Food education is necessary

On TV today a member of the public stated what I have heard many times before:

“I have to buy junk food because I can’t afford anything else”.

I felt compelled to test this statement – that junk food is cheaper, so I checked prices on the Sainsbury’s web site today (16th June 2018):

Sainsbury Shepherd’s Pie (41% saturated fat, 34% Reference Intake salt, (72g lamb, 328g potato, carrots, peas etc.) £1.50 (400gms) 1 Serving

Healthy Option – to cook eight portions and freeze for later.

Beef mince (cheaper/less fat than lamb) £3.50 (500gm pack) Serves 8 @ 62.5g/serving, (2.1% saturated fat, 4% Reference Intake salt), Potatoes £1.92 (2.4kg @ 80p/kg) – serves 8

Carrots – 0.48 (0.8kg @ 60p/kg) – serves eight

Colmans Shepherds Pie Mix (seasoning) – £1.20 (8 servings) or take the ‘own seasoning’ option

Total (8 servings): £7.10

Total per serving/meal: £0.88 (approx. 400g), 1 serving.

(Why not put more vegetables in and increase the five per day/roughage intake?)

Conclusion: buying a shepherd’s pie from Sainsbury may seem cheap and easy (pop in microwave or oven).

However, making a shepherd’s/cottage pie costs nearly half the price.

It also contains less saturated fat and little/no extra salt or preservatives.

A family of four could therefore cook two healthy, low fat, low salt shepherd’s pie/cottage pie meals for less than £8, saving perhaps £4 in the process.

Solution: Education

The government should make food education a priority in schools.

This could be done through domestic science/cookery lessons.

However, the above exercise could easily be delivered through biology or maths lessons.