Page 11 | To think peoples lives are crap enough without needing the government to interfere with Meal Deals

Jeansmeansheinz · 2023-06-27T19:32:01+00:00

FFS just let people have the pleasure of a Meal Deal. I really don't need the Government telling me what I can and can't eat.

StormShadow · 28/06/2023 06:59

SpidersAreShitheads · 27/06/2023 23:12

There's so much moralising on this thread about the weak-willed fat people gobbling up meal deals and other unhealthy foods. If only they would take the time to prepare some lentils and just EDUCATE themselves, right?

You can buy a lasagne for 99p in the supermarket. Good luck making one for anywhere near to that price. Certainly home-made will taste better, but if you're short on money - and time - then being fed is better than not.

The government can't raise the prices of food it considers to be bad, without taking opposite steps to make health, convenient food readily available - and cheap.

With two parents out at work, there's often scant time to cook a decent meal every night for lots of families. Not everyone has freezer room to batch cook - that's assuming they've got the money to buy in bulk. We've just gone through a winter where people were too scared to switch their heating on and sat there, shivering, during icy temperatures. But suddenly now we're not worrying about the cost of using fuel to do all this batch cooking and prep? That's without even solving the issue of time....

As some PP have said - this is performative. It will get lots of people clapping their hands and nodding sagely about the bad fat people who now have to eat more healthily.

The answer is not more stick, but more carrot - quite literally. Why not put healthier choices in the meal deals? Yoghurts, fruit, etc. It's hard to pick up convenience food that's also healthy. Fruit and veg, meat and fish - they're all staples but really expensive. It's mind-blowing that we've reached a stage of food poverty where eating meat or fish is now considered a luxury.

Our lifestyles are not the same as they were in the 1950s so it's a daft comparison. Changing this tiny thing in isolation is utterly pointless unless the government are committed to making a raft of other changes at the same time encompassing everything from better food and health education in schools which is practical and actually meaningful, right through to forcing supermarkets to sell fruit, veg, meat, fish and other staples much more cheaply. Oh, and they can also reduce the amount we're charge for energy - I get that there has been problems with the supply of energy but we're one of the few countries where customers were slapped with high costs.

Changing meal deals is just a way for the government to get ass pats without actually pissing off the corporations who are churning out the unhealthy stuff.

All of this.

ElmTree22 · 28/06/2023 07:10

Lentilweaver · 27/06/2023 22:21

Why are poorer countries with even less access to kitchens, microwaves, open spaces, doctors, and work life balance not obese? Most of the world, that is, apart from the US and the UK?

No or limited UPF, I think.

We're so lazy in the western world. We don't prioritise our diets.

Kazzyhoward · 28/06/2023 07:16

Beneficialchampion2 · 27/06/2023 20:51

Penalise those without the ability to make sensible decisions then.

A blanket tax is the wrong thing to do, it'd be quite easy to have a tiered meal deal.

Relatively healthy choice - no fatso tax

Unhealthy choice - fat tax.

Life is about choices and I for one am sick to death of being penalised because a few individuals are unable to control themselves.

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Trouble is the supermarkets will screw it up.

I've noticed that diet coke and other no sugar drinks are now back to same price as the sugared options - after they were initially cheaper due to the sugar tax, some supermarkets have pushed the price up again to match.

You can't trust supermarkets - with meal deals, they'd confirm at first and then would restore the offers after a year or two when everyone has forgotten!

JonahAndTheSnail · 28/06/2023 07:17

If people want to eat these foods so badly, they will still find a way. Food and drink companies will find a work around to sell similar 'healthier' products, likely based around ingredients that we still don't know the long term health effects of (eg sugar free drinks). Take smoking for example, increasing tax may have encouraged a small number of smokers to quit cigarettes, but how many moved on to vaping? How many young people who had no interest in smoking cigarettes started vaping because it's considered 'safer'. I'm not having a dig at smokers or people who enjoy eating meal deals, I say everything in moderation.

MissyB1 · 28/06/2023 07:19

DreamTheMoors · 27/06/2023 23:51

Yeah fuck them farmers. They don’t deserve a farthing. Amirite?
@MissyB1
I wonder if you realise how expensive it is to grow, pack and ship one piece of fruit from the farm to your table - and how many expensive steps there are. Or if you ever bothered to think about it or if you just go to the market and buy your fruits & veggies and bitch about how expensive they are - while the farmers’ kids are wearing hand-me-downs from a generation before them.
The farmers farm because they love the land and work the same property their fathers and grandfathers worked before them. Generations of families dedicate themselves to the same patch of land.
Their sacrifices are many - their rewards are few. Some years it’s a loss if there’s a freeze in the spring or other natural disasters like drought.
And the thanks they get from you is you’d like to see a deal.
Well, wouldn’t we all.

