Can't afford to eat healthy food...

I never thought I would live to see times like this

Endre, I feel the same. Food banks always seemed like an American thing, something we'd never need here. Something that was only necessary in a country that didn't provide a decent safety net for its people in need. Now they are so commonplace here that we're in danger of accepting them as the norm.

A very good source of guidance on healthy cheap eating is Jack Monroe. She is bringing out a second cookbook this year.

I work in a supermarket....the people that come through my checkout who eat the "most" ready meals is......older people!
not younger, if I count the meals its normally 7 and possibly tins of rice pudding,very few buy fresh meat.chicken etc.

Perhaps their on their own and see no point in cooking.

As for the younger ones, lots do buy big packs of fresh veg big packs of chicken/mince/pasta etc.

As animals we are programmed to eat

Exactly. Genetically we are programmed to gorge now and starve later. We have not had time to adjust in evolutionary terms to an endless abundance of food. That, I believe, is the problem. Otherwise, why would obesity be a problem when we are individually intelligent enough to prevent it?

I think part of the problem is the classification of some kinds of food as junk. A lot of rubbish is talked about nutrition. Perhaps cutting down the "nutriprejudice" (Catherine Collins, NHS nutrition) and stopping bossing people around about what they eat it would help. It's not going to help less than the current methods, which are achieving nothing, is it?

As animals we are programmed to eat.
Once upon a time food was more difficult to buy and prepare, it was also ‘real’ food.
Now it’s everywhere in huge quantities so we have to be aware that we should avoid most of it. This is very difficult ?.
The adulterated food is made very palatable by the food manufacturers and sugar is very addictive. Have you seen those replacements for butter in their true state before the nice yellow colour is added. Ugh.
Low or no sugar have additives that make one want to eat more.
It is possible to eat good food on a tight budget, even ‘naughty’ treats. You will need less good food to get the nutrients for achieving a healthy weight.
Obesity is no respect of intelligence or prosperity. My fat friend has both in spades but doesn’t get it!

Preparing your own food is less expensive, I think some people just can't be bothered to cook a meal.
Foods needs to be instant for some people.
The ready meals I've seen in the supermarket are very expensive and the amount you get is so small.
When I cook meals I generally will prepare twice the quantity and freeze half for another day.
I make my own soups, stock for gravies Hommus in large amounts and freeze.
I've cooked all my life even baby food when the children were small and when I worked.
It's just a matter of being organised.
I feel sorry for anyone who has to eat ready meals you don't know what is being put into the meal.
We do have bought fish and chips or a Chinese meal occasionally but I wouldn't want to eat this type of meal on a regular basis.

MOnica, My 1 year old Australian granddaughter has been fed a very healthy diet since she was weaned. One of the staff at her daycare said that it's amusing to see her choosing pieces of tomato and cucumber from the lunch plate, even when there are sweet treats on offer.

I grew up in a very poor household but our Mother ( who worked full time) still fed us properly, it may have been a meat pie and some tomatoes( I liked that) or beans and fishfingers ( I also liked that )but it’s still nutrition.At weekends she cooked things like corned beef hash or salads with new potatoes.The point is, I knew other poor households, some similar to mine others where the Mothers were idle so and so’s and the kids would be lucky to have a slice of bread and a mug of Oxo.It’s not all down to not being able to afford it.

MissA Yes, they were always there.

What is pathetic is that we have brought up a generation of people who are incapable of taking the initiative and doing anything for themselves. What is there to stop those who cannot cook finding out how to? They all have access online and charity shops are awash with cookery books, most selling for a pound or two. There are blogs galore. Jack Monroe's, to start with for those who are cash poor.

I didn't learn to cook at home. My mother was an excellent cook but I was at boarding school and when we lived abroad we had staff. I taught myself by experimentation and with the help of a good cookery book. I had lots of disasters to start with, too many to list, but in the end I got the hang of it.

I used the word pathetic about not knowing how to begin chopping an onion. I stand by that. Not knowing how to chop an onion is pathetic.

The person who does not know it is not pathetic.

The patheticness applies to a society that can raise people to adulthood in such ignorance about basic foods.

I think there are so many vulnerable people in society today, in so many different ways. (Maybe there always was?)
Surely schools should include budgeting, cooking, keeping house type lessons?

I was shocked to read a few months ago a local food bank was asking for food that doesn't need cooking as those receiving it had to make a choice between heating or cooking. Many can't afford to go into the popular supermarkets, prices have soared in the last two years and they rely on donations and food banks. More pensioners are needing food banks now esp if they are on basic pension. I never thought I would live to see times like this and it will get worse as more jobs are disappearing to other places.

