to spend £280 a week to feed a family of 5?

[TempleOfBlooms]

I spend about £280 a week on food. This includes my work lunches which tend to be salads from places like Leon plus coffees etc. The rest is food eaten at home.

Breakfast for all five of us tends to be things like Bircher muesli or chia based stuff with fruits and nuts. Fresh juice too.

Lunches in summer are usually a selection of dips and cheese and meats and salads.

Dinner is usually fish or chicken with a selection of salads and grilled veg.

So fresh food but not caviar or ridiculous indulgences.

It seems like everyone else on here can feed a family of four on tiny amounts. How? We certainly could eat more cheaply but that would mean fewer veg, fewer fruits, less fish etc.

Is it really so unusual to spend so much on food? I never see anyone else admit to it.

It doesn’t affect the nutritional content

I agree. The innate content of the Apple is unchanged by the presence of pesticides.

However the presence of presticides renders the Apple of less nutritional value than an organic value because the pesticide is a negative addition.

I think the issue is camel that you are deliberately misrepresenting what people are saying ( you certainly did with me) and desperately back-pedalling from your original posts.
Never mind. I can see what you mean and it would be great if every hard working family had £80 a week for a food shop. Perhaps you didn’t mean to be offensive but £80 for a family of 4 is a lot to some people and many have proved it’s possible to do a good job for less. Can you not see how nasty it is to tell them it’s impossible and their families are deficient in good nutrition.
I hope the rest of your week is better than tomorrow 💐

According to the Environmental Working Group, nearly three-quarters of 7,000 produce samples tested by the USDA in 2014 contained pesticide residues. In some cases, these pesticides persisted on fruits and vegetables even when they were washed or peeled.

Pesticide exposure has been linked to all kinds of health conditions, from neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's to cancer and birth defects.

With that in mind, I stand by assertion that an organic Apple is superior to a non organic apple.

thats america though highhigh

not nearly as many pesticides in the UK or europe

NURSY, what have I ‘misrepresented’?

You posted a lot of information about your regular food allowance and it was double the figure I gave the OP as the basic amount families should have to feed their families.

‘£80 is the minimum but we spend £120 because we can and I prefer variety’ is all I’ve EVER said. No back peddling.

Your figures came to £160 and I can only assume you believed I was the OP as you seemed to be suggesting I was spending £280 a week on food or arguing that was needed, I did neither.

That you’re now saying I am back peddling is just the biggest projection I’ve EVER seen. You got your wires crossed, associated a load of things I didn’t say, to me, tried to calculate the argument and ended up with a higher figure than has ever been mentioned by me.

Similar to Graph suggesting that two adults spending £50 on food a week somehow proves that £80 isn’t the minimum spend needed for a family of 4, none of it makes Any sense.

Of course you need money to buy enough food for your family.

nobody has shown me, not one person has detailed their shopping other than LADY who announced it costs £4 to make spaghetti and meatballs for 4 people (which is simply nonsense, the meat alone is nearly that)

Gah, I'm a sucker for punishment but pork mince is £1.79 for 500g so no it's really not nonsense. Or beef mince from my butchers is £4 a kilo so £2 for a pound of meat.

Scabbersley

But most fruits are not from the UK. Sadly we don’t have the climate to permit the production of huge amounts of blueberries, apples, peaches, mangos etc

LADY

We are talking about nutritious meals. Your meal must be massively carb heavy with no allowance for veggies or even a bit of cheese on top.

I prefer not to spend £2 on a pound of meat, I would rather spend more money on higher welfare meat or not eat it at all.

Only on Mumsnet can a meal consisting of £2’s worth of pork mince, a jar of cheap tomato paste and an enormous amount of spaghetti be considered ‘a nutritious meal’

JFC.

Got to bow out now and get on with stuff, not dismissing any responses!

Waiting for someone to come out and discuss how nutritionally balanced tripe is.

But most fruits are not from the UK. Sadly we don’t have the climate to permit the production of huge amounts of blueberries, apples, peaches, mangos etc
Where they originate from doesn’t affect amount or type of pesticide. If it comes in to the EU it’s tightly controlled to their standards which are some of the most rigourous in the world. highhigh

This has now beyond ridiculous.
What people were telling you CC is that you were being offensive and had a very smug attitude nothing else. Every other point is invalid because it does not change the FACT YOU OFFENED PEOPLE!!

