What do you think are the barriers to eating real food?

[diapergenie]

I am doing some research and I would be eternally grateful if any of you home cooks could give me your opinions on what you think the difficulties (if any) are with feeding yourselves and your families a really good fresh food diet.

Basically, we all know that food poverty is a reality amongst lower income groups in our country. As I am single mother on benefits, we are classed as a low-income family and we eat like kings, but only because I have been cooking all my life and am food-obsessed enough to know exactly where to go and what to do to make the most of our limited resources. For me, the pursuit of good food is a full-time occupation, but I understand that most people just do not have the time, energy, resources and (perhaps) inclination to do the same.

It worries me that the current level of welfare benefits do not permit low-income families with children or pregnant women and girls to eat what I regard to be an adequately healthy diet unless they already possess cooking skills, (which have been completely phased out in most state schools) equipment and a hell of a lot of time and passion.

The Food Poverty Network

As people who cook real food, how much time do you
spend?

Do you have to really go out of your way to get good, unpolluted fresh food?

Does buying fresh food and the consumption of time involved with producing meals put you out of pocket?

What do you think you need to spend each week to feed your family fresh every day?

Why do you think it is that we have such a pathetically non-existent food culture in Britain, as opposed to, for example, France or Italy, where the vast majority of the population eat wonderfully good food.

What kind of objections have you heard people giving to the idea of eating well?

Obviously, this is not a particularly structured form or research - I just want to pick your brains, if that is ok.

What do you do with your kids while you are cooking and preparing food, especially if they are too young to help?

Does the amount of time you spend cooking have an impact upon the amount of attention your children get from you? Does this matter anyway?

Here are the barriers I can think of, probably already covered but thought I'd contribute!

1. I think there is a misconception that it takes longer to cook your own food but I don't find that at all - although I guess if you bung a ready made in the oven you can fill the cooking time doing something else?

2. Perhaps people also think it's more expensive, which of course it's not.

3. think lack of time to actually plan and shop could be an issue - perhaps people have to rush round with no list and bung in boxes of ready made stuff because they can't think about ingredients for each evening meal as they go. I get round this by meal planning for the week every Sunday night. The way I get around time to shop is by doing it online. I know this means I get everything then from Tesco which may not be ideal (for several reasons I'm not going into because it's a whole other thread) but I can plan and shop for the week in an hour on Sunday night and it's done. It arrives on my doorstep Monday morning and I've got everything I need. I plan what to cook each night by looking at what we have on and how much time I'm going to have each evening. It's very satisfying to know that the only processed food my children really eat is fish fingers.

4. The key issue though I think is education, linked to which is advertising. I think lack of education around what consitutes a real balanced diet PLUS the impact of not having one is a major issue. In addition, and linked in I think, is that perhaps the less educated are more receptive to advertising around fast food and processed junk.

It might be worth pointing out that on this site, you are largely directing your question to people who already buy in to fresh, home prepared food and to really find out what the barriers are to this, you'd need to ask those that don't do it.

I love cooking but I am using jars of fruit to wean my dd. I cook all the veg and savoury (try to find organic where I can)for her.

The reason I use the jars of (organic) fruit is because I find it impossible to get nice ripe tasty fruit. Good veg is much easier to find. For example I wanted to give dd a banana yesterday so I went to M&S They had several on display but virtually all were green. I managed to find 3 that were close to ripening. Same with advocado, only found one that was ripe.

I find when you buy unripe fruit there is a greater chance of waste ( I forget about it as it ripens or it doesn't ripen properly). I hate buying oranges, sometimes you find some and they are beautiful and juicy and other times they are dry and tasteless or really sour. I find apples tasteless, perhaps I was spoilt I grew up on a farm and my uncle had an orchard.

Im a single mum with 1 dd (2.5), and work part time.

Once a fortnight I get a load of fresh fruit, veg and meat, herbs and flour etc from market and bulk cook for a few days, and freeze extra servings. The other week I just buy enough fruit and veg for snacks or side dishes. Nearest greengrocer or market to my home is about 4.5 miles away, but there is a market across the rd from my work, so I go on my lunchbreak on friday- (mainly basic veg, fruit, fish etc) and saturday (gourmet market - cakes, breads, olives, more organic stalls)

I try to make bread myself but usually end up going to local shop for it. Next door neighbour lets me get his chickens eggs in exchange for one or two of my frozen meals!

