leaders - if people buy this at a loss, then buy garlic bread, bagged salad and ice cream at a profit, then Tesco (or whoever) make a net gain.

I'm currently really missing my oatmeal, water and pinch of salt. I usually have it for breakfast every day between Oct and Apr. I'm stuck with crappy cereal as I have oversupply of breastmilk. I think it's a great breakfast.

I think most of the cookery programmes today are more 'entertainment' programmes than educational ones

I agree although not an expert, but did watch one and picked up a few ideas, but there is MN, You-Tube - lots of resources to learn basic skills if someone wanted to find out.

She's a patronising fool with a Marie Antoinette complex but centred on porridge instead of cake.

Many people from all income levels don't know how to cook.

But that doesn't matter if you have the money to eat out, get takeaways or buy ready meals and have the money for the fuel to heat them.

Poor people often do not have the money for fuel - not just cooking, but storage in fridges and freezers. They may not have the utensils to cook with or money to buy them or space to store them. They may lack the money for petrol or bus fares to visit a cheaper supermarket and therefore rely on rip-off convenience stores. They may also be shared accommodation with no or poor cooking facilities and a high risk of theft if you leave valuable possessions like food hanging around in a shared space.

Fuckwit.

And also, what place is is of hers to tell people whether to spend their money giving to food bank or not? I mean, it's not as if anyone's telling her it's unwise to pontificate about the poor while wearing a Chanel jacket, is it?

Oh, I just did.

I really think it would be great if they went back to some of the old style cookery programmes where the presenter explained the principles behind certain techniques and showed viewers how to make basic dishes - without all the bish-bash-bosh stuff you see nowadays, and the exotic ingredients and vague measurements and loud background music.

I don't think she ever said or implied that only poor people couldn't cook.

I think she makes a fair point in saying a lot of people can't cook, and that we'd have a better situation if people could.

However, if you're poor, you often can't afford to buy the food/ingredients or afford to use electricity/gas to cook. I think if I was in a situation where it was use a foodbank or buy ingredients to cook and have to search around for the best deals on things and cook I can see I might be tempted by the food bank.
Plus, there's so many poor, working people-I can understand using a foodbank once you've factored in a 40-50 hr working/commuting week.

I think part of the problem is that, because it has all been done before, in the race to make new cookery programmes, they need to get more exotic. Delia and Nigella do explain the basics. But, the audience would really need to be split into two segments, then. I can't watch basic cookery.

Surely a lot of poor people work in the catering and hospitality trade, considering its so poorly paid?

Cooking isn't about money; it's about knowledge.

A lot of people can't cook or won't cook. Whilst people with money can afford to be lazy and have take aways the poor can't so she has a valid point. I know a lot of people who get a take away twice a week yet say they can't afford to put the heating on.

And if you are saying you'd rather starve than eat 4p porridge you are a snob. It's tastes just as the branded version but is 21p cheaper per portion.

We need a weekly tv show with a budget of say £35 to do 3x7 meals that people can record and follow along with. Most tv shows use use huge bits of meat as it looks good in reality if you are on a budget you shouldn't be buying those cuts of meat.

Therer is also the issue of buying and storing stuff to not end up throwing it away. I think as a country we're just not v good at most aspects of food.

Its all very well saying that you can make a 4p bowl of porridge (not to mention the milk, honey, jam whatever you put on it, with the tea/coffee toast...). I make mine with water and have it with a drop of milk myself...

But try living on such frugal amounts to spend on money for a day, week, month... When you have a warm house to live in, money to pay the bills, clothes in the wardrobe, kids at a decent school, holidays to look forward to, credit cards that work, not wondering whether to put the heating on OR the washing machine...

I think people do cook less from scratch nowadays, but that's everyone!

It is not the job of TV companies to make educational programmes.

I agree Limited but it would be nice if they did as a change to all the Mastercheffy programmes which have twisted people's concept of homecooking.

Ultimately though, proper home economics classes should be back on the curriculum. Not just teaching kids to make flapjacks and muffins, but proper lessons about food budgeting, nutrition etc.

Listen to this call from an unemployed man - heartbreaking

I'm crying - if anyone can help this lovely man find a job you can contact the studio at LBC.

I can afford any food I like but I shy away from following cookery programmes. Even a cursory totting up of the shopping list in your head comes out at a ridiculous cost to make many of the dishes they feature.

I can't help thinking of all the lovely stuff I could buy from M&S for a tiny fraction of the cost.

I suspect that the reason they've gone mastercheffy/strictly, is because the audience splits into those who will watch it and those who won't. It's about ratings. Jamie used to explain the basics when he was the naked chef. But, there are only so many times that you can explain when to and when not to grease the tin.

morris 9 times out of 10 you can substitute things, joints of meat, mainly. That's where a lot of the expense comes in. Try talking to a butcher (if you can find one!) about the cheap cuts of meat, which are perfectly good, but have vanished. Cheek, shin, chuck.

No it doesn't. You'd soon get used to it

Yes, but explaining why you have to cook cheaper cuts for longer, how to avoid curdling a sauce, how to tenderise meat etc would be really useful. Even as a very keen cook I am getting sick of cheffy style programmes filmed in 'quirky' settings with the chef advising you to throw in a 'splosh' of this and a 'glug' of that and with lots of filler bits of the chef chatting to the owner of local artisan supermarket etc etc. The novelty has worn off and they're neither entertaining nor educational, in my opinion. They also make cooking look intimidating, expensive and faffy to nervous cooks.

It's annoying, really, because cooking used to be about making things to feed the family with no money! Offal, rabbit pie, fish pie, toad in the hole, potato cakes...

I think people do cook less from scratch nowadays, but that's everyone!

More sweeping statements!! Not me.....I cook every night, its rare I'll cook anything processed, usually if I'm ill - so not everyone!

You can always pitch a show to a production company and see what happens. I suspect that one of the problems with technical tuition is retention. With so many off the shelf sauces out there, unless you know how to make a sauce, it's probably easier to buy a packet. The most common sauce is gravy, and you can buy that as powder.

You can always pitch a show to a production company and see what happens

In the current climate that could be a winner