The True Cost of Cheap Food?

geordie_joe

I agree with OrkneyStar, but people who say they can only afford value ready meals usually mean as opposed to the better brands of ready meals.

They have to buy ready meals as their cooking skill are limited to these, and bunging fish fingers or burgers in a frying pan and opening a bag of oven chips.

Many people, and I know some in their 30's and 40's!, have never been taught how to cook. They were brought up on convenience food and that's all they can do.

We may hate them now, but there was a time when ready meals/convenience foods were hailed as the housewife's saviour.

Mappygirl

I agree that you need to choose your value products wisely - but a lot of branded processed food isn't good for you! I just wondered if anyone knew how much % of meat is in a branded pie as opposed to the 18% in a value one?

I didn't like the tone of the reporter much, claiming that only the poorest of the poor are forced to buy value product! I'm not well off but I'm not poor and I buy value stuff like fruit and veg!

OrkneyStar

geordie_joe wrote: »

I agree with OrkneyStar, but people who say they can only afford value ready meals usually mean as opposed to the better brands of ready meals.

They have to buy ready meals as their cooking skill are limited to these, and bunging fish fingers or burgers in a frying pan and opening a bag of oven chips.

Many people, and I know some in their 30's and 40's!, have never been taught how to cook. They were brought up on convenience food and that's all they can do.

We may hate them now, but there was a time when ready meals/convenience foods were hailed as the housewife's saviour.

I have heard this said before geordie joe, and agree there is a part of the UK population who just don't know how (or don't want to know how) to cook for whatever reason. There are also some who are unable to cook for health/disability reasons, and they will be limited to eating ready meals or having someone else cook for them. My mum taught me basic stuff about cooking, but the rest was me wanting to learn, trying things, and realising I felt 100% better when I ate less processed stuff! (Of course I eat some junk too, most people do, but not instead of nutrition!).
I think people need to re-address priorites, as someone said earlier, decent food should take priority over other things such as new phones, fancy clothes, alcohol, cigarettes etc, and maybe spend a little time learning simple healthy meals (tomato pasta, stir fry, cheap cuts of meat and slow cooking etc can be made cheaply). People are entitled to eat how they choose, but equally must take some responsibilty for what they put in their chops, so to speak.

competitionscafe

Mappygirl wrote: »

I agree that you need to choose your value products wisely - but a lot of branded processed food isn't good for you! I just wondered if anyone knew how much % of meat is in a branded pie as opposed to the 18% in a value one?

Good point - in the Finest one it's 26% so not that much higher than the value. In the branded one it's the same as the value one at 18%:
However the 'finest' is pieces of beef the other two are mince which may contain bits which are technically beef but which you may not choose to eat and I would guess more fat too. There is no 'Finest' minced beef and onion pie to do a direct comparison).

Tesco Finest Yorkshire Beef & Beer Pie 400g

Ingredients

Mashed Potato (53%), Marinated Yorkshire Beef (26%), Beef Stock, Onion, Vegetable Juices From Concentrate, Mushroom (2.5%), Cheddar Cheese Crumb (2.5%), Beer (2%), Roast Beef Stock, Tomato Pur!e, Vegetable Oil, Wheat Flour, Cornflour, Brown Sugar, Dijon Mustard, Black Treacle, Butter, Garlic Pur!e, Malted Barley Extract, Pepper, Thyme.
Mashed Potato contains: Potato, Butter, Cream, Salt, Pepper.
Marinated Yorkshire Beef contains: Beef, Water, Cornflour, Tomato Pur!e, Salt.
Vegetable Juices From Concentrate contains: Carrot, Celeriac, Lettuce, Beetroot, Spinach, Parsley.
Cheddar Cheese Crumb contains: Cheddar Cheese, Breadcrumb (Wheat Flour; Water; Yeast; Salt)
Roast Beef Stock contains: Water, Beef Stock, Tomato Pur!e, Carrot, Onion.
Dijon Mustard contains: Water, Brown Mustard Seed, Vinegar, Salt.
Mashed Potato (53%), Marinated Yorkshire Beef (26%), Beef Stock, Onion, Vegetable Juices From Concentrate, Mushroom (2.5%), Cheddar Cheese Crumb (2.5%), Beer (2%), Roast Beef Stock, Tomato Pur!e, Vegetable Oil, Wheat Flour, Cornflour, Brown Sugar, Dijon Mustard, Black Treacle, Butter, Garlic Pur!e, Malted Barley Extract, Pepper, Thyme.
Mashed Potato contains: Potato, Butter, Cream, Salt, Pepper.
Marinated Yorkshire Beef contains: Beef, Water, Cornflour, Tomato Pur!e, Salt.
Vegetable Juices From Concentrate contains: Carrot, Celeriac, Lettuce, Beetroot, Spinach, Parsley.
Cheddar Cheese Crumb contains: Cheddar Cheese, Breadcrumb (Wheat Flour; Water; Yeast; Salt)
Roast Beef Stock contains: Water, Beef Stock, Tomato Pur!e, Carrot, Onion.
Dijon Mustard contains: Water, Brown Mustard Seed, Vinegar, Salt.

