.Porridge and Potatoes to solver Food Poverty

Already a thread on this - Obesity and Poverty.

This is an excellent article, says what I was trying to say much more eloquently.
If we stuck to one thread per subject GN would be very quiet.

I pointed out on the other thread that anyone needing to use a food bank would have a more limited diet because food which is suitable for donation has to have a shelf life therefore is tinned and packeted food, not fresh.

Franbern thanks for that article. It is so true. I don't read posts about obesity so I haven't seen the other thread. It isn't a problem that is easily solved. But it is good to know that there are local councillors who fully understand the problem. Perhaps it will only be solved if the food industry chooses to manufacture food items which are low cost, nourishing, low calorie, filling and tasty, because unfortunately I can't see the Tory government we have for the next 4 years increasing benefits or dealing with poverty.

It is not just poverty though, is it. The problems are complex.

Many people were poor in times past but still managed to eat fresh food, although perhaps limited, because there was no junk food available.

We spent a higher proportion of our income on food then too.
This country spends a relatively small proportion of income on food and food is relatively cheap.
Housing is very expensive, both rented and owned and takes a disproportionate amount of income leaving less for food.

Fast food chains, food manufacturers are guilty of marketing foods full of sugars and unhealthy fats but which are cheap, easy and readily available. They are also helping to destroy the planet by their use of cheap palm oil.

Studies of aspartame have shown that it causes, not prevents, obesity.
It's not always a question of how much people eat - there may be links between some of the ingredients eg palm oil, corn syrup, in cheap, fast foods and the type of fat produced in the body. Corn syrup is far worse than sugar yet sugar has been labelled the evil ingredient.

Callistemon I am with you on cheap food. We are being programmed to want the lowest price for everything. Cheap food is very often poorly produced or comes with much lower welfare standards. We all need to rethink our priorities!

If people had reasonably priced decent housing they'd have more to spend on decent, reasonably priced food.

As long as manufactured foods are filled out with cheap ingredients such as palm oil and corn syrup which cause obesity, people will buy them.
Many people, not just people who are poor.

I know that I’ll be shot down in flames for this, but ‘back in the day’ I was a young Mum living in a tower block, I had basic cookery lessons at school, but I had a library card and looked up cheap recipes of things to cook with very little money ie. breast of lamb, then sausage, minced meat etc. with fresh veg.
However, we did not have
A telephone
A car
A fridge or freezer
A television, just a battery transistor radio
No hair dos
All money for clothes went to the children ( because they grew so quickly)and DH for work clothing.

When I see a family who claim that they are unable to feed their children healthy meals (with the abundance of cookery books with 30 minute meals in them, plus shopping delivered to their door) for a reasonably low cost who also don’t have any electrical appliances, phones,computers , televisions or cars, then I will feel that it’s the Governments fault.
Until then it seems to be a matter of priorities and idleness.

I will now go back into my cupboard and put on my hard hat, ready to be told that ‘times have changed’.

I do recognise that scenario, Oopsadaisy
I can remember my DD, then about 5, saying "Mummy needs a new dress, Daddy, she never buys anything for herself".

I will say that I wouldn't criticise anyone for buying a laptop - children have been struggling to do any schoolwork because of not having access to one recently.

midgey

Callistemon I am with you on cheap food. We are being programmed to want the lowest price for everything. Cheap food is very often poorly produced or comes with much lower welfare standards. We all need to rethink our priorities!

The poor don't have that luxury ('rethinking their priorities'). They're too busy surviving and trying to get by without a livable income. That is what the article is about!

I had a friend years ago who sneered at me and said it was about knowing how to budget because I couldn't make ends meet. Her income was 3 times what mine was. I'm excellent at making a little money go a long way. Now I have a stable income I save and budget brilliantly.

Not JUST children who need access to the internet,jobseekers must show they've looked for a certain number of jobs every day or they'll be "sanctioned" ,then there will be NO money to buy any food for the family.Remember please that unemployment isn't laziness,.maybe in the odd case but for most its bad circumstances beyond their control .Most people want to look after their families and being out of work causes mental health issues which compound the situation.

I know some smoke or drink...and who can blame them.When things are so bad they cant see a light at the end of the tunnel they need something to ease their worry.I totally understand that ,sadly many on here dont .

Housing is the greatest bugbear so far as those who are trying to manage is concerned. Whether it be extortionate mortgages/rents it doesn't give anyone a chance to eat properly once they've secured a roof over their heads. Then you have council tax and the greedy utilities, gas/electric/water.

