This page represents only my own views, and not those of any university or other body.
Posted Wednesday 28th August 2013 at 8.40am
Let them eat mange tout
"You might remember that scene in Ministry Of Food, with the mum and the kid eating chips and cheese out of Styrofoam containers, and behind them is a massive TV. It just didn’t weigh up."
“I meet people who say, 'You don’t understand what it’s like.’ I just want to hug them and teleport them to the Sicilian street cleaner who has 25 mussels, 10 cherry tomatoes, and a packet of spaghetti for 60 pence, and knocks out the most amazing pasta."
Yeah... there are people who have no idea how best to feed themselves and their families on a budget. By all means try to address that problem, Jamie - though there are lots of other people who got there first, you'll probably get more attention than them. But don't impose your priorities on other people. Maybe a TV is cheapest way to keep the kids entertained. Or maybe the TV allows them to see programmes that tell them how best to feed themselves and their families on a budget. Anyway, chips and cheese taste nice, and if you'd tried to get me to eat mussels or cherry tomatoes when I was 8, you'd've been waiting a while. Besides, where can I get 25 mussels round here for 60p? I'd probably struggle with £6. And this local market you mention that sells loose mange tout - where is it and when am I supposed to go there? I sometimes go to a market stall on a Saturday morning to buy my fruit and veg for the week, and it regularly costs me 6 or 7 quid, just for enough for me. Yes, I can buy in smaller quantities than the supermarket, but those smaller quantities are sometimes more expensive, and it's difficult to know how much I'm spending until it all gets weighed at the end. The stall doesn't sell mange tout. And some of the veg will go off within a couple of days. The only place I can go to replenish my supplies is the supermarket, because it's the only place open after I finish work.
If I can't follow your advice, and I live a comfortable life on a good wage with flexible working hours and own a car, what chance do others stand?
Some people have got their priorities wrong, but you aren't going to fix that with a cookery show. If you want us to buy veg in smaller quantities, lobby the supermarkets (I believe you have some influence there) to stock more loose veg, with sets of scales nearby so that we can see how much we're spending. It's not difficult, it's cheaper and more convenient, and it saves on packaging. Pukka.
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Comments
Posted Friday 30th August 2013 at 11.38pm
Matt Roberts says:
It's like someone who can write read my mind:
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/aug/30/credit-jamie-oliver-doesnt-understand
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