To think that cooking from scratch is becoming more and more unsustainable?

[AlternativePerspective]

I have always cooked from scratch, and I will be the first to admit that cooking from scratch has always been more expensive than buying e.g. jar sauces etc. However as things currently stand food prices are going up so much that cooking from scratch is becoming more and more unsustainable for many people who are struggling to make ends meet.

And in an era where we’re being told to live healthily, to cut out additives where possible, and to use the healthiest ingredients, while this has always been hard to sustain, right now for many it’s unsustainable from a financial perspective, and people are going to be forced to eat jar sauces, ready meals and various other foods with additives they didn’t want or need.

I’ve just cancelled my milkman because I can no longer justify spending the money, and it’s going to take a lot before I will ever eat ready meals or cook from a jar. But compromises are going to have to be made, and in many instances for some people, it’s not going to be possible to compromise.

Something I think worth noting as well is things like this are always harder for disabled families. Some people can’t cut vegetables and peel them, some people have sensory issues with taste and texture, some have allergies. This also further limits what you can do. I’m only mentioning it as I haven’t seen anyone really talk about how rising prices will impact disabled people worse than non disabled ones.

I don't think peopel are too stupid to realize this.

It's just that the OP is very general. Are we talking about very poor people? Or people who were already cooking from scratch?

I'd tend to say the latter, so chances are they already have a lot of the basic infrastructure and know-how and habits.

this thread has turned depressingly competitive.

yawn.

Sainsburys have an aldi price match wholemeal loaf for 36p at the moment.

I think - as is usual on threads about cooking from scratch - a lot of posters are missing the point here.

Lots of posters are not necessarily missing the OP's point, but what they are posting us often in response to other posters' comments rather than only the OP.

You're right that it's difficult to judge bought food and cooked-from-scratch food unless we specify what end of the range of either we are talking about. The point I'd stand by is that homemade food made from raw ingredients is inherently healthier, almost always tastier and can be cheaper or, at any rate, as cheap as bought, processed stuff. That doesn't necessarily mean it is usually cheaper, if you are used to cooking and spending what you fancy.

Step away from Channel 5 & the Daily Fail in that case. Poverty point at its finest. Don't firm your views from sensationalist media.

OP wasn't about poverty. It was about someone in a privileged position (paying milkman's prices) believing it's more expensive to cook from scratch.

It's not, but there are some things (like pesto and good cake) where you're not comparing like with like so the homemade versions seem more expensive.

As always, those with privilege can't see it from the other side.

What if your freezer breaks and you can't afford to replace it? Boom - batch cooking is now out.

What if you can't afford to buy butter, sugar, eggs this week but can afford a quid for a pack of shit shop cake?

Comparing high quality shop cake vs home cooked is pointless. If you've got a fiver to buy 'cake, bread and fruit' you can't buy the posh cake - or afford to make a good one - that's the point.

I don't know why you assume people don't understand that. Why would it be pointless to have a conversation about the relative costs of food? Lotsof people are needing to cut costs, not just the poorest if the poor. Can we not have these conversations just in case somebody's freezer broke?

Just to add, for people who find themselves in unexpected circumstances, forking out £50 for a bread maker is a big chunk of your £77 weekly JSA. A lot of meals to miss entirely.

Like I said early on, depends on your circumstances but do try and see the point of view from the most affected as well as your own.

30p noodles are cheaper than most things - costs, fuel & equipment - no matter how you look at it
And ingredients are more expensive. Even the cheap ones

@Smartsub, you seem very sure that it's not more expensive to cook from scratch, without any substance to back up your argument, other than you 'know'. I repeat what I have already said - I think most people completely underestimate the cost of home cooking.
Can you give me an example of a simple meal where the equivalent home-cooked version is cheaper than the bought one? Not luxury bespoke cakes or made-to-order meals, just basic food that someone struggling would make to fill their family up? I've already priced up pasta sauce, which is not cheaper to make than buy.

Dangerous pseudo scientific nonsense. PSA to all: IGNORE IGNORE

? I've already priced up pasta sauce, which is not cheaper to make than buy

I think you've priced it wrong.

As always, those with privilege can't see it from the other side

No, some of us can see it from BOTH sides. I spent years trying to feed a family on a tiny budget. I now have more money to spend, but the habits are ingrained.

@CupidStunt22 How so? All prices taken from Tesco website

I wanted to give a couple of recent examples due to rising fuel and ingredients costs. I’m in Italy.
Ukrainian sunflower oil has doubled in price, so I’ve bought a lower quality oil for shallow frying, muffins, pancakes and general meal prep.
I used to make my own mayonnaise with 250ml vegetable oil to 1 egg (€1 for 300ml, some of which went to waste) but I’m not going to make it with that oil. 75cents for a tube of Hellmans will have to do. Economy of scale.

I used the oven for an hour for home made soda bread, lasagne, spinach pie and banana muffins. Yes, it was a hot day but economy was a factor.

DC1 is dog sitting at the weekend so I went crazy and got a variety of ready meals, some frozen, some chilled and pot noodles, plus crisps and cereals. €15 for 10 possible meals. Unhealthy but cheap and easy to prepare for someone who has little interest in cooking. What they don’t eat has a long shelf life and can be taken home.

