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 know here in America our lower income people are generally over weight because junk food is dirt cheap.

Bottle of soda = $0.99
Sugar free juice of same size = $6.50

Really, any of our overly processed crap is dirt cheap and filled with sodium and sugar. It's no wonder we have an obesity problem.

That said, on a budget it is possible to make cheap food for everyone and still be healthy. But it requires time, effort, and some cooking talent. Not everyone has all that.

I really think schools should have a required home economics class again where you learn all the domestic skills you'll need, like cooking, cleaning, sewing repairs, and so on. DH had to take the class in his school and was better for it. I wasn't offered it and looking back could really have used some of the skills.

She talks a load of shite. There is no such thing as a 4p bowl of porridge when you factor in power to cook it.

No, the need to use food banks is because of a lack of money for food, not a lack of cooking skills. Do people think that you can just rock up to one and be given a food parcel? No - part of my job involves referring people to them and (trust me) you have to be in dire straits to get access. Many of the people wouldn't even be able to "cook" a pot noodle because they have no fuel. How long do oats have to be soaked in cold water before they become porridge?

The problems these peole face are (unfair) benefit sanctions, rent costs, fuel prices, zero hours contracts and below-minimum-wage jobs, mainly part time in my area because there's nothing else available.

Was that the one where you called her a fuckwit?

Yes, it was. And I stand by that. She is an offensive fuckwit.

I like porridge. When I play the Death Row Meal game it's porridge made with gold top milk with a dollop of clotted cream and a tablespoon of demerara sugar stirred in.

But that would be my meal if it was my last on earth. With any luck, it's not going to be my last.

The mealy-mouthed: 'Ooh! Porridge is such a nourishing meal made with a half pint of warm water and a tablespoon of skimmed milk' idea, fucking depresses me.

This is not body-building stuff. It's dieting 5-2 shit.

Within living memory poor people ate oats, bread, jam and water - or what my father who was born in 1918, would more commonly describe as wallpaper paste. The working men ate scraps of meat. The women generally went without.

Shall we go back to that?

There's no need to be so melodramatic limited. I know it gives you the illusion of gaining some moral high ground but you're accusing people of saying things they never said.

Having a bowl of 4p porridge is all very well if you know you are going to have a lovely dinner later or a nice sandwich for your lunch....but, if you know you don't have much other choice then you fill up on the sugary, salty stuff to cheer you up. It is a bit like when well off people boast about getting an outfit from a charity shop...its much less fun when all your clothes come from a charity shop.

It's not just a food issue either is it?

Housing costs are astronomical
Fuel costs are through the roof both for home or vehicles (which affects public transport costs)
If you default even once on council tax you get referred to court. 3 missed out have bailiffs round your house, a collection agency involved and mounting posts on the original debt
Then other utilities
Then the cost of food

That without taking into account any complex situation, any other debt, redundancy, ill health, disability, caring, addiction.

Life is harder for some than it is for others.

I consider myself lucky that although I am a carer for my severely disabled child we manage without me working and live off one wage and still manage to put food on the table, which I'll be honest isn't always cooked from scratch even though I can cook. It's not a massive stretch of my imagination to see how a carer in my position but lone, on benefits may fair, it would be MUCH harder to cope and it would be much harder to make ends meet.

The cost of living is extortionate, it's beyond people's means. Yet we let our governments support a ridiculously priced housing market and things will just get worse, but nobody seems to care? We all just focus on poor people choosing to eat the 1.50 cereal for breakfast instead of the 1.00 porridge. It's ridiculous in the extreme

I got what she was trying to say, but she was cack handed in how she said it. I had great cookery lessons at school - a lot about budgeting and nutrition and how to shop economically, my dc's were told to bring in a ready made pizza base and "make a pizza".

I know there are loads of reasons why cookery lessons have fallen by the wayside, but I think it's a great shame that children aren't/can't be given proper lessons in how to cook.

fallingovercliffs

How would you ensure a pupil made reliably cooked food and stored it to safe standards?

I'm not being melodramatic. It's just what's happened in 40 years. I think it's probably quite a good thing given that I used to cook a shepherd's pie in the morning and have it fermenting around until hometime.

I think it's probably quite a good thing that it's been stopped given that I used to cook a shepherd's pie in the morning and have it fermenting around until hometime.

Sorry, this is what I meant to say,

They have fridges at my son's upper school (had them at middle too) but yes, that's lucky too

He's cooked some fine stuff tbh. Luck again I suppose.

I still wheel out the sausage plait I was taught to make at school with ready made pastry. Only at very special events and Christmas though, otherwise the doors would have to be widened for my guests to leave the house

When I imagine that 4p bowl of porridge it makes me think of all those fat 'benefactors' in Oliver, stuffing their faces as the children are served up thin gruel. I always imagine one of them with Eric Pickles's face.