Branded product: (Mcdougalls 4 Minced Beef & Onion Pies)

Water, Wheatflour, Beef (18%), Vegetable Oil and Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil, Onion (5%), Modified Maize Starch, Beef Fat, Salt, Tomato Pur!e, Colours: Plain Caramel, Beta Carotene, Emulsifier: Mono and Di-Glycerides of Fatty Acids, Flavouring (contains Yeast Extract, Lactose (from Milk) Maltodextrin, Dried Onion), Pepper, Raising Agents: Disodium Diphosphate, Sodium Bicarbonate, Milk Protein, Dextrose, Flour Treatment Agent: L-Cysteine Hydrochloride

Tesco own brand (not value) Mince beef and onion pie:

Wheat Flour, Water, British or Irish Beef (19%), Vegetable Oil, Onion (4%), Beef Fat, Cornflour, Salt, Yeast Extract, Dextrose, Malted Barley Extract, Milk Proteins, Onion Powder, Black Pepper, Glucose Syrup

Tesco Value mince beef and onion pie:

3 individual pies:
Wheat Flour, Beef (18%), Water, Vegetable Oil, Onion (5%), Beef Fat, Rice Flour, Cornflour, Malted Barley Extract, Salt, Beef Bouillion, Dried Egg.
Beef Bouillion contains: Salt, Yeast Extract, Beef Extract, Potato Starch, Natural Flavouring, Onion Powder, Sunflower Oil, Black Pepper, Malted Barley Extract.

Large (600g) pie:
Water, Wheat Flour, Beef (17%), Vegetable Oil, Onion (4.5%), Cornflour, Yeast Extract, Beef Stock, Tomato Pur!e, Salt, Egg, Emulsifier (Mono- and Di-Glycerides of Fatty Acids), Colour (Plain Caramel), Onion Powder, Dextrose, White Pepper, Cocoa Powder, Carrot Powder, Celery Powder.
Beef Stock contains: Beef, Water, Beef Extract, Salt, Vegetable Concentrates (Tomato, Carrot, Onion), Sugar, Vegetables (Carrot, Onion).

---
On a side note, value mince is often high in fat and value chicken high in water, so false economy.

ceridwen

geordie_joe wrote: »

I agree with OrkneyStar, but people who say they can only afford value ready meals usually mean as opposed to the better brands of ready meals.

They have to buy ready meals as their cooking skill are limited to these, and bunging fish fingers or burgers in a frying pan and opening a bag of oven chips.

Many people, and I know some in their 30's and 40's!, have never been taught how to cook. They were brought up on convenience food and that's all they can do.

We may hate them now, but there was a time when ready meals/convenience foods were hailed as the housewife's saviour.

Well - I've never been taught to cook either....but I dont think thats any excuse....I just bought a few recipe books and taught myself. A fair bit of trial and error later I'm a pretty good cook now....

