STRUGGLING WITH FAMILY FOOD COSTS Eating properly for nutrition has become a real dilemma for many families in the UK, with a third of the population living below the poverty line, including millions of children. The challenge of making nutritious meals without incurring high cooking costs is a common struggle. Social support organizations in the UK often fall very short in providing clear and easy food solutions for those in need. Despite efforts from innovative chefs like Jamie Oliver, who tend to be dismissed by the authorities despite doing great work, solutions for affordable and nutritious meals tend to be overlooked. However, there is scope with proper support and education : a family of four can prepare tasty and nutritious meals at a daily cost of around £12, possibly a pound or two less - For example: - Breakfast: 4 bananas with sugar 60p, jam/2 rounds each of toast with butter,75p tea with milk,50p and half carton orange/tomato/other juice 75p - approximately £2.50 - Lunch: Cold pasta or rice in a fresh veg/tomato/spiced salsa sauce with grated cheese, and an apple - around £2.00 - Tea: Homemade bean/rice/veg soup (8 decent size portions) for £1.50, and a frittata made with 4 eggs,£1-00, 2 spoons of oil, 2 sautéed onions & greens £1, grated cheese 50p, 1-2 cooked chicken thigh/drums meat stripped off £1 total £4-50 Bread rolls/butter£1-50- Fruit or cake £1-00 Total £7-00 Part of the answer is to avoid processed and frozen food, plan menus for 2-3 days at least, buy small portions as needed, ( ie loose veg like 1 onion, one courgette, 3 potatoes, small packs fruit ), try to create a small pantry of spices/herbs, use sunflower or rape seed oil not olive oil (unless a small bottle olive oil and vinegar for taste and dressing ), use cheap cuts of meat/fish which can be very tasty, use alot of pulses-rice-bulk with fresh potato etc , cartons of juice are good value, look for discounts on date/or simply rotation - all supermarkets have masses, avoid brands example HP beans £1-00 but own brands as low as 26p and can be added to with a touch of puree) - use essentials /low cost lines in supermarket as part of a shop. None of this is easy but I hope the above gives a bit of help -if you can buy a food prep book like from Jamie Oliver, Hairy Bikers or Gino d' Acampo incl second hand on Amazon etc -these are packed full of tasty nutritious but low cost foods. And if you have time and build knowledge why not forage for herbs etc or self grow vegetables, or do a bit of fishing ( like our late son Daniel below! )
Paul Clarke
6mo
Some great points. Avoiding highly processed foods and useless carbs from pasta / bread etc seem to be a very modern challenge. Eating natural. Modern luxuries we once all took for granted… Time - freedom to spend our own time free of distractions and modern advertisers demanding our attention Food - the ability to eat as well as our grandparents! Avoiding anything that comes with packaging promoting various health benefits and false narratives Thought- the ability to think critically, solve problems and go about your deeds free of being digitally hijacked somewhere….
That's a thought provoking and excellent service of comments Paul -thanks alot. A big issue for me is that there is a culture in the Uk ( and many parts of the west) to rush around in life work and leisure -not enough reflection and not enough time spent by the privileged to help those less fortunate.