NC for this as whilst I’m only an occasional poster and unlikely I’d be identified, I don’t want to risk my job!
I’m a cook in a residential care home, and with the rapid food cost inflation over the past couple of years we’re really struggling to cater for the residents and provide them with a nutritious, balanced diet on the budget we’re given.
The actual numbers will be too outing, but it’s a fair bit less than £2.50 per resident per day, with no increases to account for inflation. It’s substantially less than the budget for prisoners food, and that was increased by 25% in the last financial year!
With that we’re expected to provide 3 meals a day, including a variety of choices, with 3 courses for lunch and dinner.
We’ve cut back as much as we can, dropping to the lowest quality options and economy brands for everything. Thinks like fresh home made soups have been replaced by watered down packet soups, fresh meat is tiny portions of the cheapest cuts and still by the end of the month we’re supplementing stock from our own homes and stretching portions much further than they should go.
We have to use a large foodservice provider for all produce, which means we’re paying large foodservice prices for low quality goods, but the option to use local suppliers was removed.
For context it’s a fairly large home with a mix of self and LA funding residents, those funding their own care are paying a premium above the average, and the operator is extremely profitable! So it’s not a case of tight budgets to make ends meet, but tight budgets to fund dividends.
It makes me incredibly sad that people in their twilight years, already suffering with declining health and loss of independence are being deprived not even of a little luxury but of the basic essentials of a balanced and healthy diet.
AIBU to think this is totally unacceptable?
I’m at a loss as to what I can do, putting my head above the parapet will just lose me my job and won’t help the residents, but not doing anything is eating away at me.