Kathleen Stock article about Jack Monroe

[AnonWeeMouse]

Kathleen Stock writes:

unherd.com/2023/01/jack-monroe-the-acceptable-face-of-poverty/

Monroe responds by blaming these critical points on Kathleen Stocks GC views.

I don't think that's fair. I think Monroe is using that as an excuse to try and avoid criticism.

Her publisher has had to release a statement about the dangerous tips in Monroe's New Book and Trussel Trust are refusing to hand it out over safety fears.

I don't think it's right or fair for Monroe to try and hide behind being Non binary or trans etc. She hasn't claimed those identities for ages has she?

If she is trolling, she should realise that the followers who take her seriously will start getting properly pissed off if & when they realise they're being made to look stupid.

It was a big sheet of foam with coins stuck to it and a cushion on top of her tummy.

Why did she say she was in a bath full of coins? It's such a stupid pointless lie.

She also keeps saying how she had to talk to her parents about being a "nude centrefold" when the columnist has very clearly stated she was not nude, and that he corrected her when she started saying this.

Monroe is in today's Metro plugging the new book. Described as "hero for the hungry" and a "working class voice".

Amazing how the media will continue with a farce despite so much evidence to the contrary.

It's a good lesson in how much we are lied to when a narrative has been decided on really.

Love that she’s harping on about a “stock take” and “it can take hours at first” - as if us poors have several pantries/giant fridge freezers bursting with stuff, and don’t already know exactly what we have in and how much…

Stock taking an empty cupboard takes no time at all!

unless you are talking about ye olde spice jars that are probably all past their sell by date in which case it might take a bit longer.

JM is deffo just cosplaying poverty at this point.

Right now, what would actually be helpful to people on low budgets is some sort of fuel cost analysis - jacket potatoes are cheap but not when you need the oven on for ages.

Airfryers/microwaves/crockpots can be cheaper depending on how many portions you are cooking so advice on what to use when and and ‘cook this for today and that for tomorrow while the oven is already on’ would be well handy

And stuff that can be done with a kettle of water and a lid and a longer timeframe (eg my Nana used to bring Sunday veg to the boil, put the lid on, turn off the hob and pop off down the social club for a gin. Veg would be cooked through on her return - I can’t remember the quality of said cooked veg, mind you)!

Obvs ‘chaotic’ Jack isn’t best placed to (safely) advise but surely someone out there is already doing this and would be better to publicise than JM?

The bath full of coins/nude centrefold thing is such a pointless, weird lie. It does come across like a compulsion.

Someone who has lovingly, tenderly, painstakingly handcrafted unique, artisanal "tins" from the most exquisite heart of our Finest English Oakwood (TOOT, TOOT!) according to the proudest traditions before he was cast aside by the cold, unfeeling, uncaring hand of tinny technology . . . 😬

I blame Big Can Opener for all this.

But didn't they have a (soft) lead seal which gave way easily?

(No health concerns there, obviously.)

<takes notes in Moleskine book>

<adds @IcakethereforeIam and @EndlessTea 's suggestions as well>

<feels a book coming on>

But didn't they have a (soft) lead seal which gave way easily?

Yes, they were quite different from modern tins. It just amuses me that there was such a big gap between the 2 inventions.

'I've invented this great storage method!'

'Wonderful! How do you get the food out?'

'Er.... hadn't thought about that. Hit it with something sharp, maybe?'

The Old Style board on Martin Lewis' Money Saving Expert site used to be a good resource for frugal meal planning and other domestic issues.

Can't afford to run the oven? Wrap your chicken in foil and place it on the hottest part of your car's engine* (check with the manufacturer), drive for two hours. Stop every 30 mins. to check the bird and rotate to ensure even cooking.

*if you don't have a car rent an Uber.

Don't have/can't afford to run a dishwasher? Donate your dirty dishes to a charity shop, then buy them back once they've been washed and put on sale.

Washing machine broken or can't afford to run it. Put your dirty clothes in a round bin with a tight fitting lid. Add water and detergent. Roll it repeatedly down a steep hill.

Particularly like this comment

.Instant cheesy mash is a mix of instant mashed potato flakes, dried skimmed milk powder and dried hard cheese which you put in a jar and then throw away because no one in their right minds wants to eat a mix of potato flakes, milk powder and rancid dried cheese.

One of the best things I watched on youtube recently, was 3 meals for a 1.00 (British Pound), as in breakfast, lunch and dinner- for one person.
He also said there would be no cheating as in using stuff already got. The only exception to that was that he went into one of these fast food outlets and picked up some of these individual sauce packets (only those left on people's trays, which would be thrown away, not from the counter).
However, buying the ingredients was a challenge, as he had to continually weigh the one single tomato to get one for 4 pence, etc (or that might have been his one single mushroom).
So a good half of the video was the actual buying of the ingredients, as he was actually just spending no more than one pound.
Sadly, this was a few months ago, and I do not have the link, but it was very interesting.
The point being that often, these TV cooks will cost their ingredients as per portion, but that is no good if you have to buy a whole packet of ?? just for a small amount.

