The food industry/supermarkets

It's just so cheap and convenient to heat up a processed meal full of all sorts. Cooking takes a bit of time and preparation. How many people these days roast a proper chicken on a Sunday then make a soup from the carcass to have on Monday?

It's hard when everyone is working full time to afford some sort of standard of living. People can be very time poor so a quick chicken nuggets and oven chips with beans becomes attractive.

 

40 minutes to cook a full chicken in the air fryer these days, that's about the same length of time as it would take to bake a pukka pie in the oven. Any potatoes and veg can also be done easily in that amount of time and you'd have basically a full chicken dinner in under an hour.

For me, with the explosion of different ways to cook, the time issue isn't as much of an excuse anymore but the price of food absolutely is.

We've a family of 6 so when we have pork, for instance, on a Sunday we'll do fried rice with the left overs or if it's lamb maybe a shepherd's pie to try and stop waste but if it's a family of two or three then I imagine it's harder to use leftovers if you don't want to be eating the same thing 3 meals in a row.

Also, the fact you can buy a carvery cheaper than actually cook one is a huge factor and it's the same with the cheap takeaways offering a piece of chicken and chips with a can of pop for a couple of quid. It's no wonder lots of families end up going down the cheaper, more convenient routes.

 

https://www.abebooks.co.uk/9781529160222/Ultra-Processed-People-Why-Eat-Stuff-1529160227/plp

Everyone should read this book. It’s mind-blowing.

 

Might want to alter that reference.


Or not.

 

100%. I read it in the summer. It's not food, it's industrially produced edible substances! It did cause us to look closely at everything we eat. Last week on BBC2 there was a 1 hour documentary by Chris Van Tulleken, the author. Not as hard hitting as the book. It featured many of the contributors, but not so many of the experiments and trials. It was called "Why we can't stop eating", look it up on iplayer.

 

I'm getting boring now, but there's a fantastic example of cost comparison in the documentary I mentioned in my previous post. There's a link below - its only a minute and half but well worth watching.

Basically - Lemon cake!
Home made - cost of ingredients £4.86 - shelf life 4 days
Mass produced in a factory - cost of ingredients 23 pence - shelf life 30 days.
The factory produced one also had 2 or 3 times the number of ingredients, most of which sound more chemical than food.
Sermon over lol.
Give it a watch.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/articles/chris_van_tulleken_ultra_processed_food_swaps

 

I'm as bald and fat but that's where the similarities end!

Edit - turns out he's not fat anymore, just a sexual predator.

 

Interesting topic
Yes the supermarkets/shops should shoulder a lot of responsibility for the health of our nation however they are meeting and responding to an increasing demand Schools should also be held accountable how many leave school with no knowledge of how to prepare a nutritional meal (boys as well as girls) Going back many moons to my schooldays (late 60s) we were taught "domestic science" taking fresh ingredients into school and actually cooking a meal I very much doubt that happens today but stand to be corrected, with no knowledge it's easy to fall into the "warm it in the microwave trap"
Cheap Chicken shops are also a huge attraction to the younger end but seriously wouldn't have a year's supply given
After my wife passed and living alone (kids also flown the nest) plus diabetes in the family eating the right food was essential buying and cooking fresh farm shop food then freezing is the way forward weekly visits to a local restaurant and a weekly treat of Fish and Chips keeps me on the level no need for pre prepared pre packed microwaveable sub standard food
Taking it a stage further now our beloved (not) prime minister has all but sounded the death knell for British farmers we had better start getting used to genetically modified, laboratory grown meat and veg from one of Mr Gates sweatshops
Sounds lovely !!!!

 

I’m sitting in Pret at Leeds Station. I’d say at least three quarters of the food on offer is ultra processed. But re your ‘getting boring’ comment, it’s a real problem. It’s so hard to try making people aware of just how much of our food is chemical concoction without sounding preachy and boring.

 

Kids do get taught the basics at school but it's no good if it isn't backed up at home. Kids don't get the shopping at the supermarket.

It has to come from home and be part of normal routine. They have to see mum or dad cooking and be shown how to do it when it's the right time. My partner and I were just saying how we'll need to send the kids off with recipe books when they start uni. We've got one of the teenagers making a sweet potato soup for our tea right now.

 

Nice bit of salmon beef tomorrow from the farm shop. Good quality red wine, garlic, shallots and winter veg in the slow cooker ( though seared first) followed by Dave's incredible roasties.... Only thing bought is Yorkshire pudding as I'm sh*te at them. I accept not all can afford the above but good wholesome food can be bought by all from good veg, fruit to decent cuts of meat...

And I prepare on my days off , batching homemade soup, stews, chillis , curries, lasagne etc. We are busy but there always enough time to properly fuel your brain.

Going to the original post by the OP, I'm working on Great Horton Road today and the amount of takeaways is ridiculous. It's a ticking time bomb for the current and future generations of poor health (mental and physical) which then puts an obscene amount of pressure on the NHS.and other associated agencies.

Iceland currently have the following "deal" https://www.iceland.co.uk/p/iceland-luxury-christmas-dinner-for-4/35810.html
I mean seriously, winter veg is cheap as anything leading to Christmas and any spare can be blanched and used later. Some of the ingredients/chemicals there are just frightening in this said Christmas "meal".

I believe you work in the education sector @Hoochy-Min and I'm of the opinion that the shed load of processed food and 'energy' drinks amongst some of our younger generation, could be potentially detrimental to kids. As a kid, I remember my ma saying, feed your body, feed your mind..... Thoughts?

Together with the modern technological world of tech, poor eating habits it's an obvious problem, that surely can only worsen.

 

Yes but if you watch the ads like the ones David Beckham does for new kitchen appliances it's quite quick and easy to cook healthy food. The problem is we have become lazy.

 

And ex Millwall idiot.

 

he's still vermin, no ex about it.

 

Makes you wonder about that other programme he does where he tells people how to eat better. He goes round their house while they are out and goes through their kitchen cupboards. Off camera he probably does through their knicker drawer too