Take one of these 5 times a day

[vetran]

My local food banks ask for biscuits, custard, pasta sauces and pot noodles of the top of my head.

I know the reason they ask for them as not everyone has cooking facilities if they are staying in hotels, hostels and B&Bs.

Also a lot of the places that give out free cooked food aren't places you would want to take children. (I know there are some that are fine.)

Trussell trust do two types of food parcels

1. Conventional cook at home - with Pasta & flour.
2. Street / B&B living - with Pot noodles and other instant meals many restaurants and offices will offer the homeless hot water if asked politely. This is for keeping people alive and working with them to get off the street.

Yep soup kitchens are scary, the temples and churches are quite safe I am told.

[SueEllen]

Yeah when you put veg in a tin it magically becomes junk. You know, all those families who relied on canning and preserving their food to get through the winter months were living on unhealthy diets.
Tosh. You don't get fat eating tinned spag bol or whatever, you get fat eating crisps and biscuits and fizzy drinks, and not moving off the sofa all day.

My local food banks ask for biscuits, custard, pasta sauces and pot noodles of the top of my head.

I know the reason they ask for them as not everyone has cooking facilities if they are staying in hotels, hostels and B&Bs.

Also a lot of the places that give out free cooked food aren't places you would want to take children. (I know there are some that are fine.)

[vetran]

Yeah when you put veg in a tin it magically becomes junk. You know, all those families who relied on canning and preserving their food to get through the winter months were living on unhealthy diets.
Tosh. You don't get fat eating tinned spag bol or whatever, you get fat eating crisps and biscuits and fizzy drinks, and not moving off the sofa all day.

Good point some tinning preserves vegetable goodness better than old fresh.

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/2...ore-nutritious

As D00hg says its a perfectly valid option.

[d000hg]

If you seen what they give out at food banks you can understand why poorer people are fat in the UK.

In France they give poor people veg and fruit in their food boxes. Here they only give people tinned and processed stuff as it can be stored.

If you don't believe me have a look at the stuff your local food bank collects.

Most of the people using them now are the working poor.

Yeah when you put veg in a tin it magically becomes junk. You know, all those families who relied on canning and preserving their food to get through the winter months were living on unhealthy diets.
Tosh. You don't get fat eating tinned spag bol or whatever, you get fat eating crisps and biscuits and fizzy drinks, and not moving off the sofa all day.

[vetran]

If you seen what they give out at food banks you can understand why poorer people are fat in the UK.

In France they give poor people veg and fruit in their food boxes. Here they only give people tinned and processed stuff as it can be stored.

If you don't believe me have a look at the stuff your local food bank collects.

Most of the people using them now are the working poor.

Unfortunately with the volume of clients storing fresh food is a challenge so most food banks offer 3 days emergency food to avoid starvation and assistance to solve the issue causing the poverty.

https://www.trusselltrust.org/get-he...d/food-parcel/

If you want fresh food there are soup kitchens (my old boss used to run one in Wealdstone) and most Sikh temples will feed all comers most days, it will be vegetarian though. Some other denomination churches/Temples/Mosques do similar.

The local group of churches do a messy church once a month for kids that feeds attendees and does basic craft with them. We tend to attend as our kids and their friends love the occasion we just put some folding money in the collection. They also do regular food drives and many of the ladies & clergy feed their poorer or tragedy struck neighbours.

[SueEllen]

If you seen what they give out at food banks you can understand why poorer people are fat in the UK.

In France they give poor people veg and fruit in their food boxes. Here they only give people tinned and processed stuff as it can be stored.

If you don't believe me have a look at the stuff your local food bank collects.

Most of the people using them now are the working poor.

[Fraidycat]

My parents were never exposed to junk food as children or teenagers. So they never got hooked on it as adults. Wasn't part of the culture in the 40s and 50s, plus everyone was more skint back then.

By the time the 80s came around it was more common and we risked getting hooked as teenagers.

I still eat some of the same crap that i ate as a teenager. Although i can no longer stomach some of the nastier greasy stuff i used to eat back then (eg KFC). But I still consume too much sugar.

[d000hg]

Guildford 40 years ago had a Burger King, McDonalds, Bernie Inn and a number of cafes.

100 yeas ago fast food wasn't invented the Baker & Sandwich shop was it.

Exactly. And even 40 years ago I assume the pattern was very much biased towards eat-in. Of course we can make the counterpoint that back then, a cooked breakfast was considered quite a normal way to start the day and "pudding" was expected with dinner and often with lunch. We considered bacon sandwiches a normal weekday breakfast and every even meal had dessert, often a cooked dessert. My family didn't do physical jobs but still didn't get overweight, but you basically had your 3 meals a day and that was it. No bags of crisps or chocolate bars or cans of coke every hour through the day

[vetran]

We could argue the reliance on grab-and-go is itself a problem. You don't have to go very far back in time to find a high street empty of fast food outlets, except perhaps a sandwich shop/butcher.

Guildford 40 years ago had a Burger King, McDonalds, Bernie Inn and a number of cafes.

Pizza / pasta places were around in the 60s.

[vetran]

Historically I suggested as those on benefits normally have the worst diets I suggested giving them benefit debit cards that cannot be used to buy fags, booze or luxury items (merchant to control) , use of this could allow supermarkets to offer clubcard prices for healthy options when paying with the debit card. Carrots 50p to normal customer 39p to benefit claimant card holders.

Owlhoot I think suggested benefit claimants would soon be selling cabbages etc in the pub to get cash.

39 calories is not enough.

[d000hg]

I think convenience trumps even price for most people. I normally crave something on the healthier side when I am hungry, but if its not available I'll eat whatever is. Healthy options to grab and go whilst out and about are rare in a lot of places.

We could argue the reliance on grab-and-go is itself a problem. You don't have to go very far back in time to find a high street empty of fast food outlets, except perhaps a sandwich shop/butcher.

[d000hg]

Also hopefully it will stop food deserts in poorer places.

As a student I remember living in food desserts. Not nice to trek miles to get some fruit and veg.

I'm not sure what a food desert is but assuming it's a trendy term for "not living near Tesco" how would this proposal help? I don't think the pharmacy is actually going to be handing out carrots.

[mattster]

As a student I remember living in food desserts. Not nice to trek miles to get some fruit and veg.

I think convenience trumps even price for most people. I normally crave something on the healthier side when I am hungry, but if its not available I'll eat whatever is. Healthy options to grab and go whilst out and about are rare in a lot of places.

[SueEllen]

That's an average and includes children who need fewer calories.

Also hopefully it will stop food deserts in poorer places.

As a student I remember living in food desserts. Not nice to trek miles to get some fruit and veg.

[d000hg]

Sugar and salt should be taxed and vegetables prescribed by the NHS, an independent review of the food we eat has suggested.

So will my local pharmacy now have a greengrocer section? Actually...

proposals - if implemented in full - could save 38 calories per person per day