[Imogen]

I've just finished reading a book titled Bad Food Britain, I can't help but feel a little depressed about our eating habits. Here are some of the statistics within the book:

1 in 4 British households no longer has a table that everyone can eat around

1 out of every 3 Britons say they do not eat vegetables because they require too much effort to prepare

2003 The year by which Britain ate more ready meals than the rest of Europe put together

Britain eats more than half of all crisps and savoury snacks eaten in Europe

When I was reading this book, during my grocery buying, I took to looking in the trolleys of other shoppers, and I have to admit, most of it was processed junk. Now I don't want to sound all self-righteous, there are people in my home who like eating this junk. But for my son and I, I like to focus on organic brands and prepare actual dinners, mostly from scratch. I really do think that our eating habits are dismal, despite all of the cookery shows and TV celebrity cooks now, we like to sit and watch them making these incredible dishes, but don't actually make much of an effort to make them ourselves.

Is anyone else trying to make a real effort to not buy 'junk' food in anyway and buy instead, organic, seasonal and regionally produced foods?

 

[arwenevenstar]

I make a huge effort, in fact, I think probably 90% of my grocery cupboard is organic. I hate anything coloured, processed with a vengence and if I HAVE to occasionally buy fish fingers - I make sure they are 100% fish and made without colourings or flavorings.

I have to say (I am a Brit in the US) I am ashamed of how crap with are in the UK. I was told by friends before moving to the US how I would find it hard to find "good" food and follow my "hippy" dieting fads - yeah whatever! BUT the organic and natural ranges even in my LOCAL supermarket, not to even touch on Wild Oats or Whole Foods, are EXCELLENT.

I do feel that Britain has become a nation of comfort eating, rushed on the job meals and an attitude with food of eating for hunger rather than food appreciation - despite Jamie!

I admit to not eating always WITH my kids as I like to eat and chat with my dh when he comes in, but they always sit around the table and I will at least have a cuppa with them.

I hope it changes before I come home, if not, anyone know of a great rambling farm for sale so that I can become self sufficient??

 

[flapjack]

You don't need a great rambling farm. You can get an allotment from your local council for around 15 quid

It's unlikely to be totally organic because you don't know what your neighbours are growing, but there's promise- and my nextdoor neighbours on my allotment both grow organically too.
Yep, I think the US are way ahead of us on "weird" eating stuff- especially if you're following some kind of restricted/hippie/weirdo/fad diet, like, say, vegetarianism or NT. At the same time, we have different definitions and stricter controls on things like organic, far tighter animal welfare, and better labelling than the US- and many of the dyes they use (like "red food dye") are actually illegal over here. So put things in perspective: their good may be more accessible, but their bad is as bad, if not worse.
We eat local, seasonal, organic and vegetarian in that order (the veggie thing is a new development, I made the mistake of watching the f-word recently. The one with Jonathan Ross and the eel.) Have done for years, although I also have a bad diet coke habit. I know what you mean about trolley-watching though: because the only stuff I buy from supermarkets is the totally adulterated crap (like the diet Coke) I get a kick out of how bad my trolley looks, compared to how healthily we actually eat

Is that really weird?

 

[maplegirly]

Hi,

I just wanted to mention my experiences of U.K. food.

I am a Canadian living here for 15 years, and I am so impressed at the huge amount of organic produce in this country, and how affordable. Our home is probably 95% organic, even the toothpastes and massage oils!

 

[Imogen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by maplegirly Hi, I just wanted to mention my experiences of U.K. food. I am a Canadian living here for 15 years, and I am so impressed at the huge amount of organic produce in this country, and how affordable. Our home is probably 95% organic, even the toothpastes and massage oils!

Yes, the produce is definitely out there to buy. Maybe part of the problem is how commercialized our culture has become. We're bombarded with negative advertizing concerning food. I've also read another book recently called French Women Don't Get Fat which I thought was great. It caused me to question my own psychological approach to food and I've made a real effort throughout the past week to:

1. Stop eating as soon as I feel full
2. Enjoy the actual process of preparing and eating the food, enjoy the ritual involved basically
3. Avoid 'junk'
4. To avoid eating when bored

I might mention that I've actually been ill with a stomach bug this past week, so doing all of these things has been easy

So I suppose next week will be the real challenge.

But anyway, here's to healthy eating

 

[arwenevenstar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by maplegirly Hi, I just wanted to mention my experiences of U.K. food. I am a Canadian living here for 15 years, and I am so impressed at the huge amount of organic produce in this country, and how affordable. Our home is probably 95% organic, even the toothpastes and massage oils!

I do agree with you that is is out there, but you have to find it. You probably have to mail order a lot of cosmetic type stuff. There are few big supermarkets dedicated to organic produce outside London. Tesco is (or certainly was!) shameful in it's organic range, it is badly presented and always looks so weedy compared to the pumped up stuff AND it's more expensive. I have been away nearly 3 years now, so things may have changed a lot and I know that Waitrose and Sainsbury's are better. That said, you do have to search for many organic things, whereas I feel here i can find just about anything organic from boullion to yoghurt. We were certainly delighted with what we found here.

Maybe it also varies from State to state and county to county dependent on the market?? What scared me here more than anything is that the GM food is not labelled as such.

 

[flapjack]

Yeah, but who wants to put their money into Tesco's pockets anyhow???? Or Sainsburys, or any of the other big producers. I'd rather buy from a small family-run firm and know that my money is going to someone that I believe in.

In some ways, I'd argue that this (the assumption that what is sold to the customer was, in fact, what the customer wanted all along) is the root of bad food britain: it started with processed peas, and has got worse ever since.

 

[arwenevenstar]

Helen, I do agree, but box services when I lived there were not common place. I lived only 20 miles out of London, yet in the middle of fertile farming land, yet there was no box scheme in our area and few small organic shops. We were lucky to have one small shop that sold organic produce, but budget wise was a nightmare as it was astronomically priced.

I would love to not line the pockets of the big producers, but trying to live off a budget (3 years ago!!) made life really difficult to live organically with a larger family. In the States we are impressed at how we can eat organically and still meet budgets. You are also right that the supermarkets are providing what the consumer wants - pumped up pretty vegetables probably - BUT if they can provide affordable decent organic food here, why is it so hard in the UK?

 

[Roxswood]

The organic box schemes in the UK now are fab. I barely have to go to the supermarket at all anymore as I can get all my fruit and veg and organic meat from the box supplier, and all my milk, eggs and fruit juice from the milkman and then its only the basics, bread and tinned or dried food that I need to actually go to the shop for.