Too poor to eat properly

Dear God, have things deteriorated so much that a Minister for Hunger is required, I, hang my head in shame, that I a Grandmother havebeen so negligent letting the Government

Carry on with this appalling austerity programme in one of the richest country in the world.
My MP will be getting a blasting.

Well, they certainly won't be missing out on their food, or anything else.

What next ? A minister for silly walks ?

Just reading about a " Minister for Hunger " about to be appointed. There'd been a demand by MP's apparently.

I wonder how much their pay will be ?

People who are in bed and breakfast accommodation have to go out after breakfast and not come back until a particular time.
Others share kitchens between lots of tenants, too.

Cold wrote:
"Like it or not - food that is not nutritious is often a lot cheaper if you are hard up. Places like Iceland and Lidl make ready meals for about a £1 that microwave in a few minutes - you couldn't make a stew portion for that."
I've noticed that too.
I've mentioned before a series that Jamie Oliver started, helping non-cooks to start with basic meals. He had to give up - most didn't have a decent cooker, never mind the posts and pans needed.

Unfortunately the principle of encouraging people into work - who could argue with that? - has morphed into the imposition of punishing schedules of job searching (most of which is impossible to achieve) and of unrealistic medical parameters for being recognised as too sick to work. And the poor get penalised from every side.

I do not judge those who do not have the wherewithall (in so many ways - financial, motivational, educational etc.) to create wonderful nourishing dishes from almost nothing at all - I have never walked in their shoes.

I wonder how many of us could cope with 1-2 months of absolutely no income? This is the average wait if you are on UC.

It is not just the cost of ingredients. If you are poor you may not be able to afford to have the stove on for a couple of hours to take advantage of those "cheap cuts". Power is expensive these days and the poor pay a lot more if they are on pre-payment metres.

Many people these days are also living in temporary accommodation with a family of 4 living in a single room with a microwave and kettle - no scope or ability to have store cupboard ingredients. Probably no fridge either.

Like it or not - food that is not nutritious is often a lot cheaper if you are hard up. Places like Iceland and Lidl make ready meals for about a £1 that microwave in a few minutes - you couldn't make a stew portion for that.

Long term poverty is all encompassing, I think.

cabbie's post makes me wonder if at least part of the problem is less one of food poverty but more one of housing poverty. People who only have access to a kettle for 'cooking' clearly are not well-housed.

We need to ask why the 'are obliged to use food banks' and address that issue.

A fair number of people who are obliged to use food banks do not have access to cooking facilities. Special “no cooking” food parcels can be provided, or those that need just a kettle, eg pot noodles. Hardly a good diet but the best available to them.

Processed vegetarian food is just that, processed, with all the attendant costs. Real vegetarian food cooked from scratch is something else!

I've just bought vegetarian food. Its more expensive than a bag of frozen nuggets and chips, that's for sure!

My mother was a widow in the 1960s and we lived on a very tight budget. I wouldn't want to condemn anyone but I do agree that people these days don't seem to understand how to prepare a meal from just a few ingredients. It doesn't need lots of spices or slow cookers though perhaps the processed food that poor people buy is adulterated with hidden sugars, palm oil and additives that give a taste that cannot be matched at home.

No one has mentioned being vegetarian and it's hardly unheard of these days! Meat is expensive and protein can be found in a mix of vegetables, pulses, dairy food and even tofu. We are vegetarian, as are my adult children and we eat well for not very much.

When I had a young family, the cookery writer Rose Eliot's books were my bible, they presented simple yet nourishing food. It's all Jamie Oliver and fancy, imported ingredients these days but it doesn't have to be that way.

Paddyann if it took 2 hours at 58p an hour (although simmering is possibly cheaper) that would be £1.08 for, say, 2 day's meals. If that meant meals were cooked at half the price of ready meals or more expensive cuts of meat it would represent a saving. Also adding pulses and lots of root veg would make it both cheaper and healthier. I do know as it is the way we cook, nowadays for reasons of health as we no longer need to be as frugal as before.

I think we need to look at the bigger picture, there is not a simplistic answer.