Only things I buy from supermarket is wine and chocolate (toiletries are bought from ecoshop stall at market - i get 20% off cause i used to volunteer for them)

Most of the meals are casseroles and soups, so I prep for 15-20 mins and leave for a few hours, stirring or chucking in ingredients occasionally. As Im freezing the extra, I just reheat, and put some veg in steamer -so not really much hands on prep work.

My dd helps me cook when possible, and washes up (so out of the way) when im dealing with hot things. We both enjoy cooking and I dont feel Im wasting time or anything. When she was younger I had her highchair beside kitchen door (kitchen too small to bring highchair in) and give her food to mush or mix, or just coloring things or playdough. When she was younger than that she just lay in the bouncer on the floor outside the kitchen.

I probably do spend more at the moment on fresh food (about £20 a week on average) than when I bought more pre-prepared stuff, but Im still experimenting with recipies and food does get disposed of (given away) if we dont like it, so I gottta buy more stuff replace the meals that food would have covered.

Im not sure about the point of the french and italian eating better than us, but maybe(or maybe its a stereotype) that eating is a family occasion - sitting round the table etc rather than the more common tv tray over here?? Its viewed as an important thing rather than something to get over with so you can back to doing whatever you were doing before? Do they have council estates in Italy and France, or is all just pretty villages like I imagine in my little head??

tee hee diapergenie

am good at soups and milkshakes to get fruit and veg into Teen - although actually he is the least troublesome eater

I am not undereducated (have 3 degrees and went to a girls' school where cookery was taught)

I simply don't have time to cook 3-4 meals from scratch, and fishfingers are the only way to get my Kid B to eat any fish. I have seriously thought about eating meat again just to make my own life easier - but it doesn't hugely appeal.

oh and on a holiday to Crete I had a cook (yes I know - never said I was poor and hassled - just hassled) and SHE told me her teenage daughter would eat only pizza and rubbish and not trad cretan food - so I think the continental european children eating SO WELL may be a slight stereotype. When I expressed surprise she didn't seem to think her kid was unusual.

flr - what about getting the older ones to prepare the dinners for a night to see how well they do...maybe they wont be as fussy when they see how hard it is for you?

yeah am trying to resign a lot of responsibility while is summer hols - in term time tbh school work and running take priority for the Teen

and have had talks about menu planning and stuff - I don't necessarily mind the cooking but after 14 years I think I am sick of the whole feeding thing

and thinking that I might have to toughen up and serve one meal a week that SOMEONE doesn't like as they are unlikely to starve

btw M&S macaroni cheese takes 2.5 mins in the microwave

making it myself takes minimum 20 mins with making a sauce, washing out two saucepans and a grater and so on

don't want to get picky, especially as a newbie - BUT THAT IS NOT THE SAME LENGTH OF TIME

try bulk cooking the meals and freezing my dd loves fish, but i cant stand it, so i "bulk cook" 2 recipies of 4 servings each, and serve each with a veg stirfry or similar once a week (i just have the veg stirfry)

Then if you feel you want a night off (which you sound like you deserve) all teen or dp needs to do it heat up stuff from freezer!

btw by bulk cooking i mean when you are making it anyway, make a few extra servings - not take a whole day and cook - IMO thats just madness! (ok, so im jealous of those who can, but shhh!)

yeah u r right

a lot is down to planning

am not great at defrosting stuff - and you can't re-heat it from frozen can u?

sorry for hijacking your thread diapergenie!

flr - ill start a new thread for you it called "Flr! bulk cooking and reheating question" under Food section

buying fresh fuit and veg is more expensive - it is!

What a fab thread girls! I really do try to make fresh food for all of us each day, although once a week I down tools and lob a pizza in or get a takeout, as even I have to have a day off right! but you've made me think about ss's comment yesterday, as he's been with us the last week, and he said I'd been feeding him too much proper meat this week!! (I don't want to know what he usually eats...) so thinking back we've had pork chops n veg, Haddock n rice, Pasta with meatballs (ok I cheated the meatballs were Ikeas), roast chicken n veg, Lasagne, and curry last night..... so argh! looks like a rounded diet to me......

As people who cook real food, how much time do you
spend?

