A graph

What is to be done with the undeserving poor? Reminds me of Stanley Holloway in My Fair Lady.

There aren't many people with that view, Moved I have seen plenty of people on low incomes with second hand bikes and suchlike. We had a second hand bike shop near one of our probation offices. He would find them on skips or abandoned in back entries and renovate them, then sell them for a song. Did a roaring trade.

Very funny graph.

It's not just "the poor" that spend money on convenience foods - you only have to go into a supermarket to see that the majority of people are buying jars of sauce for pasta, ready meals, frozen food, etc. As movedalot said, perhaps some people don't have the knowledge and/or confidence to prepare a meal from scratch. I worked with a young woman who lived with her dad and all they ate was convenience meals and take-aways. Even making an omelette was beyond her.

I do think the issues he raises about eating well are important but I don't like the idea that people on low incomes should have their purchases scrutinised and criticised.

I remember some 'poor' people coming to a meeting at our house and bringing a video they had taken to show us but we didn't have a video player and had to borrow one. Amongst all the things they wanted us to understand was a film of the children of the unemployed riding their brand new bikes around the estate and throwing bricks through windows. In the discussion afterwards I mentioned that our children had second hand bikes and I was told that you couldn't expect the poor to have anything second hand as it was bad for their self esteem. I don't understand as we have always made do with what we can afford.

I guess the thinking is that the poor have so little to live on, they need to boost their morale with something they can enjoy. The big TV is usually on the never-never, bought from a repo warehouse, or Cash Converters. I have known people on benefit wait many weeks for reduced or stopped benefits to be sorted out, and when the backdated payment arrives they decide to splash out on a TV or Wii. Many fancy hairdos are done at home, practising on each other. Primark and Ebay are the source of cheap clothes.

I agree with Jamie to an extent, but when you have an interesting, busy life it's easy to forget what brings comfort to a boring life on little income. Cooking from scratch is healthier and cheaper, and many people on benefits do have good nutritional knowledge.

Exactly, mal. Poor people shouldn't spend their money on treats that might make them – or even worse only make them think they – feel a bit better, should they ?

Well he is promoting his new show!

I get fed up with being told to shop at my local market, I'm sure we are not the only ones who don't have one! Yes, once a month we have a 'food market' but it is not for the cash strapped!

I think he may have a point but then if people have never been taught to cook how can they learn? I hope the recipes in his new show are simple like the hairy bikers ones as the 'poor' are not going to be able to go out and buy lots of different ingredients.

On the news last night there was a piece about race issues in the US and they were interviewing black people in a food bank. One of them had a modern hair cut which was blonde right down the middle. I think this is the sort of thing he is talking about, prioritising where we spend our money.

It's because of this article.

I was thinking about this yesterday (but not about the size of people’s TVs).

The budget you have for food depends on what other things you spend money on. For example, if you are a regular smoker, drinker, drive a car, or have a big telly there is bound to be less money for other things, like food.

We are not poor, as luckily we are both still working, but we don’t smoke, drink (a lot), drive or have a big telly. To us, good food is worth spending money on. But we are vegetarians, grow our own vegetables (in summer), and cook “from scratch” [horrible expression emoticon]. Perhaps this one ?

I think poor Jamie might be being picked on by the press at the moment; it's swings and roundabouts is it not? One moment praised, the next knocked down!

I think I can see his point though, regarding prioritising.