I prefer not to get into a political argument about this, too complicated over too many years.

Our church-which has a very well used food bank-is now setting up cookery classes to show how to prepare cheap nutritious meals. I’ve always thought benefits were supposed to be a safety net not a career choice. However the idea that Universal credit will get people back into work is pie in the sky IMHO. Where is this work then? Not round here and poorly paid. And what are you supposed to do with children?

Nonnie as the new owner of a smart meter I can assure you that 2 hours of simmering for a stew will cost a fair bit of cash.I had no idea that turning on my gas made my hourly bill jump from 12 pence an hour to over 58 pence an hour.If they had to use that much power every day on top of other use that would be way out of the reach of low paid families.
I use a pressure cooker which will stew the beef in 35-45 minutes but even that will cost a reasonalby high amount when budgets are strained to breaking point.Fuel poverty is not new I know but it is becoming more and more common with the inroduction of UC .The rise in child poverty is unacceptable to most ...discounting the tory govenment from that ...they seem happy to see the poorest being used as fodder in their divide and rule tactics .The poor ,the sick the elderly are all talked of as "benefit scroungers" when in fact many are just folk who have hit hard times .

What do you suggest Nannyto3?

No matter what our views are on the necessity for herbs/spices etc to make a meal tasty. Or the question of time poverty. Or how difficult it used to be without modern labour saving devices, I think we are all in agreement....... the situation that has developed, where families can't afford to eat properly is intolerable.

The biggest question is what can WE do about it??

Some truth in all of the above.

Of course there are people who cannot afford to feed themselves properly but there are also those who don't know how or can't be bothered. There are some whose priorities are wrong too.

I have thought about whether it would be a good thing to give out recipes at food banks or even have someone there to help and advise but I suppose that would be thought patronising. I wish there was a way to help people to understand just how cheaply they could feed their families if only they knew how without causing offence.

It would also be helpful if those administering Universal Credit could get their act together and do it properly. I think most of us would agree that the principal of one welfare payment which helped people to get back to work is a good idea. However, they seem to get it wrong so much that it must be really difficult for those penalised without reason.

I don't agree that it is necessarily so expensive to collect together some pulses, they are very cheap, basic chopped tinned tomatoes, onions etc. Supermarkets often have sub-standard potatoes, carrots etc at a cheaper price, they just need a few extra minutes of preparation. DS has lots of items with yellow stickers in his freezer because he shops carefully. Of course not everyone has a freezer but I think most do.

It would not be so expensive to make a stew on the hob turned down low and a big one could do more than one meal. Cheaper cuts of meat do need more preparation but often taste really good. Porridge is cheaper and healthier than packet cereals.

Not sure the media helps much when they interview 'the poor' and show them with dyed hair, fancy nails, expensive products in their kitchens etc. Why do they select those people and not the genuine poor? It is hard for those of us who don't have recent experience of being poor to really understand no matter how hard we try.

I also think it must be hugely difficult to stay motivated when the present is so bleak and so is the future. I can see how people can sink into depression when every single day is a struggle without any hope for things getting better. Even making decent meals on very little requires motivation.

Walking to the shops several times a week works if you have money to buy shopping.
Washing your clothes by hand is great if you've at least something to use as detergent, some way of getting the excess water out; a garden or spin dryer?
Some people don't have those things, nor the time to go shopping.
Lots of grandparents on here say how their adult children can't manage so they do their ironing, washing, look after their children AND fund most of it.
Some people don't have families to do that.

Nice rose tinted glasses you have there eazybee

When my grandmother was raising her children there were times when what they were surviving on was definitely not nutritionally adequate.

Sometimes the ends are too short to meet, no matter how good you are at stretching them.

Point is we should have moved on from that and we shouldn't in this day and age have children living in food poverty.

Times and expectations have changed over the years. Pittcity is right to an extent today's parents are time poor but they don't see the value of cooking from scratch.
I really don't see things changing any time soon, maybe all Grandparents should be on a mission to re educate their grandchildren. I don't think it should be the sole responsibility of the mother, fathers need to help out when mothers work outside the home.