Feed yourself on £1 a day

[Primrose]

Just wonder how many of us could feed ourselves healthily for an extended period on £1 a day per person. When I see the bulging food trolleys in supermarkets at this time of year, I wonder how much a challenge it would be if we were all put to the test? Certainly those who grow their own would find it much easier. There must be a lot of people for whom this is a daily reality.

[oldherbaceous]

Dear Primrose, i know i would find it vey hard to do, not the healthily bit but more of the enjoyable bit. I do like meat, and as this is so exspensive i think it would be a job to keep under budget, unless poaching was allowed.
I think it's the ones that can least afford it that seem to buy these awfull ready meals and junk food.
It just seems to be a way of the times, both parents working, so quick oven ready meals most of the time, so the children are not learning to cook, and when the children leave home they don't know how to cook so just buy junk food, and so the circle carries on.
I know thats not very well put, but i hope you can understand what i'm trying to say.

[jopsy]

interestingly i have children who come to school without having had b'fast
or those who eat mc d's for tea
or those who actually do grow a lot of their own stuff
you can tell a difference in their behaviour
not sure i could feed myself on £1 per day as i too like meat

[Tigger]

Hmmnnnn - the average price (and it differs from county to county) is 70p per day for school meals and something in the region of 80p per day for hospital inpatients and prison inmates.

[peter]

interestingly i have children who come to school without having had b'fast
or those who eat mc d's for tea
or those who actually do grow a lot of their own stuff
you can tell a difference in their behaviour

Jopsy, I bet you can see a difference in their attainment and physical development also. My nephew is also a teacher and his comments echo and amplify yours.

For comparison.
One of my son's primary school classmates went to school sucking his "breakfast" every day one of those little spherical lollipops.

My son had a reasonable breakfast, usually fruit juice and some toasted bread type product or cereal with milk.

At 13, his former clasmate, is dead-white spindle legged and smaller than my ten year old daughter, he looks like a year five kid, he is in what when I was at school was called remedial class.

My lad now stands to my shoulders(I'm 6'1"), weighs about 10 stone, plays rugby for our local club as a winger (the fast ones) and is in the talented and gifted stream.

Breakfast is a symptom of parental attitude. I am convinced that lad could be better if he had been given decent food and made to eat it, rather than being allowed to choose what he wanted. His future may have been determined by his feeding.

[Tigger]

And so say all of us......

Now - what was it you wanted to discuss about lunch......?

[peter]

What diameter are the plates and can I serve myself?

[Mr Potato Head]

Tricky, that you consider that for most people in the UK, growing their own food isn't a viable option, due to time and space constraints, and you'd be a little hard-pressed to buy individual amounts of food at economical prices.

However, if that budget was stretched over a week, with a group of people willing to co-operate, it might be do-able... but I wouldn't be confident that it'd be a very healthy diet.

[Tigger]

From my observations whilst driving to my place of work, (Walsall) there are lots of children there who have either crisps or sausage rolls for breakfast, 'cos I see them walking along eating them on their way to school. What's even sadder is that many of the younger ones are accompanied by grown ups, obviously endorsing their choice of food.

Now I know why I've become a grumpy old woman!

[Chantal]

I followed a family of two adults (teenagers) and one small child in a buggy all of whom had a large bucket of fried chicken and chips. It must have cost them about £10 and they could have bought so much good food with the money. The child was only about two years old and not only stokng up on junk food but also beng shown how to throw his rubbish on the floor when he'd finished. What hope is there?

I'd struggle to feed myself on £1 a day as I too like meat far too much. I was vegetarian and teetotal for a couple of years in the early 80s and I have to admit I've never felt better in my life. I was slim, fit and had loads of cash too. Perhaps I should give it another go.

[richard p]

it would probably be acheivable on a diet of seasonal vegetable soup, especially if the veg was home grown . there are things growing wild that can be used ,i keep threatening the kids with stinging nettle soup!! does the budget include fuel to cook with?

[Primrose]

If anybody were brave enough to undertake this exercise I think we should allow the fuel as an extra but it would still be a tight budget and you'd have to decide whether existing storecupboard & freezer items were permitted. Think you'd have to do it over a month, rather than on a daily basis so that you could purchase the basics like cooking oil and seasonings and average their cost out over that period; otherwise your daily budget would be completely blown just purchasing cooking oil, for example. Am not promising that this will be one my January Penance New Year's Resolutions, but it would certainly be an interesting challenge.

[jopsy]

i think storecupboard staples woud be ok
i had a child arrive eating crisps for b'fast today i did point out it wasnt the best thing they could start the day with-sure the parents hate me!
lily never eats tat!
i also have one who drinks cherryade for b'fast!
you wonder why the are hyper...
our school meals are shipped in they are revolting
if it was just me n dh id consider rising to the £1 challenge!

[oldherbaceous]

My dear Jopsy, you really should complain about the school dinners if they really are that bad, theres absolutely no excuse for bad school dinners.
Does Rolly know you are considering a virtual hunger strike for him.

[richard p]

in this area the schools seem to be aware that there is a problem with the diet of their pupils, but they seem to have little idea of how to effectivly address the situation. it appears to me to be pointless harranging primary school kids on what they are eating without trying to contact the parents . it is the parents that need guidance on what to give this age of children