30 p meals ???

JGB1955

In those 'heady' days before lockdown a group of 8 of us used to challenge us all to produce a 3 course meal for £1 a head.  Veggie chilli and pea soup did it - but none of us would want to live on that for 7 days a week.... As for 30p.......!!!!

Rosa_Damascena

I think 2 unbranded Weetabix and the minimum volume of milk is likely to come in at about 12p per portion. Add a banana from Aldi and it brings the cost up to 26p. Filling but not very inspiring. 

TheAble

Let's be frank, it was a ludicrous assertion. The odd meal for 30p yes (beans/eggs on toast say) but most meals are going to cost more.

cheerfulcat

https://youtu.be/WHDTP8P9SFI £1 a day. 

elsien

It’s also very patronising to assume that those who use food banks can’t cook and need lessons. There but for the grace (and all that) could go an awful lot of us if life throws us a curve ball. 

euronorris

elsien said:

It’s also very patronising to assume that those who use food banks can’t cook and need lessons. There but for the grace (and all that) could go an awful lot of us if life throws us a curve ball. 

Yes, and an assertion that he throws around when it is almost certain that he doesn't eat such low costed meals himself and I doubt he could do so either!

Grumpelstiltskin

Lets not bring politics into this but that MP is not your typical Tory MP. He is an ex miner ho grew up in a mining area.

I agree the 30p is not doable in the long term but actually how many of the people frequenting food banks are actually short of cooking facilities etc and how many have all the basics needed to cook?

Crisps were mentioned earlier. In Tesco a 45gm. bag of Walkers Crisps ( other brands are available ) are 85p, a 2.5 kg. bag of potatoes are 99p how many would rather buy the bag of crisps? many of the younger people I would guess.

London_1

cheerfulcat said:

https://youtu.be/WHDTP8P9SFI £1 a day. 

Just watched this and its very enlightening .Excellent for a good few ideas. he got a good haul fromlidls and I think did very well on his £5 for 5 days meals. Some things I don't think I would enjoy ,but the carrot and swede rots looked good. He has a well stocked kitchen for gadgets I wonder where he bought the bacon tree from looked a good idea for cooking sausages.He certainly made the most of every scrap of food  Thank you for posting the link. certainly no waste at all.The dog was pretty cute as well  

JackieO x

bupster

Jack Monroe's done the pound a day challenge a couple of times and has been at the point of collapse from lack of nutrients. If Jack can't do it then some poor sod with no knowledge or cooking facilities can't. The great gammon-faced prat who stated this was basing it on a mass cook-in where they spent 50 quid in Aldi and batch-cooked 200 meals. Fab work, mate, because all poor people have access to a commercial kitchen, several giant deep freezers, and have an Aldi within walking distance and the means to carry all this stuff home (to their commercial kitchen). 

I can probably make a 30p-a-head meal with the contents of my fridge and freezer, no bother. Chicken soup with a bit of pasta; chilli stretched out with lentils. Yet even with my skills and stores I'm struggling to get my weekly food bill under £40 because I eat three meals a day, because I am often hungry enough for snacks, because sometimes I'm too tired to batch cook and need food that makes a meal quickly, because I drink coffee and cordial, and like something sweet occasionally, and need loo roll, and washing up liquid - and I've got it easy because don't have kids saying 'I don't liiiike it;' and 'I'm still hungry, mum,' - and !!!!!! why should anyone be expected to live on seven quid a week anyway?

Honestly, if you're a gammon-faced prat (or a middle class Telegraph columnist) who's never had to wonder how to feed yourself for a week on less than a tenner and what's left in your cupboards, you should shut the f up when it comes to telling people how you'd be better at being poor than them. 

mumtoomany

Really good youtube link. Atomic shrimp often does these eat for very little type challenges. But, and i don't want to take anything away from his great efforts, without the lidl box for £1.50 and if he had no choice of supermarkets, or even no supermarket at all, he could not have achieved this. Also for his £5 he made 14 meals, 35p a meal! So I don't thing 30p a meal can be done, regularly. Hugs to all, mumtoomany.xx