—a farmer’s daughter

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What a strange rant!! Who mentioned not paying Farmers fairly?
I’m not bitching about farmers! I’m talking about the supermarkets who make massive profits every year whilst people are struggling to feed their kids fresh food. But perhaps you think the likes of Tesco absolutely deserve their massive profits? Perhaps you think poor people don’t deserve to eat healthily? Maybe you don’t think the health of a nation should be anything to do with the Government? That none of us should be concerned, let alone want healthier foods to be promoted to tackle the obesity crisis that not only costs lives but also costs our struggling NHS billions.

SamanthaCaine · 28/06/2023 07:19

Mumtothreegirlies · 27/06/2023 23:48

maybe if the government didn’t force Women into work, then more women could be home making lunches for their family.
call me old fashioned but once upon a time mothers would be in charge of this sort of thing, and would make sure her family were all fed and looked after, schools would provide proper meals not the rubbish they serve now.
now we have tired over worked underpaid, exhausted mothers who are often far too knackered to cook let alone make endless family sandwiches. And yeah yeah I know there are some superwomen out there, but try and work a 12 hour shift and come home and make 6 packed lunches and a home cooked meal every night. The government are a bunch of idiots .

I think you've got a call from the 50's. They want their opinions back.

What about the husband's and men? Mine makes his own lunch and cooks for our family (as well as many other things).

kagerou · 28/06/2023 07:21

The thing I don't get with this targeting of meal deals is that it'd perfectly easy to make a healthy choice with a meal deal, a wrap , a pot of fruit salad or hummus with carrots and a smoothie is my go to meal deal for example.

StormShadow · 28/06/2023 07:21

ElmTree22 · 28/06/2023 07:10

We're so lazy in the western world. We don't prioritise our diets.

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Global obesity rates are not highest in Western countries, interestingly. Not at all. The two most affected regions are in the Pacific and Middle East.

MissyB1 · 28/06/2023 07:24

ALongHardWinter · 28/06/2023 01:13

The nanny state strikes again. Ffs when will this government just let people make their own decisions?! Am I the only one who thinks that it is not going to make one iota of difference to the obesity crisis by trying to interfere with our food choices?

We’ve got to start somewhere. Personally I would like to see it go a lot further than meal deals, we need to try and change the fact that unhealthy foods are actively being promoted.

Fizbosshoes · 28/06/2023 07:28

I sometimes buy a meal deal even if I don't want all the items because its cheaper to bung in a bag of crisps than just buy a sandwich and a drink. (Give the crisps to a work colleague. Another work colleague used to want the sandwich and crisps but not the drink so they got one they knew I liked)

I'm unsure how they calculated that you'd put on xx amount of weight by eating a meal 5 days a week, without knowing
a) what else you were eating and b) activity levels.

CateringPanic · 28/06/2023 07:28

I agree Op. I am in far better shape than most people and I love a meal deal. They’re not the issue. If governments are serious about intervention for weight loss they need to get to the route of why people eat too much, and provide publicly funded free-to-access leisure centres

Peony654 · 28/06/2023 07:29

Because the burden on th NHS from the amount of crap people eat is shocking. The government should be going much further than this

SamanthaCaine · 28/06/2023 07:31

Peony654 · 28/06/2023 07:29

Because the burden on th NHS from the amount of crap people eat is shocking. The government should be going much further than this

Absolutely. I think a ban of all UPF would be a great goal, along with the snide way food companies engineer our food for maximum consumption and addictiveness.

Twiglets1 · 28/06/2023 07:32

SamanthaCaine · 28/06/2023 07:19

I think you've got a call from the 50's. They want their opinions back.

What about the husband's and men? Mine makes his own lunch and cooks for our family (as well as many other things).

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Think their username should be "callmeoldfashioned"

Fizbosshoes · 28/06/2023 07:32

SamanthaCaine · 28/06/2023 07:19

I think you've got a call from the 50's. They want their opinions back.

What about the husband's and men? Mine makes his own lunch and cooks for our family (as well as many other things).