Gabrielle, many low income families are on expensive tariffs because the energy companies have put them on metres rather than monthly tariffs. If you are low income and possibly have a poor credit rating you have no choice.

And where do you get your info re refunds for the over 60's? I am 62 and do not get the cold weather payment or reduction on my electricity, I think you will find things have changed.

I have been getting more and more annoyed reading this thread full of patronising, sanctimonious and snobby comments about young people. A working family does not have the time to go shopping to hunt low prices or bargains and after a day at work, collecting children from childcare and then going home, who has the energy to cook pearl barley and lentils! I would rather see mum sit down with a cup of tea and give some time to her children.

It is a much deeper problem than just the lack of ability to cook from scratch, constant poverty is debilitating and depressing and a child brought up in such households will not have learnt much about cooking so the cycle perpetuates.

The answer might lie in education but please don't ask schools to cover yet another subject! Maybe some people here who are such experts at cooking cheap dishes could volunteer to help at projects which help educate young people into trying to cook and eat fresh food - they do exist in youth clubs and food banks.

Yes, there are people who choose to eat badly but do not label all those on low income as pathetic or ignorant without ever meeting someone in those circumstances. And I'm sorry, but some unhealthy foods are cheaper than vegetables when you buy frozen foods from discount stores, look at the cost of giant packs of frozen nuggets or chips that will feed your kids for a week!

But surely the comment that I was responding to when I said (a rather tongue-in-cheek) "lucky them" was the one that made the point that you are really objecting to??? It was not me who brought age into the discussion by listing the benefit payments available to poorer pensioners or following it with the comment: "No-one is poor in this country unless they squander money on Sky, Netflix, iPads and iPhones, takeaways, cigarettes and booze." I was angered by it and responded accordingly!

mamacaz

Lucky them. That is of little comfort to those struggling to feed a family, as those over 65

Whilst I appreciate the point that you were trying to make, I know plenty of pensioners, who despite that payment, still struggle to keep their homes warm. They don’t feel ‘lucky’ I believe these kind of comments create an ‘us vs them’ attitude, which isn’t where I feel the answer is.

SpanielNanny Please would you say which comments you mean, because a few people on this thread have accidently attributed me with comments that I didn't make. Things have become a bit confusing!

allule that is how my DH and I worked out childcare when our children were young. Because I had a very generous leave allowance, we did have one week away together in the summer, but that was all.

I had my first child in 1971 and returned to work in 1978, when the youngest reached school age. I worked with other women managing the same way. Childcare was not available but, even then, many women were working and managing to get their children cared for, one way and another.

Whilst I don’t agree with mamacaz’s comments, a big part of the reason for increased numbers of workers from overseas is because of increased migration in general Davidhs. It stands to reason that the more people who come here from overseas = more people from overseas having jobs.

With regards to jobs, I to turned up, trained on the job and got promoted. I advised my son to do the same, however there are not as many of those kind of jobs available nowadays. Work carried out by my local council is now usually outsourced to private companies, there aren’t just jobs fixing roads anymore.

I do agree that some of today’s young lack the same work ethic that I was raised to have, but I am well aware that the opportunities I had for employment when leaving school were far greater than they are now. I absolutely detest this ‘old vs young’ attitude. We all need to share this planet, perhaps we should all try to support each other instead of pulling each other down.

(My last post in response to Davidhs)

Why should i tell you that? What does it have to do with the OP?

.... because the government will not train enough of them in this country. Much easier to let poorer countries bear the strain of training all medical staff then we can poach them and get them to work in the UK rather than their home countries.

MamaCaz
You are dead right us 60 plus oldies are very lucky today, because most of us were lucky enough to be kicked out of school at 16 and told to get a job and earn a living. We all did just that, the clever ones got jobs in banks or accountants right down to the class hooligan who got a job mending roads with the council.
We didn't have gap years, or go to "Uni" or foreign holidays we trained on the job and got promoted if we were good enough. It was hard graft from day one, we didn't have time to be depressed you turned up for work and did as you were asked. We have earned our retirement.
Today we need to import several million overseas workers to fill vacancies, they travel thousands of miles to do the work that our own school leavers will not cross the road to do.
You may disagree but tell me this, why do so many nurses, doctors, care workers, and all the other jobs have to be filled by migrants

I was talking to a young mum the other day, who was telling me that she and her husband took holidays at different times to cover school holidays and save on childcare.....an actual family holiday was completely out of the question.
I was comparing this with my experiences, and she asked how I could afford not to work.
I don't remember childcare being around when I had my children in the 70s.
While completely backing women who want careers, I wonder how this complete change in child rearing has come about with so little debate?