One thing that’s surprised me doing this challenge is how many different things I’ve managed to find to eat for under £1 a week: last week I bought a bag of pasta (18p) and pasta sauce (well admittedly mostly water, but only 27p); this past week I’ve been on instant mash (also 18p). But what costs is trying to add any semblance of fruit or veg to my lunch (for reference, school dinners now contain at least two portions of a child’s 5 a day).
Virtually all fresh fruit and veg sold in Sainsbury’s costs more than £1, so is instantly unaffordable. And it’s hard to shop in the market (not to mention that Chapel Market doesn’t run on a Monday, when I buy my week’s lunch), because you don’t know how much it’s going to cost until you come to pay for it, and it’s embarrassing if it turns out to be too expensive and you have to ask the stallholder to put it back. So that leaves tinned and frozen. Last week I splashed out on a tiny tin of peas, which at 29p cost more than any other component of my lunch, and had to be divided into fifths to last the week. They didn’t even taste good – I don’t know why I bothered.
This week I got lucky – because I managed to find some dented tins of tomatoes that we’re reduced to 19p each, rather than 31p, which meant I could afford two, rather than trying to stretch a single tin out all week. But otherwise it’s just stupid – a tin of veg costs as much of a packet of biscuits, but doesn’t taste as good and definitely doesn’t fill you up.
Stats consistently show that the poorest people in our society eat the worst diet, with the lowest consumption of fruit and veg, and are more likely to suffer from diet-related ill-health. It’s hardly surprising. But why do we allow it?