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Dd makes her own lunch every day, I make my own lunch probably 3 days a week, DH brings leftovers (pasta, salads, sometimes sandwiches) most days.
DS has a school lunch or occassionally makes a lot of mess his own lunch
I also share cooking evening meals with my DH

SunnyEgg · 28/06/2023 07:34

CateringPanic · 28/06/2023 07:28

I agree Op. I am in far better shape than most people and I love a meal deal. They’re not the issue. If governments are serious about intervention for weight loss they need to get to the route of why people eat too much, and provide publicly funded free-to-access leisure centres

I’m not sure the people who need it would take it up. Lots of lifestyle stuff is doable anyway, walk or move more, eat less UPF but people don’t want to.

The biggest switch has to be the government needs to fix this to I need to. Not many say that.

Theunamedcat · 28/06/2023 07:35

There is no balance though they raise taxes on shit foods but don't lower it on the good so people will just continue to buy the shit

Freysimo · 28/06/2023 07:35

dillite · 27/06/2023 20:47

As a massive fatso, I can assure the government that it's not meal deals that have made me fat but me. I don't even buy ready meals or meals deals so getting rid of those will do literally zilch to the size of my arse.

Thank you for some common sense. What about people taking responsibility for their own health? Classes in schools would be a good start. Meal deal restrictions won't have any effect. Why not penalise Greggs?

YeahIsaidit · 28/06/2023 07:38

It isn't necessarily UPF that are causing obesity rates, when it comes to weight/fat gain or loss there are no "good" or "bad" foods, someone could eat nothing but snickers bars all day and still lose weight of they're burning more calories than they're consuming. These foods are only really not great in that it's easier to over eat them as they don't fill people up or sate them for as long as more "whole foods" please don't go into a whole these foods are bad for you! Thing, they aren't

MeowOnceForOffended · 28/06/2023 07:41

Twiglets1 · 28/06/2023 07:32

Think their username should be "callmeoldfashioned"

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Bit it's not about women being the ones at home. It's about the fact hardly no one can afford one partner to be even part time let alone a sahp.

Bottom line is all this, lentil buying, scratch cooking, exercise needs time and people are time poor due to having to work so much.

I guarantee energy and food price caps, along with lower housing costs would have 100% more impact than trying to restrict food.

I'm a brilliant cook. I can only do so when I've got energy and time left to do so. I don't see why with more technology we've ended up having to work more than our parents and grandparents instead of less.

Leah5678 · 28/06/2023 07:41

Yanbu people are not fat because of meal deals, it's literally just a sandwich, snack and a drink you can choose to make it healthy or unhealthy (chocolate as snack plus fizzy drink) it still won't make you fat unless you eat junk the rest of the day as the snack sizes are tiny. Meal deals are also super convenient for when you're on the go and caught out. Getting rid/taxing them just because some people can't control themselves Is absolutely ridiculous

Harrypewter · 28/06/2023 07:43

Beneficialchampion2 · 27/06/2023 20:41

The average meal deal for me:

Triple sandwich (400-500 cals)
Back of crisps (100 cals)
Zero sugar drink (0 cals)

I doubt I speak to everyone but 600 calories isn't going to plunge the average adult I to obesity.

This is a load of bollocks. And really inappropriate during a cost of living crisis. Tackle takeaways and fast food instead. Educate people more.

Your statement, 'It's bollox', isn't objectively true is it, adults in Wales and England are either overweight or obese.
If a person ate only a meal deal daily, then that person would not be overweight.

One of the problems we have as a society is the disconnect between the food providers, the consumer and what is a healthy amount of food per day. Whether it's marketing or another force driving people's food choices I'm not sure.
A hearty breakfast meal, deal for lunch, dinner at night plus snacks, no wonder a large percentage are overweight.
It's plain unhealthy.

Personally, I don't eat breakfast or lunch because, to be frank, I don't need to

TimetoPour · 28/06/2023 07:45

Taken from article:
We’re not banning meal deals but we want to shift the focus of meal deals towards healthier, more nutritionally balanced food.

Why is this a bad thing? They are not taking away meal deals but want them made healthier. If you want a big sandwich, grab bag of crisps and a bottle of coke, you can still have it but be prepared to pay a fat/sugar premium.

The government spend a ridiculous amount of their budget looking after people who are ill through poor life style choices. Hopefully stores will offer healthier food at a better price so shoppers are more likely to buy it.

MeowOnceForOffended · 28/06/2023 07:45

Personally, I don't eat breakfast or lunch because, to be frank, I don't need to

Yeah that's not normal.
The answer to obesity isn't an eating disorder.

MorrisZapp · 28/06/2023 07:48

My favourite meal deal starts with a chicken salad sandwich on granary bread. It's much healthier than any sandwich I make at home, and cheaper because I don't need to buy all the bits then chuck the bits I don't use in the bin.