Theres also the point that one doesnt actually NEED to cook to get a perfectly healthy diet - its just a case of thinking: filler food (decent bread would do if need be or some potatoes - how difficult can a jacket potato be to do for instance?), some protein (a chunk of cheese, glass of milk or handful of reasonable shelled nuts would do) and some Vitamin C (some fresh fruit or salad). Bingo - very little cooking involved.

geordie_joe

ceridwen wrote: »

Well - I've never been taught to cook either....but I dont think thats any excuse....I just bought a few recipe books and taught myself. A fair bit of trial and error later I'm a pretty good cook now....

Theres also the point that one doesnt actually NEED to cook to get a perfectly healthy diet - its just a case of thinking: filler food (decent bread would do if need be or some potatoes - how difficult can a jacket potato be to do for instance?), some protein (a chunk of cheese, glass of milk or handful of reasonable shelled nuts would do) and some Vitamin C (some fresh fruit or salad). Bingo - very little cooking involved.

You are right, but I didn't put forward not knowing how to cook as an excuse for eating ready meals etc, I put it forward as the reason.

Yes, it is easy to learn to do basic cooking, or just eat more things that are healthy. But these people aren't going round saying "i want to cook my own meals, but I don't know how to cook so I'm forced to eat ready meals" or "I want to eat healthy food, but don't know how to".

They are saying "I eat ready meals because that is what I want to eat" or "My mum fed me ready meals, so that is what i eat now. Why should I bother learning to cook" etc. etc.

There are some people who can't cook, but want to learn. Some of them come in here and I think it's great when they get loads of help and encouragement and come back delighted because they've made something from scratch.

Some of my mates laugh at me for cooking meals from scratch, they can't understand why I don't just buy a box and put it in the microwave.

I think we just have to face the fact that some people can't cook and don't want to learn, and concentrate on helping those that do want to learn.

geordie_joe

OrkneyStar wrote: »

I think people need to re-address priorites, as someone said earlier, decent food should take priority over other things such as new phones, fancy clothes, alcohol, cigarettes etc, and maybe spend a little time learning simple healthy meals (tomato pasta, stir fry, cheap cuts of meat and slow cooking etc can be made cheaply). People are entitled to eat how they choose, but equally must take some responsibilty for what they put in their chops, so to speak.

I know people who eat healthy, they always buy healthy choice ready meals, or whatever they are called.

People are entitled to eat how they choose, but I can't help thinking that choice is heavily influenced by what their parents gave them, and what supermarkets offer them too!

As an example. Yesterday I was looking at sweet potatoes in Morrisons. A young girl with a baby came over and picked one up, looked at it, turned around and shouted "Mum, can you eat these"?

Her mum, who must have been in her late 40's said "Oh, I don't know". So she put it back. They moved over a bit and she picked up a pack of three sweet peppers. Her mother didn't know what they were, or what you do with them.

Later I passed them in another section and the girl did not have one vegetable in here trolley, no fruit either.

I thought "Young girl, new baby, probably just got her own place and is doing her first shopping. Brought her mother with her for advice".

But in the fruit and veg section the mother didn't have a clue. I suspect the mother was brought up on convenience foods, and brought her family up on them.

What chance has a young girl got when she, and her mother, don't know if a vegetable on sale in the vegetable section of a supermarket is edible!

Penelope_Penguin

geordie_joe wrote: »

Later I passed them in another section and the girl did not have one vegetable in here trolley, no fruit either!

Let's hope you never see me in the supermarket, then. When we don't have any in the garden, I buy all my fruit and veg at the farm shop, so don't have it in my trolley.

Without knowing people's circumstances, it's impossible to make sweeping generalisations about them.

geordie_joe

Penelope_Penguin wrote: »

Let's hope you never see me in the supermarket, then. When we don't have any in the garden, I buy all my fruit and veg at the farm shop, so don't have it in my trolley.

Without knowing people's circumstances, it's impossible to make sweeping generalisations about them.

That's true, but when you see someone in the veg section of a supermarket not knowing if you can eat the veg on sale, it's a fair bet they don't grow veg or buy it at a farm shop.

buxtonrabbitgreen

That was an interesting article. Mostly I cook from scratch using basic ingredients. But he was going on about the pig skin in sausages. Well if it is full of protien and you can't see it, I have no objection to it.