RANT WARNING - This makes me SOOOO mad!!!

[Diana]

How shortsighted can someone be:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/5398554.stm

"have to eat porridge for breakfast" like it's the most unhealthy, disgusting thing in the world! I like porridge + it doesn't have to contain loads of sugar - it's probably one of the MOST healthy breakfasts in the world!

Not only that though, the thing that makes me REALLY mad is the common misconception that healthy food is expensive! RUBBISH!

Grrrrrrr

Sorry, rant over

[Tensing]

I like porridge, but not cooked just with cold milk on, very odd i know.

[2steps]

I don't like porrige but what she saying is rubbish! personally I have found it cheaper to eat well in many cases. I have a very limited food budget of around £30 a week for 4 people and we definatly don't eat like she's describing. For the same price as many supermarket pizzas I can buy a piece of meat or chicken that will last us several days. A bag of pasta can be bought for 25p in asda. I bought 5 apples ths morning at a cost of 88p.
If that £21 is to feed one person I can't see her having a problem and nay problem there is will be down to not knowing what to do with foods to make the most of them rather than good, healthy food being expensive.

Can you reply to these articles at all?

[Stonehead]

I don't like porrige but what she saying is rubbish! personally I have found it cheaper to eat well in many cases. I have a very limited food budget of around £30 a week for 4 people and we definatly don't eat like she's describing.

Same here, and we eat quite well.

Can you reply to these articles at all?

Email her direct at goodmanh@parliament.uk

I've already done so, so the more the merrier.

[2steps]

excellent. One soom to be on the way from me too

[dibnah]

just sent mine it's nice to rant in the right direction.

[Merry]

If she went to her nearest market and bought fresh food to cook from scratch she`d find it perfectly possible to eat healthily on that budget. The cost racks up - and nutritional values go down - if you buy manufactured rubbish full of additives.
I love porridge! I like it made with water and stiff enough to stand up by itself!

[Ranter]

I like porridge, but not cooked just with cold milk on, very odd i know. Embarassed

Not at all odd Tensing, that's how I like porridge too. When it's really chilly I do cook it, but with water.

[wulf]

The keys to eating healthily on a budget are a bit of knowledge about what's good to eat and how to prepare it, a good portion of preparation (so that you've got the right staples undergirding your diet and allowing you to buy some ingredients in bulk, making a cost saving) and a dash of watching for opportunities (for example, when you find a crop of apples that you can pick for free and turn into various healthy foods with a small amount of work).

I wonder if Ms Goodman will be reporting back on what she is eating? She has a website but it seems to be broken at the moment.

Wulf

[Stonehead]

I like porridge, but not cooked just with cold milk on, very odd i know. Embarassed

Not at all odd Tensing, that's how I like porridge too. When it's really chilly I do cook it, but with water.

I usually prefer my porridge cooked but a delicious change is to whisk a couple of spoons of honey into full-cream milk and pour it over a bowl of rolled oats. Then stir in fresh berries (raspberries are my favourite), slightly crushing the berries as you stir. Leave to stand for about 30 minutes, then eat. Yum!

[2steps]

mmm that actually sounds really nice. My mum used to give us this fruit porrige stuff when we were kids that was yummy. It had a much smoother texture though, that what I don't like about porrige

[Dave]

Forced to eat porridge oh the injustice of it all. I'm with you all here I love porridge. My food budget is pretty low but there are always ways to eat cheaply and heathily without resorting to eating biscuits instead of fruit - is this woman insane!!??
My disertation was on this very subject - poor nutrition for low income families. It seemed the main causes for bad diet were (as wulf said) lack of cooking skills but also poor access to food. A lot of supermarkets are out of town and can be hard to get to on public transport. If there is no green-grocer around then often food choices can be limited. There are whole estates like this with no access to fresh food, the food standards agency have a little about this on their website http://www.food.gov.uk/science/research ... 10/n09010r

[shiney]

As I was cold all last night (yeah Stoney you can call me a Southern Softie, which I readily admit!) I decided to have porridge this morning. It's delicious!

We live on a low income and we eat very well. I lived on Income support when I was a single mother and it is totally do~able. It just takes a little bit of imagination to make great meals that are nutricious.

These MP's live in la la land.

[Millymollymandy]

I'd love to know how you could eat fish, fruit and veg for £21 a week.???? Oh I get it, that's in the UK where food is so cheap!

In France we have to content ourselves with Lidl sardines and tuna, and our monthly supermarket bill comes in at about €350 during the winter months and down to €250 during the summer, and about €200 the last month when I haven't had to buy any fruit at all .

That's for 2 people on an extremely frugal budget of no more than €2 per meal for 2 people. So fish is out of the question - even sardines and mussels are way beyond my budget now.

P.S. Thank god they sell porridge oats in France! Love the stuff, but never eat it for breakfast. It's a dinner treat!

[2steps]

I have a friend who lives in Jersery who's in a simular position I almost always buy shops own brands, there no less healthy afterall and why pay more than I need to for something?