And now batch cooking..

I have always felt that it is rarely the case that people can be wrong about everything and that just because individuals spout particular bollox that does not mean that everything they say is then complete rubbish. A case in point is the Tory MP who recently claimed that you can make a meal for 30p in response to those stuggling with cost of living rises and to purchase saver/budget lines rather than branded ones. This certainly proves how out of touch some in the Tory party are with reality and he deserves every bit of criticism thrown at him for that. However, whilst I might be sticking my head over the parapet here, I do believe that there is more than a grain of truth in his other comments.

Whilst this is only a generalization, it does seem true that too many today do indeed lack the culinary skills of previous generations and rely too much on either ready-made meals or takeaways which are obviously dearer and are generally reluctant to buy anything other than branded goods. Batch cooking can indeed save money -but you need to be able to cook first to do this plus you need to buy more of the ingredients first and these will cost more than 30p a meal!

Luckily my better half is a good cook and learnt a lot from her parents and grandparents who were of a generation that knew the value of making the best of what you had and how to provide family meals on a budget. There is no food waste in our house and she can seemingly rustle up meals from all sorts of left overs. These were skills that I'm sure many on here either still have themselves or can remember but ones that too many do not now have. There are a plethora of TV cookery shows but not since Deliah has there been one to teach the basics.

Knowing how to cook or to budget properly will certainly not solve all the issues caused by the current cost of living rises-but they will help. We talk about poverty in this country -and there are, very shamefully, a lot of genuine cases-but my mum remembers having to put cardboard in her shoes to cover the holes, having no electricity or hot running water and my Grandad being laid off in the 30s with no work. Millions lived like that then and living standards have thankfully improved dramatically since but I sometimes think that there are now too many who expect too much and their sense of entitlement has skewed their priorities so that they struggle to put food on the table but still chose to have the latest mobile phone and Sky TV package for example . To them, these things are not luxuries but almost considered their right to have.

I stress that I certainly do not believe that this attitude applies to the majority of those in this country on the poverty line but it does exist. The MP concerned should be ashamed of his comments about the 30p meal and "no need for food banks" which demonstrate both a lack of empathy and lack of recognition of the reality of life for too many-but it does not mean that there is not any value in some of his other comments.

A very well thought out and considered post. The points made regarding the fact that this generation do not possess the skills that were, in the past passed down through the generations, is very true. It is so obvious that purchasing prepared or take away meals are going to cost far more than those made from basic ingredients. It is also true that many of these people, claiming that they can't put food on the table, possess all the latest technical gadgets. If you find yourselves in financial constraints then prioritise where the money goes.

Having said all this there are some families who do prioritise in the correct manner and are still struggling. These people do need more help and should be given it to make their lives easier. Unfortunately, the most needy are often the ones that don't receive the help.

‘the most needy are often the ones that don’t receive the help’ is from my experience the difficult area.

Admittedly over 20 years ago now, I was on a committee of fund raisers who raised a substantial amount of money to be used on ‘needy families’ within our community where there are a lot of families struggling. Not knowing how to identify what groups/families to support we enlisted the help of the local Salvation Army as well as a couple of people from the local council. They identified the ‘most deserving’ and we distributed funds from their recommendations.

What surprised and frustrated me was that the ‘most needy’ when you went out to visit them were well know to all the agencies and were supported by Govt schemes, local schemes, local charities and to be honest I was shocked at the possessions that they had given they were the most needy!

I soon became aware that there is a ‘line’ within our support systems. Below that line you qualify for all sorts. Get above the line, just above the line, and the picture is very very difficult. This often means those above the line can often be worse of that the least well off if you know what I mean.

The following 4 years we had the same issues trying to distribute and the money we had raised.

The other problem is why so many people are in need but that is another whole can of worms and is far from straight forward as so many do gooders will have you believe.

So basically the Tories want you to live on a 30p loaf while they award themselves obscene annual pay rises?
Can anyone tell me the difference between the lords and peasants from a thousand years ago.
What a greedy self serving world we live in.