Is that what we've come to?

She's talking shit.

I used to feed my children porridge. When they were tiny and obedient. When I knew they'd be having a mid morning snack at nursery followed by a good lunch and something delicious when they came home. I still cook adventurously and cheaply now, because if they hate it I can afford to whip up some pasta with pesto or fish fingers beans and chips or call for dominos. If I was using a foodbank I'd definitely want the three days meals (that's all you get from Trussel trust foodbank a btw and only 3 times) to be 100% what they'll eat so I'd go for sweet cereal, pasta meals rice pudding etc.
Experimentation is a luxury.

Exactly, you can cook a fabulously cheap, nutritious meal - but you can't guarantee that the children will eat it. And whatever anyone says, you can't force small children to eat something that they don't like - mine turned their noses up at shepherd's pie tonight, even though they eat it perfectly fine only 2 weeks ago....but now, can't stand the stuff, so I had to cook one of them fish fingers and chips and the other one chicken nuggets and chips. Three different meals for 4 people. It's ridiculous. Luckily we can afford it (and it's not a regular occurrence) but if we couldn't then we would have all ended up with chicken nuggets and chips tonight because that is the only thing that both children will eat.

frostryfingers there are not 'loads' of reasons why Home Economics is not longer taught.
It was a political decision to replace it in the 1980s by Food Technology which was designed for those who were going to make a career in the food industry.

Much as I like porridge for breakfast, after three days I got a bit bored with it so went for some toast this morning.

It was spread with Sainsbury's Basics butter which was 98p for 250g.

Would that be all right with Baroness Jenkin?

I think the milk might be off tomorrow.

What a good job I'm not on benefits so can tip it down the sink rather than having to strain it through my teeth.

I have porridge for breakfast every day, through choice. It isn't just oats and water though. I add a splash of milk, some mixed dried fruit and a bit of cinammon. I price it up at 15p, still good value but 3 times as much as plain porridge.
I do look at those individual pots of porridge and wonder why anyone would buy them, when you can easily make it yourself.
Re 'food technology' my son did this for a few years. He did learn a few useful recipes (spaghetti bolognaise, savoury rice, chicken stir fry) but for some reason they had to repeat every recipe 3 or 4 times. A total waste of time. Why not learn 1 simple meal every week, just things like omelettes, how to cook vegetables properly. Also how to meal plan and shop on a budget and stock up a food cupboard for emergencies.

Have any of you listened to that clip heehills posted? It's heart breaking

Wasn't it Owl Just heart wrenching These idiots slagging off the unemployed should listen to his pride and desperation and sheer determination - These are the kind of people that are being vilified - so sad.

I hope Mike gets a job :(

I've posted the link on another forum I use, were all donating to the food bank. He made me cry. I hope he's okay and all people like him.

When I worked for a food retailer a few years ago, I was approached by a man asking for things off his shopping list. Tinned pies were amongst the items. I asked him if he was shopping for other people and he explained to me he was shopping for salvation army food parcels. He said he was giving something back as a year before he had lost his job in the city and in 10 weeks went from not worrying about money day to day to destitute, no electric, no food etc and he rang the salvation army and they put some credit on his meter and gave him a parcel of food and helped him fill out his benefit forms and follow up and most of all gave him a purpose. He got a job a few months later. The shopping? he was giving something back.

This was 3 years ago. Nothing has changed heas it?

'I add a splash of milk, some mixed dried fruit and a bit of cinammon. I price it up at 15p, still good value but 3 times as much as plain porridge.'

And you need power or gas to cook it.

People buy those sachets because they are easy to take into work and bung in the microwave. Or use the kettle there and eat at your desk.

Ah, Food Technology! I had to teach this to my Year 7s near the end of my career. I remember getting them to experiment with various ways of colouring food using natural ingredients (berries, leaves etc) and doing surveys on whether colouring mashed potato black, pink etc had any effect on perceived taste. Totally bloody useless for real life. Before then, in the halcyon days of sensible education, we taught simple cookery to the 12 yr olds. Stuff you could eat. Do they still teach Food Technology? Dear me... Bless us and save us!

I've posted the link on another forum I use, were all donating to the food bank. He made me cry. I hope he's okay and all people like him

Me too - I recruit into Media so asked LBC to send me his CV - someone like that shouldn't be so sobbing down the phone The way he was refusing money and gifts - he didn't want charity, just a job!

Really hope things work out for him. Fucking Baroness Jenkin needs to shut up and listen to people like him!

I'm good at cooking from scratch and making appetising cheap meals - and I think that this is as much about being interested in food and cooking as anything else. If you are interested, you are motivated. I'm sure that lots of people hate cooking.

She hasn't got a clue heehills. She hasn't got a clue :(