Come winter time, how do families manage to keep warm AND eat well ? Something has to give. Children of these families are our future. What of another Covid along with winter 'flu, how many are going to die trying to keep warm or being fed the right and proper food so that they remain reasonably well ?

Blimey, if I ate 5 portions of fruit/veg a day I'd never be off the toilet ! It's not needed as you age and because so much goes to waste anyway, it should be offered to all families with children.

Distribution of foodstuffs seems to be sketchy. Does this automatically go to those who are out of work or who have lost their jobs ? Things are going to get worse aren't they ?

I remember some years ago Anne Widdecombe taking on a challenge to help young mothers on low incomes feed their families healthily for a week, and she did.
What she commented on was the distance they had to go, on foot with small children, to get cheap fresh food, particularly meat, vegetables and fish, almost unobtainable. The local rather poor supermarket had effectively wiped out all the butchers, green grocers and fishmongers where they could get cheap cuts, small amounts and miss-shaped vegetables, and it was a long, expensive bus ride into town.

It's just so easy to judge those who are living on the bread line as being lazy and feckless isn't it? Family to feed, high rent or mortgage, council taxes and utilities, all out of a very tight, limited budget. And unlike our generation, they have little access to a market selling fresh vegetables and produce because the supermarkets have seen them all off. No wonder food banks are needed by so many.

Exactly Chewbacca, and at the risk of setting off an anti-China tirade, this is why the Chinese have those huge fresh food markets. They are cheap and allow farmers to sell produce direct. I used them all the time when living there. All areas have them. To get anything similar in Newcastle, I have to go all the way into the city centre (almost £5 on bus or metro) to go to our admittedly very good indoor market. The fare alone puts it out of reach of anyone on a low income.

Thanks for posting that article, Franbern. I was particularly struck by the examples of what could and couldn't be done with £9, for two and for a family of four people. Most illuminating. When I was little, we grew most of our own veg so that made a huge difference.

I believe that social housing at affordable prices is key to bringing the cost of living down.
I would also bring back proper school meals and ban packed lunches at school. This would also provide jobs for parents/carers who need a term time contract with an annualised salary.
I’d support school meals being free or more heavily subsidised.
Basic cookery and life skills should also be taught in every school to every child. I realise that for some SEN children this might be impractical but the majority of children would benefit.

I had a shopping delivery last night 9pm cost me £1. Plenty of fresh fruit and veg online and as everybody has laptops, obtaining them shouldn't be a problem.
Let’s face it there is always an excuse to spend money on anything other than boring ingredients and buy junk food instead.
My DD went to our fridge one day when she was a child, and shouted that there was no food in the house and that she would starve, what she saw was ingredients to make meals, which is what she was told.

Caramac I agree, if children can’t be taught to cook at school then they should be shown how to access the sites that show them how to prep food online.
Plus they should all be taught how to handle their finances ready for when they need to support themselves and their families.

Thank you franbern a most straight forward article pointing out that none of us know the truth of the causes of poverty of food and nutrition.

It bothers me that less well off people may not be putting good eating habits higher on the list than the latest mobile phone, Sky TV subscriptions, expensive TVs etc.

School dinners are 5 meals per week out of the usual 21 eaten and there’s nothing to stop a child choosing only chips, pizza and doughnuts at school. Very few will ever choose vegetables or salad.
In deprived areas children then walk home past dozens of junk food outlets selling fried chicken and chips for a matter of pence.
Food poverty is complicated and the days of mince and cabbage are long long gone.

There is also the question of food addiction. Children fed processed foods at an early age develop a taste for them and it is difficult to change their eating habits. This is a report on baby foods- it is shocking assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/812204/Foods_and_drinks_aimed_at_infants_and_young_children_June_2019.pdf

In no uncertain terms, poverty is a result of governmental, legislative neglect- Governance is intentionally designed for the flow of money to up, not down and not out-

The most recent example of this I can provide is the upsidedown pyramid of the corona virus bailout package here in the US-

Billions went to billionaires, millions to millionaires (including Hollywood celebs), thousands upon thousands to some families monthly and a "one time" payout of 1,200 to those most vulnerable-

The eviction moratorium expires July 31st- Evictions can begin August 1st-

Food, a roof and warmth, 3 of your basic necessities to survive, that are hard won, can overnight be gone-