I probably spend about 20 minutes on Dd's tea and anywhere between half an hour to an hour and a half for our tea - that includes chopping veg and slow cooking stews/casseroles

Do you have to really go out of your way to get good, unpolluted fresh food?
I find it quite difficult in my position - one I don't have a car so have to either depend on my local town where there is no greengrocer or butcher or go to my nearest city (Oxford) and get things from there and then travel back on the bus. Two - it is very expensive to buy proper fresh well looked after meat/fish and good quality vegetables. I have just found over the last couple of weeks a very good pick your own farm but unfortunately that only runs in the summer season and anyway I wouldn't be able to afford to go there every week. I felt very bad when I was giving my DD some organic cucumber from the farm and she told me " this cucumber is much nicer than the big shop one mummy!" So I now do an online shop either to Sainsburys or Tesco's - I'm not happy about it and would love to do it differently but I feel it is the only option at the moment as opposed to going to Iceland.

Does buying fresh food and the consumption of time involved with producing meals put you out of pocket?
It depends on what you buy I suppose - if you do go to a supermarket I find that vegetables and fruit are probably half my shopping budget but then I prefer to have a small peice of meat/fish and have loads of vegetables and a carbohydrate and lots of fruit for pudding. I am sure that if you go to Iceland it would be much cheaper to opt for all the processed food but I feel that my family's health is much more important.

What do you think you need to spend each week to feed your family fresh every day?

I roughly spend about £40 - 50 on my weekly shop and that includes toiletries, nappies etc however if I was going to the independant grocers in my city I would probably spend at least £20 - £30.00 more.

What kind of objections have you heard people giving to the idea of eating well?

Can't afford it - I/Dp/Kids like processed stuff and don't like veg - can't be bothered - too tired

What do you do with your kids while you are cooking and preparing food, especially if they are too young to help?

DD has always been involved in cooking ever since she was born. When she was a newborn I carried in the moses basket and sang to her while I was cooking and as soon as she was in her high chair I was able to give her things to play with, feel and touch. I also got her a wooden vegetable set with a wooden knife where you can cut up. Now at nearly three she helps me cut up some vegetables, butter cake tins, mix eggs etc

However I must add something to the end of what must be a very boring post - My DD is a very fussy eater and I have nightmares with getting any fruit or vegetables or meat into her. I didn't give her any jars and she grew up on good quality food but as soon as the finger food stage came she changed! Now the only fruit and veg I can get into her is banana's and cucumber! That doesn't mean to say that I give her junk , she just has a very limited diet!
Just because you give your child a good start in life with food does not necessarily mean they will grow to love what you eat as a family. I am still trying and will hopefully get there.

We got a food processor, a Kenwood one, in a Bethany charity shop for £20. That helps A LOT toward preparation. We also have a bread machine and do a loaf every other day or so. I also do rolls, pizza crust, gingerbread, etc. in it.

I agree, MumJess, w/o a car in our area it'd be MUCH harder to get hold of locally produced foods, especially for a lone parent w/child/children in tow.

On the whole, I'd say we spend about 2 hours a day on food prep/tidying up. We have to be REALLY organised, b/c we have 3 jobs between us.

Soups, casseroles and stews are common, as are salads made from pulses and dips like humus, guacamole, etc. My ILs gave us their unused slow cooker and it gets a workout here.

My only excuse is lack of time and failing to compile a more dish oriented shopping list...

Custardo is right it does cost more to east fresh fruit and veg than very low quality ready meals.

My dp only eats junk and I feed him for about £25 a week for a diet consisting of chips with sausages, chips with pies, chips with sausage roll, chips with beans and egg, chips with ....

My dd and I eat a very varied diet, not much meat because we can't afford it but lots of pulses, beans, fresh veg, home made yogurts etc , most of it organic and it costs between £75 to £100 a week to feed us. If I cut back and miss out the organic I struggle to get it under £50. THat does include all our meals, breakfast, lunch, tea and snacks.

However not all convenience food is cheap.

I do something to Flr and if I make too much of a meal I freeze it in meal size portions so I have a ready meal for emergencies or sometimes for dd to take as a packed lunch. She has her dinner as soon as she arrives at nursery so can take something warm.

No food gets thrown in this house.

oh I so want to say getting through the plastic packaging but I won't, oh I just did? dagnammit

twinset

you do something to flr?

damn - didn't even notice - do it again ?

most of u do sound like u have young kids - I guess after 14 years I am BORED of doing the food thing

any of u have older kids?

tsap..do you live with your dp?
If so, I can't imagine having to cook such different food. I feel that different meals really divides a family unit.
Plus,his farts must be dreadful!!!

I do live with my dp, I don't cook for him and I rarely buy his food as I refuse to be part of such blatant malnutrition.

Is it a source of much tension??

Sorry, that teaches me to post and otganise kitchen cupboards at same time!

I meant I do something similar to Lmccream as in freezing meals.

(brushes some couscous off the thread)