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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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

581 replies

Jeansmeansheinz · 27/06/2023 20:32

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.

OP posts:
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AllOfThemWitches · 27/06/2023 21:43

ElmTree22 · 27/06/2023 21:39

But that doesn't help when what those same children eat at home is sugar and fat laden foods bought by their parents.

It's not necessarily a short term solution. I love sugar but I'm not fat because I know how to enjoy it in moderation most of the time. Junk food isn't the problem, it's lack of education and lack of willpower.

DrownLoad · 27/06/2023 21:43

And they don't know how to cook without basing their meals around meat or fish, which is unbelievably expensive. And should absolutely be a luxury item, as it was 30 years ago.

Meat and fish were not luxury items 30 years ago. They were standard fare growing up in the '90s unless you were on an extremely low income.

AllOfThemWitches · 27/06/2023 21:44

DrownLoad · 27/06/2023 21:43

And they don't know how to cook without basing their meals around meat or fish, which is unbelievably expensive. And should absolutely be a luxury item, as it was 30 years ago.

Meat and fish were not luxury items 30 years ago. They were standard fare growing up in the '90s unless you were on an extremely low income.

Fray Bentos tinned meatballs can't have been that expensive.

LakeTiticaca · 27/06/2023 21:46

People need to exercise some self control.
Nobody is forced to shove all that crap down their gullet
The culture of victimhood has much to do with it . Nobody seems to be responsible for their own actions these days.
I know it's not a very mumsnetty thing to say but it's bloody true!!

Diddykong · 27/06/2023 21:46

ElmTree22 · 27/06/2023 21:21

@IMustDoMoreExercise

Absolutely you are right. Tin of chickpeas-55p (dried are even cheaper per portion) will make a wonderful curry, instead of a £5 pack of chicken. Lentils are dirt cheap and are great in pasta sauces, salads etc.
people need to get more imaginative with dried pulses and beans and they could make nutritious meals for next to nothing.

Unless you have a legume allergy which puts paid to that.

DrownLoad · 27/06/2023 21:47

Fray Bentos tinned meatballs can't have been that expensive.

I wasn't allowed those. We ate real meat. I'd say that it's comparatively much more expensive now. This butcher in an article from 2022 seems to think so too.

Butchers also appreciate that, in Adrian Cayford’s own words, “meat is expensive.” Adrian’s family has had the butcher’s shop on Catherine Street for 60 years. “When I started 30 years ago, people would eat it everyday. And then we got customers who’re not going to shop at the supermarket. They’re wanting to eat meat twice a week, and they’re going to eat better quality.

thewallfishjournal.substack.com/p/butchers-in-the-age-of-cheap-meat

JaukiVexnoydi · 27/06/2023 21:48

It would be easy enough to only include the lower-calorie options in meal deals, with high-cal things being full price

AllOfThemWitches · 27/06/2023 21:54

*Fray Bentos tinned meatballs can't have been that expensive.

I wasn't allowed those.*

Ugh you weren't missing anything.

Meat is expensive and I think best eaten in moderation, for various reasons.

I think too many people focus on weight when it comes to food too.

allmyliesaretrue · 27/06/2023 21:55

Lip service!! This is not going to make people who dislike lentils and pulses eat lentils and pulses!

Easy enough to put together your own version of a 'meal deal' - and it will probably cost more.

I have never eaten a Meal Deal, for context.

JMSA · 27/06/2023 21:55

YANBU.

Anxioys · 27/06/2023 21:57

Just tax the high fat and high sugar stuff a lot. Make it like fags. Cost of living will do the rest.

Our kids eat this crap because it is affordable. It should not be but the food industry have lots of people making arguments just like the cigarette companies did back than.

AllOfThemWitches · 27/06/2023 21:58

I've only recently realised that takeaway and 'junk' food is consistently shit and not worth the money. Except the very occasional fish and chips.

Paq · 27/06/2023 22:00

TheCountessofFitzdotterel · 27/06/2023 20:50

Far too many people are overweight. I don’t believe that as a nation we have suddenly become greedy and weak willed, I think it is because we are living in an increasingly obesogenic environment. This is a tiny step towards changing that. We are constantly nudged to buy more calories we don’t need. If we take away some of the nudges eating a healthy amount will be easier. The worry is they won’t do enough.

Totally agree. People live in “food swamps”, areas where unhealthy food drowns out healthy options. A diet high in ultra processed food is going to lead to higher risk of obesity and a host of other diseases.

Lol at the single data points on this thread saying “well MY meal deal is fine so govt policy must be wrong.”

SheDragonheart · 27/06/2023 22:00

What do people suggest for lunch deals, if only have hot water and microwave?
I would buy cheap sandwich and go and buy 6 pack of cheap crisps and a 2ltr bottle of fizzy pop. Probably won’t be much more.
Or if you have to eat standing up?

flurbubbly · 27/06/2023 22:00

This is ridiculous and naïve and applies the stick where the carrot would be more effective.

