To think processed and pre cooked food is way too common in this country?

[HotPotLove]

Before you all start yelling at me, I know that there are of course millions of households that eat a healthy diet, cook from scratch all the time, carefully choose ingredients etc etc. But my feeling as a foreigner (have been living in the UK for almost a decade though) is that ultra processed food, pre cooked and ready meals etc are very much normalised here and part of most people every day life. It’s pretty obvious just by looking at the supermaket aisles really.
Curious to know if people are generally trying to stay away from these and make healthier choices or whether it is generally so embedded into our lives that we are not even noticing?
Second disclaimer is that I am not pointing any fingers, infact I often buy these myself but what makes me think about this is that I would have never bought these types of meals when living back in my own country (also less available than here overall)

You’re not wrong.
Too many people are time poor and cfs is often more expensive, though.

Yes, I do think that there is a reliance on processed food, for many in this Country.

I think so, I try and keep it down but I’m a yellow sticker fan do often but ready meals for the freezer. I think it’s an area that has pretty hefty profit margins as paying a lot for a little meat/ heavy on carbs/ loads of sauce.

@MrsSkylerWhite well it depends though (on the cost I mean). Cooking from scratch doesn’t always have to involve a big expensive piece of meat or fish. It can just be some pasta and tomato sauce that isn’t all pre packaged or out of a jar for example. Or a soup with beans and veg or a big salad with some eggs, nuts, vegetables etc. These are not time consuming or complex thinga to male, nor expensive. I think many people still think of a “proper” meal as a cut of meat with sauce and sides hence think it’d be more expensive to make from scratch?

A tomato sauce takes a lot of good quality tomatoes and herbs and at least a couple of hours of gas or electricity.

Yet another thread about cooking from scratch.

Nothing wrong with the occasional ready meal.

Back when I was working 12 hours shifts, out the house for 14 hours, back home around 21.00, I used to keep a few M&S meals in the freezer, otherwise I'd end up eating toast or nothing as too tired to do anything else! So maybe about twice a week, so not too many.

But after while they all began to taste the same, they really did. So I started batch-cooking which was much better 😊

I'm curious what countries DON'T have these foods commonly available?

No. You can make a delicious plate of pasta with a handful of fresh cherry tomatoes and a few basil leaves. Olive oil is expensive but you buy it once and lasts for months. Overall it’s cheaper and healthier than a jar or a packet or pre cooked pasta.

I haven’t said that they don’t exist in other countries. I have said that are not as comminly used and therefore they are not as widely available and in such variety.

I don’t disagree but I’m also sensitive to the fact that:

• with both adults working (or one adult in a single household) there isn’t much time for home cooking. If you leave at 7am and get home with the kids at 6.30, and have homework, housework, bath and bed to do, you need something quick. Quick often means convenient. You can’t eat omelette or stir fry veg every night.
• cash is tight, and home cooking requires equipment, time to buy fresh ingredients, it uses lots of electricity to slow cook and simmer gently etc
• we are bombarded by adverts pushing this food onto us. And it often tastes great, it’s been designed to taste great so that we buy more. No one is trying to sell us leeks on prime time tv.

so yes, I don’t think you’re wrong but you are judging and not considering the realities of people’s lives.

Yet another Brit-bashing thread ☹️

I think you underestimate the entitlement people feel towards meat and centring meals around them.

Taking that at face value, you then factor in food poverty and people being brought up around a meat and two veg diet.

That's how you see families eating cheap, low welfare chicken and Billy Bear "ham" and low meat-content sausages.

From there, why wouldnt you make life easier with chicken nuggets and frozen waffles? Kids find them soft and palatable and eat it. It's cheap, quick and easy. And many parents won't enforce an eat it or go hungry parenting style and can't cook twice if the kids don't eat it.

It's not healthy though and I agree it's a huge problem.

As I said in the post I also buy these types of meals. But people have jobs and kids and busy lives in other parts of the world too. I am originally from Italy and have also lived in Spain and France for a few months in the past and I can definitely see that these types of foods/meals are more widespread and embraced here in the UK

Yes - and the sad fact is that most people don't have access to good quality tomatoes and herbs. Supermarket tomatoes are mostly mediocre and herb selections often disappointing. And not everyone has a decent grocer's nearby (or the time to shlep round multiple shops for simple ingredients).

Yes exactly, it’s a food culture issue I think.

Based on what I have seen in supermarkets throughout Europe I don’t think it’s just a British thing.

But obviously yes, processed food is less good for you than unprocessed.

This isn’t news, people used processed food because of variously lack of time, money or skill.

None of those factors are unique to the UK.

Surely in Italy pasta with a few tomatoes would be a first course? Not the main meal. I’d still be hungry after that, there’s no protein there.

@HotPotLove

People in France typically work less hours that those in the UK. They have lower accommodation costs, and lower energy costs. They, marginally, have lower commuting times.

I’ve lived in France, I’m part French, I don’t disagree with you that they eat less processed food. This is a fact. However you are implying a sense of bad decision making being the main factor for Brits eating more processed food, that’s an over simplification of a much more complicated and deep seated issues.

We don’t always have a 2-3 course meal in Italy. On normal days, for example for a weekday dinner, you can very easily just have a decent sized plate of pasta and no, you don’t need to throw meat or fish or other thpes of proteins in every single meal, you can survive also without. It’s healthier than a precooked tesco ready meal with low quality meal and lots of additives, for sure.

I think there is more awareness of UPF now than there has been in recent years and more people are trying to move towards whole foods. I agree with the comments about meat, and meat can make fresh meals more expensive. All families probably achieve a different kind of balance - I never use jar sauces as I find it quick and easy enough to make sauces myself, and they are usually much tastier. We eat a lot of eggs and vegetables. Don’t typically have any ready meals or frozen chicken nugget type food. But we also eat more takeaway than I would like. I think most families are just doing the best they can with the time, resources and knowledge they have.

Raw tomatoes?

You “can” but not my cup of tea.

I think it’s a food culture issue unfortunately, yes. Because there are plenty of people living with a modest and low income in other parts of Europe too. There just ins’t such reliance on all these cheap ready meals, people might rather have a lentil soup or a make a quick frittata with eggs and an onion etc. I think people are generally more careful about choosing simpler and healthier ingedients and are more resourceful and less meat obsessed.
That’s a fact.

I have had a number of international friends in my circle form uni who have being saying this for 20 years 😂

unfortunately, in my view the problem isn’t “this country” it’s just a nuanced view that the italys, swedens, portugals etc are just behind where the uk is.

believe me, 30 years ago we were looking at the Americans and laughing at how ridiculous the fast food and obesity was.

I visited France for the first time in years recently and was shocked at how downhill their food and produce has gone and how Tesco like it now is

the real issue is…. Capitalism