This reminds me that it is apparently possible to poach a salmon in a dishwasher. The question I've never seen answered is why you would want to.

I've been sorry for her and have come out the other side, I'm afraid.

I start to think "This woman is ill - someone should do something and not let her rampage like this" and then she will do something so appalling, so vindictive and so incredibly vile* that I think "No. Whatever she gets, she deserves."

*like when she set her "flying monkeys" onto a disabled man she had mistakenly thought had criticised her, and then disappeared into a AA meeting (allegedly) for seven hours to avoid facing up to her error and apologising

That's really interesting - and also an example of just how very wearying it is to be skint - you have to spend countless hours weighing, checking, calculating and working out if you can afford to make/buy something - so if Mum (and it almost always is Mum) has no breakfast or lunch for 2 weeks, will that be enough to buy little Rosie the warm school tights she so desperately needs.

Poverty is physically, mentally, emotionally, psychologically and psychically exhausting.

And it doesn't just damage the poor - it has a knock on effect on the whole country, and not just the economy. It leads to more domestic violence due to stress, broken homes, children being taken into care (at huge public expense), homelessness, crime, drugs abuse, mental health problems, and 000s of adults and children - HUMAN BLOODY BEINGS, MR SUNAK! - being destroyed.

Some will come back from it; many won't. And that is without the accompanying tide of animal abuse/child cruelty/vulnerable adults and children ending up in the sex industry and just disappearing into the black sea of misery we don't hear of.

And then Jack, with her performance poverty glamourises the whole foul mess!

She gets no sympathy from me.

Meals by Mitch on tiktok is good for budget meal ideas - nearly all of them a meals for 4 people for £5 or less (although the number of people you can actually feed would vary depending on appetites!). I think he has just had a book come out too.

@Emotionalsupportviper
Thank you for the response. Yes, the Youtube showed that the buying of the food and keeping within the budget was very time consuming.
I may not have been as poor as Jack Monroe, but I have had some hard times, especially when my DH was out of work, and then I, too, lost my job.
With 3 DC, it is extremely difficult.
(I had a small redundancy package, but I did not know how long it would have to last)
So, I know which foods one continues to buy and those which are limited.
For example, seeing children waste food is very hard, so you tend to make sure they have food you know they will eat.

Agree with this - especially making sure you have food kids will eat. We have been through similar to you - to the extent that I cashed my pension in to stop us becoming homeless (regret it now . . . ), but I learned the hard way that if you have a stubborn child they can go a LONG time before they will finally eat something they really don't like/can't bear the texture of and you end up filling them with bread and marge which is hardly nutritionally good and also means that food is wasted.

It's not a matter of catering to fussy appetites - I discovered that some things which I had always thought my son was just being a bit choosy with, actually made him gag. My daughter, thank heavens, has the food selectiveness of a labrador and normally ate any and everything put in front of her.

If the link ever turns up, please post it, and if I come across it I'll do the same.

BTW milvey - I honestly do not think that JM has ever been as poor as she likes to make out.

If she has, and she was prepared to let her child go cold and hungry because she didn't want to ask her parents for help, then she should be ashamed of herself. You can stand on your pride when you are the one suffering, but when it's your children - Nope!

I would have grovelled if necessary if I'd been in the financial state she claimed to be.

Jack on twitter claims poverty was 2012 - 2013
But, she started work at the echo February 2013.
As a twitter user said

How many poverty stricken, unemployed mums with 0 qualifications and 0 experience walk into a job as a columnist at a local paper...

She also got her book deal may 2013.

If there was any stretch of 'poverty' it was short and she chose it.

@Emotionalsupportviper
I am not sure how to post a link properly, but this was the youtube video I watched on 3 meals for 1.00

To be honest, I would not necessarily have liked the stuff he cooked, but I found the shopping part very interesting. He really had to think about what he was buying. When I was out of work, and also so was DH at the same time, I found that I cut down on fruit as you cannot afford DC to take one bite of an apple and discard the rest. I would instead, cut one into quarters, for example. My DC never went hungry, though they have said since that they knew when things were tough because there was not much in the cupboards. That said, I had some redundancy money, but did not know how long I would be out of work, so was using this for the mortgage, etc At that time, one had to sign on physically at the Job Centre (typically DH and I at separate times), and I used to walk the 3 miles back to save what was then 1.50 bus fare. I do not know enough about Jack Monroe's recipes to know how useful they are, I just know the 'perfect round egg bit' was just not worth the hassle.