Jamie Oliver; Ministry of Food

ALIBOBSY

I enjoyed this programme as well. That guardian article puts things into perspective so thanks to poster.

I suppose I was lucky as mum always cooked and baked as did my gran, I always remember going to her house and baking. She had 2 huge glass jars in which she kept her flour, red top plain flour, blue top self raising ( most shops still seem to use these colours lol). But whilst working full time I fell into the trap of ready meals.

I definately think the big supermarkets have a lot to answer for. When I was younger we used to be able to walk to a local market garderner, a butcher and a grocers. We went with mum and her shopping trolly on wheels . We went to the market on the bus once a week and loved it. Now I am only 36 so these local shops have disappeared very recently. We live in a semi rural village on the edge of a small town and so do still have some farm shops and a local butcher or 2, but people in alot of areas have nothing but the local spar/coop, who don't stock everything and aren't cheap.

Supermarkets make much bigger markups on ready meals and processed items as opposed to basic ingredients for cooking, so it has been in their interests to encourage this non cooking culture, plus the government seemed to see all spending as "growth" and to be encouraged. Both of them should be ashamed its been both imoral and irresponsible. The US are right age of irresponsibilty indeed.

I thought it was good when they told JO theway it is, and I hope he realises through the course of the series the reality for most of us trying to live on a budget however big or small.

Can't wait for the next one.

ali x

Butterfly_Brain

Good idea - even though I can't stand Jamie Oliver or his recipes

Bargain_Rzl

I saw this programme and thought it was great! Obviously Natasha (the older one I mean, I think the young blonde one was also called Tash) has a lot more problems than having no money and no food sense, but she took to the cooking so naturally and was a BRILLIANT teacher to the others. I hope the project does great things for her self-esteem and turns her round a bit on a personal level.

The one Jamie's going to have a proper challenge with is... oh what was her name, the other Tash's mate, with the dark hair - the one who didn't know how to recognise when something was boiling. She's not very bright, and the teaching thing didn't come naturally either. I would really love to see her come out of this with some real practical skills.

Ah, and the look on blonde Tash's face when she cooked that pancake

Butterfly_Brain

I learnt to cook because when we first got married we had no money to spare, it is surprising what you can do with 2 sausages! I don't follow recipes now I make them up as I go and I get no complaints so I must be doing something right, a good cook can make something out of nothing.
I would like to see him prepare a meal for four for under £2.50 which is what I have to do frequently.

mouseymousey99

I think its an terrific idea too (& I'm a Delia girl myself). I think I'll sit out buying this book (doesn't the book come out tomorrow)? I'm sure Jamie can afford me not buying it! I've got an 1980's edition of Delia's cookery book (complete wth all the stains made by me) and its seen me through most things. I'd love to hear with anyone thinks of Jamie's book though...

lilmisskitkat

I agree with those who have said about some of the recipes not being feasible on a tight budget and that it may put people off trying them with any 'fancy' ingredients. i think Jamie's heart is in the right place but he maybe isn't fully aware of what a huge challenge this is going to be.

I must admit when i saw those kiddies eating with their fingers out of takeaway cartons i was shocked Not just that the food is packed with fat, salt etc but the manner in which it was eaten. When DD was little we didn't have a table in our house at first (didn't have much actually lol) but she has a little plastic table and chair and she ate every meal up to that, with the table set properly etc. Lol, i used to eat there with her, killed my back on those tiny chairs!!! :rotfl:

I feel very grateful that my mam always cooked, so did my gran and by watching them i learnt a lot. That said, i dont think i'd have managed to feed us so well on a budget if i hadn't joined this forum 4 yrs ago, everyone has taught me so much and it is shame that not everyone has such support. Until i watched this i took my cooking skills for granted, its something i've been doing since i was 12 (baking younger than that with my mam/gran) and i cant imagine not being able to do it. Unfortunately in this day and age there seem to be so many people like Natasha and thats when i think that perhaps jamie has bitten off more than he can chew.

Kate xxx

Bargain_Rzl

lilmisskitkat wrote: »

I agree with those who have said about some of the recipes not being feasible on a tight budget and that it may put people off trying them with any 'fancy' ingredients. i think Jamie's heart is in the right place but he maybe isn't fully aware of what a huge challenge this is going to be.

Seriously, though - they've got to be cheaper than takeaways I think it's more a perception thing, about the relative cost of things, rather than a reality, given how much some of those mums must be spending at the moment...

mouseymousey99

Yes but if you have never learned?? bit like knitting I expect, I can knit just can't cast on or off (so basically stuffed)....

Plum_Pie

One of the things about this forum is that we all get a lot of support about our cooking, particularly when things go badly – OS disasters, what recipes would you not repeat?, what would you not give up?, fallen off the OS wagon, all spring to mind. The difference for us is that these are the exception, not the rule and we have a great resource - each other.

Don’t we have many newbies posting ‘I want to be OS but don’t know where to start?’ and don’t we all give them advice and help, particularly, start slowly with small changes. I bet some of them have really interesting things to contribute to this discussion.

lilmisskitkat

Bargain_Rzl wrote: »

Seriously, though - they've got to be cheaper than takeaways I think it's more a perception thing, about the relative cost of things, rather than a reality, given how much some of those mums must be spending at the moment...

Oh definitely cheaper than takeaways but i mean that people who have never cooked might be put off by a recipe that needs lots of ingredients or that contain anything 'fancy'. If you dont have a well stocked storecupboard or a selection of herbs/spices etc then it might seem a bit daunting to need so many things for one recipe that they may just resort to the takeaway again.

Kate xxx