Cooking from scratch is viable if you’re rich on time. Soaking pulses, proving bread and slow cooking tough meat is time consuming and needs forward planning.

Since lockdown I’ve been feeding my family and meal planning on €150 a week shopping. It means no artisanal cheese or sirloin steaks but nobody complains.

I now refuse to eat out for celebration meals. I can do Christmas dinner for €10 a head and it’s no more difficult than a Sunday roast. It’s nice to be served in a restaurant and not have to deal with the clear-up. But that’s frugality.

She said it was cheaper to buy than cook from scratch, and I think, in general, she is right.

I don't disagree that it can be cheaper to buy ready made food. Aldi do freezer ready meals for 75p each. Even by batch cooking my arse off, I'd struggle to make lasagne or whatever for that. I do disagree, however, that this is OK. I feel quite strongly that people on limited budgets and/or limited facilities shouldn't be condemned to eating poor quality crap that at best has such limited nutritional value that you'd be better off eating the box, and at worst makes them ill. The point I've made (or at least tried to ) is that it's possible to eat well without it necessarily costing more. I know some of the prices might be out of whack now (but ready meal prices will have increased too) but look at Jack Monroe's website to see how cheaply it is possible to eat.

If I wanted a "simple" pasta sauce, I'd use a tin of tomatoes, a clove of garlic, olive oil and some salt and pepper. Or cabonara using an egg and a little bacon and grated cheese. Both less than 60p to make (priced on the Tesco website) What kind of pasta sauce are you buying?

As I said. I'm not claiming those in real poverty can't get food on the table cheaper, but that's not what OP was about. If you want to (and can afford to) eat well, cooking from scratch is cheaper.

Between ingredients, electricity and gas, I find it more expensive to cook from scratch. I can obviously think of some cheap meals where it isn't but overall, to cook something from scratch that tastes delicious is more expensive. And I'm not going to do it if it isn't more delicious.

There has been a rise of malnutrition, gout and scurvy and this is all linked to poor diets. Some of it is due to poverty and relying on food banks but also due to not having any fresh fruit and veg in their diet and relying on too much processed food. Even fresh potatoes have vitamin c.
There is a lot of health benefits from cooking from scratch and you don't need to be an amazing cook or buy very expensive ingredients.

I am making my own, as it happens.
But for the purposes of comparison, I looked at the ingredients in Tesco Chunky Veg Sauce and tried to replicate the home-made equivalent.
I will concede a sauce made out of 1 tin of tomatoes, 1 clove of garlic and 1tbsp olive oil would be cheaper than any bought sauce, but I'm not sure there is a bought equivalent without onion or herbs?
I'm not so sure about the carbonara. I priced it up using 1 egg @ 11p (barn), 1 rasher of cheap bacon @ 21p and 40g of cheapest cheddar @ 20p and I got to 52p, but I'm not sure to would feed four people, which the jar of bought sauce would.

@Katypp well one example: I made a super luxe baked macaroni cheese for my kids and their friends, and there was extra for me and DH and another parent too. I used (all prices Asda):
113g unsalted butter = 88p
6 slices white bread = 40p
2 pints milk = 65p
70g plain flour = 3p
salt, pepper = 3p
500g cheddar = £2.30
200g parmesan = £2
500g macaroni = 75p
500g frozen peas = 70p
Total = £7.74, which fed 10 = 77.4p a portion. Oven was on for 30 mins so maybe a few more p for the energy price. If I compare that to the Asda ready meal for one of macaroni cheese it's £2.75.

That's just one example, but it's at least one thing that's definitely cheaper than ready-made.

I think it's fairly obvious if you can't afford to eat or heat your home then your health will suffer.

But this isn't because you had to buy the odd cake. If you are eating enough cake that your health will take a hit because you switched to bought, probably be better to just eat less cake.

Generally it is cheaper to cook from scratch, there is the odd thing that is probably cheaper to buy but that's okay, just buy it, your body will cope. It's not going to come to harm because you bought pesto rather than made it.

Tesco Chunky veg pasta sauce 500g

INGREDIENTS: Tomato (57%), Partially Reconstituted Tomato Pur??e (24%), Yellow Pepper (4%), Red Pepper (3%), Courgette (3%), Onion, Sugar, Concentrated Lemon Juice, Sunflower Oil, Salt, Cornflour, Herbs, Garlic Pur??e, Onion Powder, Black Pepper.

So 7% of the 500g is pepper = 35g. 3% is courgette = 15g. You've far over stated the quantities used in your calculations.

Well not necessarily @Xiaoxiong , because Asda do a smart price version at £1.18. Or you could go to Tesco and get their Hearty Food Company version for 75p, which means £7.50 for 10 portions, so cheaper than homemade.
Caveat: I'm sure yours was nicer but in absolute terms, bought can be done cheaper. That's my point.

If I wanted a "simple" pasta sauce, I'd use a tin of tomatoes, a clove of garlic, olive oil and some salt and pepper.

My DH makes bolognese. It's olive oil, onion, carrots, celery, pancetta, beef mince, pork mince, peeled tinned tomatoes, tomato purée, milk, a bay leaf and some grated nutmeg. The pancetta alone costs more than a jar of M&S meat bolognese.