I was homeless for a few years when I was a teenager and meal deals were a life saver. Often a meal deal has been my only food for the day. People living on an extremely limited income need to buy things that are low cost/high calorie.

And no one is fat because of meal deals, they're fat because of emotional eating, binge eating, relying on takeaways and ready meals due to lack of time/energy, and sometimes lack of access to cooking facilities, or lack of knowledge about cooking and nutrition.

I have plenty of money now, and what do you know, now I can afford to shop in M&S and Waitrose there are tons of healthy pre-prepared food options that simply weren't available to me when I was homeless. There's so much judgement and classicism wrapped up in food. Someone eating a Waitrose pre-prepared kumquat and puy lentil salad is going to be perceived and judged very differently than someone stuffing a Tesco triple cheese sarnie in their gob; Mumsnetters certainly respond very differently to the idea of a Charlie Bigham fish pie than an Asda frozen chicken tikka masala. Not because of health but because of perceptions of money and class.

Restaurant food is usually crazy high in fat, calories, salt and sugar, yet (with the exception of fast food places/chains) restaurants are rarely criticised or targeted within the obesity debate. Again, it's about money/class, not health.

If supermarkets and other places sold a wider range of cheap and convenient healthy food then people would eat it. Factories don't need to stuff as much fat, salt and sugar into their food as they do, they do it to maximise profit. It would be extremely easy for food manufacturers to make healthier pre-packaged foods, they just don't want to - the government should penalise them, not the general public, but they won't because food lobbies are too powerful and donate too much money to the government.

Whenever the issue of the link between poverty and obesity is raised there's always people sneering and saying "oh the poors should just learn to cook lentils!" Plenty of people living in poverty don't have access to cooking facilities. Either because they just don't have access to a kitchen at all (I certainly didn't have access to a kitchen when I was younger) or because they can't afford fuel costs. If we're talking specifically about lunch, very few people other than SAHM, unemployed/students, and people in cushy WFH jobs are at home and have enough free time to make a cooked lunch in the middle of the day. And before people start talking about just cooking lunch the night before, it's not really practical or pleasant to have to cart a packed lunch around on public transport all day then eat something that's been squished at the bottom of your bag for hours.

kittensinthekitchen · 27/06/2023 22:01

Great.

My autistic, teenage daughter has an eating disorder. Having her select a Meal Deal once or twice a week allows her to feel she has some control over her eating, whilst I can still get some much-needed calories into her.

bumblebee2235 · 27/06/2023 22:01

I laughed at this.. are we all such babies that we can't even feed ourselves 😂 we need a government to intervene and put rules in place to monitor what a 50 year old person puts in their mouth?

Ger1atricMillennial · 27/06/2023 22:02

This is all part of a bigger picture and making big businesses accountable for at least part of the problem. There is some pretty decent evidence now that ultra-processed food is actually causing rather than just contributing to obesity. Undernourished people in poverty used to be skinny, now they are fat.

Yes, people are responsible for what they put in their mouths, yes, their employers are responsible for not knackering people out so they can participate in healthy food prep, but businesses should also be held responsible if they choose to make unhealthy food (i.e. drier food with a longer shelf life) more accessible than unhealthy food.

Paq · 27/06/2023 22:03

LakeTiticaca · 27/06/2023 21:46

People need to exercise some self control.
Nobody is forced to shove all that crap down their gullet
The culture of victimhood has much to do with it . Nobody seems to be responsible for their own actions these days.
I know it's not a very mumsnetty thing to say but it's bloody true!!

And making people ashamed is not going to solve the problem either. Obesity is caused by many factors, none of which are moral deficiencies of fat people.

StormShadow · 27/06/2023 22:03

Anxioys · 27/06/2023 21:57

Just tax the high fat and high sugar stuff a lot. Make it like fags. Cost of living will do the rest.

Our kids eat this crap because it is affordable. It should not be but the food industry have lots of people making arguments just like the cigarette companies did back than.

Thing is, people don't need to smoke at all, but they do need to eat. So making stuff that's currently cheap and filling a gap isn't a solution in itself. There have to additionally be other affordable options that people can feasibly access, if you want to replace the meal deals with something better. Whereas there isn't the problem of replacement with smoking.

Ger1atricMillennial · 27/06/2023 22:03

than healthy food!

AllOfThemWitches · 27/06/2023 22:04

And making people ashamed is not going to solve the problem either. Obesity is caused by many factors, none of which are moral deficiencies of fat people.

It's OK to shame people for other addictions though..

DrSbaitso · 27/06/2023 22:05

It's performative and won't make any difference to public health.

StormShadow · 27/06/2023 22:05

AllOfThemWitches · 27/06/2023 22:04

And making people ashamed is not going to solve the problem either. Obesity is caused by many factors, none of which are moral deficiencies of fat people.

It's OK to shame people for other addictions though..

But it achieves fuck all either way.