Total Pageviews

Wednesday 14 August 2013

Question is, please can you stop me going vegan?

A comment that came in this morning.

 “Eddie , if you live in St Albans you are probably quite well off, how the hell can I live on a low carb diet on the dole in Bradford? I worked out a vegan diet would be cheaper ie beans lentils rice etc, There are loads of asian shops/supermarkets here selling that type of food cheap. Dr Neil Barnard (if you've heard of I don't know) wrote a book for diabetics on a vegan diet . I have to pay £6 water rates a week £10 electricity, about £3-4 mobile phone £21 buss pass ( last two essential due to job centre pressurising on job search) - take out also £9 rent which is not covered by housing benefit, forget about clothes, shoes, haircuts, t.v. licence etc I have. Question is ,please can you stop me going vegan?? (Got about twenty quid a week left out of the just over seventy J.S.A.) Before anyone shouts out scrounger I worked on building sites as a labourer for more than twenty years, more hard work done in any five years of that than a lifetime of middle management.”

Thanks for the comment. First I have no axe to grind with anyone who follows a vegan diet, or any other diet. But I can hear what you are saying. I don’t live in St.Albans, we went there to see the Magna Carta exhibit at the St.Albans Cathedral. It was drafted in the Cathedral exactly 800 years ago and signed two years later. “The 1215 charter required King John to proclaim certain liberties and accept that his will was not arbitrary, accepting that no freeman could be punished except through the law of the land.” Wiki Also I am not well off. OK back on the case.

One of the points discussed with Franziska yesterday was the fact many people in both our countries are having to rely on food coupons or food welfare of some sort or another. Very often the foods available are high carb and highly processed. The last thing many people need. All food is expensive these days, but big savings can be made by buying economy lines from supermarkets. Eggs are a basic for us and provide a great deal of good stuff for a relatively low outlay, if you keep away from organic and top quality free range. A large swede or cabbage can be bought for around a pound each and can go a long way. ASDA do some amazing deals on chicken legs and thighs, a pack for around £5 would last for at least three meals for a single person. Tinned fish such as pilchards can be picked up for low cost and are one of the best foods you can eat. Tinned tomatoes are a good basic, add some minced beef, layer it up with some sliced courgettes or aubergine and that makes a nice lowcarb lasagne. Check out our recipe blog here. Some of the foods mentioned are expensive such as nuts and clotted cream, but other ideas are fairly low cost. We post up what we eat, and even if we could afford fillet steak, foie gras and lobsters, which we can’t, we would never have put them on food blog aimed at the average person, for obvious reasons. Have you tried the Trussell Trust which runs 345 food banks nationwide ? They can be found here.

On last point you said “Before anyone shouts out scrounger” Almost all of us have had hard times and needed help, we all could end up unemployed or disabled. Falling on hard times is not a crime, and there but for the grace of god, or fate go all of us. The fact that some people, too many people, who are living in the UK and the US, ( two of the richest countries in the world) are struggling and going short of healthy food is a national disgrace.

Thank you for your comment and I wish you good luck and good health.

Regards Eddie

9 comments:

Lowcarb team member said...

The problem for many is as highlighted here they don't know how to eat. They don't know what a healthy diet is and how to achieve it on a budget. How should they? They have probably never been taught or shown what they should eat and how to prepare it. Life is fast moving for many workers and so they just eat fast food because that’s all they have time for and what everyone else is doing. When we hear that "lifestyle" is to blame for obesity and associated problems even if the association is disputed it doesn't necessarily mean that people are burger bashing while lying on the sofa in front of the TV. They may be working hard but eating all he wrong things.

It is possible that some of those driven to use Food Banks could have the same problem. Its sad but entirely avoidable. I don’t mean the Food Banks but the ignorance of he general population about food. In fact its a disgrace prevention is always better than cure. It would cost far less for the government o sponsor an educational program to tell people how to shop for and prepare cheap but nutritious food, than to pay for he consequences of the current situation. It could have interesting knock-on effects too.

Kath

Lowcarb team member said...

I agree with you Eddie on this as money is tight in my household but low carb doesn't have to be expensive at all,Aldi is a godsend with many vegetables often at 49p and many others under a quid,chicken thighs are far cheaper than chicken breasts,a large pack of mince is under 3 quid in Aldi,same with large eggs,a pack of 10 just over a quid,cheeses and butter under 2 quid and walnuts for snacking and olives at a good price and a tub of Passata for around 30p which you can make a lovely sauce with herbs for chicken.

I'm not a shill for Aldi but they have been a lifeline to me and my family during hard financial times.

Regards

Paul

Anonymous said...

Lidl are good for less expensive food. Another tip shop later in the day and you can buy food at reduced price because sell by date expires on that day. Val

Lynda said...

We spend less on food eating low carb. There are bargains to be had everywhere - and the bonus is that you don't get so hungry!! We eat much less than we used to. Sure I have to cook more at home but everything is good, real food. You don't need great quantities of meat and it can be cheaper cuts, cooked well.

Lowcarb team member said...

Lynda said " You don't need great quantities of meat and it can be cheaper cuts,"

That is true. Bacon for instance, look for streaky bacon it's cheaper and just as tasty. If you look nearer the bottom of the supermarket shelves, in my experience that is where the cheaper packs usually are, and buy the tight vacuum type packs these always seem to be slightly cheaper. It's certainly worth looking out for.

For those fortunate to have a local market near to them if you shop near the end of the day grocers and similar always reduce their foods. They find it's far better to take less money then to take food away with them.

Also as Lynda said you can use cheaper cuts of meat just cut it all up add some vegetables cook slowly for a couple of hours and hey presto real food that is not too expensive.

There are bargains out there if any one spots any please let us know. We can all help each other out.

Happy Shopping, Happy Cooking.

All the best Jan

PS Thank you all so much for your comments.

Lori Miller said...

Around here (Colorado), organ meat is cheap. Nutritious, too. Lard is $2 or $3 a pound, and my salesman gave me two pounds of tallow for free. Maybe the OP can go in with someone and buy half a side of beef or half a hog--it's cheaper that way.

Galina L. said...

With a wide-spread fear of fat nowadays, a lot of fat gets removed and discarded, so don't hesitate to ask around for that fat to be sold to you. Veggies with a home-rendered tallow or lard are very satiating.I like to make a chicken liver pate with onions sauteed in a lot of lard - costs not much. I also like to make a meat jello out of pig feet and beef heart or tong. For a while I was getting a grass-fed beef fat for free at a local health food shop, now it is for sale, but at a very low price. Organ meats are cheep. Vegetarians eat all the time, in my family we eat twice a day. Snacking is an expensive way to eat.

I shake my head in resentment when I read on paleo blog something like "paleo snacks are so expensive, we spent a fortune on deli meats, olives and cheese in order to snack in a paleo-style." Some idiots!

Lowcarb team member said...

Hi Lori and Galina

Thanks for your comments and ideas. I always think an exchange of thoughts and ideas can be very helpful.

I agree organ meat is cheaper and very nutritious. A liver and bacon casserole for instance with some sliced onions is nutritious and tasty.

All the best Jan

Galina L. said...

Jan,
I suggest just looking at cheap meat items and thinking how it could be used as an addition to familiar foods. For example,chicken hearts and gizzards are very inexpensive. Why not to add it to soups, meat stews, even ground beef. I encourage everyone to get a simple manual meat-grinder. I often cut away a chunk of pork roast, chicken breast from a chicken (I rather put such dry meat into meat patties)and keep it frozen untill it is a time to make some meat patties, and then I grind it together with added fat, onion and garlic.