Go on then LADY, I'll take up the challenge.
I buy three packs of 5% fat mince from my butcher for £10. I can't remember whether they are 400g or 500g, but I use 2/3 of a pack for four of us (£2.22).

I mix the mince with breadcrumbs made from one slice of wholemeal bread (49p per loaf, 20 slices in a loaf? - call it 3p), 1 onion (10p), 1 egg (15p) and fresh basil (10P??)
Total for meatballs: £2.60.
We would have this with a sauce made of 1tbsp oilve oil (5p), another onion (10p), a carrot (10p) and a stick of celery (7p?) Add 2 tins of chopped tomatoes (73p - Tesco four pack for £1.45) and about 100ml milk (10p?)
Total for sauce: £1.15.
Running total: £3.75
I would use one pack of tesco tagliatelle with this (I think about 70p) or if funds were short, a pack of value spaghetti (20p)
We would probably use about a quarter of a wedge of Aldi Parmaggio (£2.50 a wedge, 65p used).
So, all in, about £5.10, or £4.60 if spaghetti was used.
And nothing particularly lacking in nutrition, a far as I can see.

CATHF

Though your meatballs sound yummy, that is a very carb heavy, veggie poor meal.

You need at very least a decent side salad with that!

THEWHALE

You’ve done nothing but scream about being offended and call people names. Seriously, nobody cares if you’re offended, least of all me. Get a grip.

Very carb heavy? One pack of spaghetti and one slice of bread between four of us?

Veggie poor? Two tins of tomatoes, two onions, 1 carrot and celery between four of us?

Obviously you could eat less pasta and add more salad if that were your taste, but I take exception to being told it is carb HEAVY and veg POOR.

Have I stepped into a parallel universe?

Omg! Head meet brick wall indeed!

I am spending less than £40 per week for 2 adults which equates to less than £80 for 4 adults!

I don't get a delivery in 'skint week'

"With that in mind, I stand by assertion that an organic Apple is superior to a non organic apple"

A I'm not convinced of that conclusion, if they were that harmful they'd be banned

B you said NUTRITIONALLY that means the nutrients contained within that food - which organic food is no fuller of nutrients than a normal one.

GRAPH

But children have different nutritional needs than adults.

They might eat (Marginally) less but they require variety and nutritionally rich food.

What are you eating, for less than £40 a week?

CATHF

Er, yes, a meal that is majoritively meat and spaghetti needs a salad. To make that meal nutritionally balanced you need to spend another £2 on a salad.

We are talking about nutritious meals. Your meal must be massively carb heavy with no allowance for veggies or even a bit of cheese on top.

No, it has cheese, peppers, mushrooms, carrot, tomatoes and onions in. As CathF has pointed out it's not hard. You just have to try and pick fault don't you? Why can't you believe that people can and do feed their family well on less than what you have decided is possible? I do it every day.

While £280 is a lot more than I would spend, some people seem to spend really low amounts. I think that generally if you eat lean meat/fish then food costs will be quite high. Totally disagree that a diet low in carbs and high in meat fat is healthy. Some fruit/veg is cheap but I find variety makes me eat more so that means I sometimes buy quite expensive fruit and veg.

Right, you can add me to your list of offended, Camel.
I can't make my mind up whether you are so convinced you are right you are blinded to anything but your own opinion, or you just make a poor choice of words.
But, honestly, since when was 265/335g of meat BETWEEN FOUR PEOPLE regarded as meat heavy??
What's this obsession with salad nowadays? You do know that tomatoes, carrots, onions and celery count as veg, I assume?
Yes, as I said, I realise that the meal could be tailored to suit with fewer carbs and more veg, but to insinuate my meal is nutritionally lacking is outrageously rude.

All I’ve said is add a salad, it sounds lovely, which I’ve also said.

I've just googled the price of Leon's salads and coffee If you're buying lunch from there everyday it's clear to see where your money is going.
If you can afford it crack on but the fact that you felt the need to post about it means that even you know that's it's unusual for an 'average' family to spend that much a week.

Sigh

I already listed examples of my shopping items and dishes I regularly cook upthread.

Seriously you just cannot admit you're wrong.

Durham please tell some sample prices their site wouldn't load for me.