Wednesday 5 February 2014

What’s In A Name?

cauli rice-001Following last week’s post about Waitrose Free Range Noodles, Liz commented that she was always amused by the Waitrose Essentials Chocolate Chip Brioche Rolls – “In what sense are they ‘essential’?” she asked.

choc chip brioche

My daughter has a good point there- the Oxford dictionary defines essential as being “absolutely necessary; extremely important”

I look round Waitrose once in a blue moon [specifically the blue moon when the motorbike service is due- Bob’s mechanic is very near the Oadby W. store] so I am not au fait with their essentials range. Liz’s comment led me to check it out further.

artichoke heartscreme fraiche

I am quite sure that artichoke hearts are not absolutely necessary. Mind you, that is the only thing I am sure about when it comes to artichoke hearts – having reached my fifties without ever eating them! Crème Fraîche I do buy occasionally. But I am fascinated by the strap line produced with care by farmers who share our values. Have you noticed how values are becoming as important as value in the supermarket wars? Waitrose proclaims ‘value with integrity’  for its essentials range.

Sainsburys declare ‘our values make us different’ [I first blogged about this 6 years ago] and they have just relaunched their basics range. The first ad of the campaign highlights how Sainsbury’s basics eggs are sourced from non-caged hens. Later adverts will showcase Sainsbury’s British ham, MSC accredited fish fingers and Fairtrade tea, all from the basics range and all with strong ethical credentials. [Froogs has posted some good recipes recently using this range]

js salmonThe Oxford dictionary defines basic as “offering or constituting the minimum required without elaboration or luxury” or “common to or required by everyone” – I presume they are using the first definition. Smoked salmon is hardly required by everyone!

I’m still pondering on Arabella Weir’s comments on the food Programme on Monday night. She said that if an apple is 30p and a pack of value biscuits is 30p, then people with lower incomes are likely to buy the biscuits, as they will be more filling [and easier to share around the family] despite the fact they are less healthy than the apple. And as a working Mum, she said the £3 ‘family lasagne’ in the supermarket may be full of rubbish ingredients- but at the end of a long day, when she is tired, that is a quick and easy way to get a meal on the table – she really cannot face the effort of ‘cooking from scratch’. I think she has a valid point – for many people it is harder for them to eat a healthy diet on a restricted income. This is not a good state of affairs – the nation was healthier under wartime rationing than it is today!

10 comments:

  1. She had a lot of very valid points didn't she, and I think this is why home economics HAS to be taught in schools again. It's a real necessity.

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  2. Interesting post - I agree about what is essential and what is not but I guess we have to accept a little poetic licence here! I sometimes think it might be interesting to go back in time and attempt to eat the diet of wartime but of course tastes have changed so much and we also do far less exercise these days so all that roly poly pudding and filling recipes wouldn't be as healthy for us perhaps. If you want a good read about someone who did try going back to what she considered a healthier diet - that of the late 1700s then I can recommend Fiona J Houston's The Garden Cottage diaries.

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  3. Couldn't agree more, but I think there's a wider issue here. I believe that we are becoming "lazier" as a society - it's not a case of not having the time to cook a proper meal using cheap ingredients, it's a case of taking the quick option. Of course, supermarkets have helped create this - if people are buying their ready meals, then that's more profit for them. Remember all the advertising of these ready meals, showing families round the table all tucking into these meals - making them seem like a "good" option?

    Do we still do Home Economics at school? Of course not - you can't pout things like that on a league table.

    It all starts with education. People need educating about eg cheaper cuts of meat, that can be put in the slow cooker befor you go to work, and be ready when you get home - just as convenient as Red Rum Lasagne!!

    TV programmes like the one on Monday night will help, but they don't reach the audience that needs to hear the message.

    Phew - quite a rant for first thing in the morning!!!

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  4. I watched the food and Drink programme. I am glad that they are trying to address the issue of using cheap food and using it in interesting ways. I thought AW was a bit patronising.

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  5. That programme is still buzzing in my head - eg the oohs and aahs of such frugality in producing a pudding for under £2 per head. Most people I know spend less than £2 per head for the whole meal and for some people I know feeding the family for a total of £2 is the norm.
    Sorry, rant over; but it did make me cross.
    L.x.

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    1. I agree Lynn. I thought £2 a portion was rather extravagant! They need to get Jack Monroe on the programme. If you don't know her, she has a blog calle "a girl called Jack". You can googleit

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    2. Exactly - I love Jack's blog.
      L.x.

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  6. Our food bank asks for ready made meals.Shouldn't we be encouraging cooking from scratch using healthier ingredients?
    Jane x

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    1. Really? They ask for ready meals?! Then they're not being really economical since I bet you can buy lots more tins for the same money as a ready meal!x
      You make lots of interesting points Ang!x

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    2. I think cooking from scratch is better, but I did hear one of the food bank charities in the news saying increasingly they're having to provide 'kettle boxes' with food that can just be reheated as many people can't afford the electricity bills to cook from scratch, or worse, have been housed by the council in B&Bs where they don't even *have* kitchens.

      It's just a shocking state of affairs!

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