or so I have been told more than once.
The issue has come up in the state newspaper very recently and is being debated.
We also have a small glut of peaches right now. We have more than the Senior Cat and I can possibly eat so we are sharing them with other people.
"Who's going to use them?" was the question the Senior Cat asked as I brought in yet more.
And that's the question. It shouldn't be a question but it is a question. There are people I know I could give them to but they simply wouldn't be used. One person I know doesn't eat fruit at all apart from the occasional apple. It seems that even peeling a banana is too much work for him.
It seems that this is the problem. Preparing food has become too much work for some people. They simply don't want to do it. They see it as faster and easier to buy food which has already been prepared or at least partially prepared.
I know that what I can buy in the supermarket has changed over the years. It is one reason why I favour one local supermarket over another. The one I favour has less space devoted to frozen "meals" and other such items.
I don't doubt that there is some good food among those boxes and packets but it isn't what I want to use every day of the week - or even once a week. And yes, of course I will buy items from the frozen food section. If you want to eat peas at any time then it is almost essential - and a lot cheaper - to buy them frozen. I don't make ice cream or yoghurt because I don't have the equipment to do it. Instead I choose the brands I buy with some care.
Someone asked me about our food expenses recently. I told her the approximate amount I spend on food for the two of us. She shook her head and said, "You can't be eating that well." I told her what the menu had been for the week and she thought that was impossible. It wasn't. I had prepared almost all of it from "scratch".
As for who is going to use the peaches? I took some to three different people yesterday. One was not home but I left them by the door. I know she will find them and use them. The others were very pleased to get them.
Last evening I was picking up yet more peaches which had fallen when I saw one of the neighbours. There are two small boys in that house. Their mother is a paediatrician and knows the value of good food. I offered some more to them and had an enthusiastic response. I know she will find time to remove the rather furry skins and the boys will be happy to eat the rest.
Good food doesn't have to be expensive but you need to invest time and thought in the preparation of it.
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4 comments:
The furry skins make a peach a peach!
My father used to say they were covered in "goopra feathers". A little searching on the internet and I find the expression came from a USA blackface act in the 1920s! ("Not much has been heard of goofer feathers since the blackface team of Moran & Mack made them colloquially famous in the '20s." Time/Wiki) How would my father in Wellington, NZ, have heard of it (and then mispronounced it)? One of his uncles was a travelling entertainer, possibly with Fullers', so it might have been passed on by word of mouth as entertainers met and borrowed a good line. Or a radio programme? The dates are about right for my father to pick up an interesting expression. In fact, is there a "proper" word for peach fuzz?
Further research finds "Goofer dust is a traditional hexing material and practice of the African American tradition of hoodoo from the South Eastern region of the United States of America." (Wiki)
I think I should stop researching...
LMcC
Very interesting. The peaches on this tree are particularly furry and not pleasant so they do need to be removed. (It's a seedling tree that came up by itself. We didn't actually plant it, have no idea what sort of peach it is - and the experts can't tell either - but nice to have.)
On a more serious note, I was once talking with a social worker who mentioned her doctor had suggested she feed her small daughter more fruit and vegetables. She remarked that they were SO expensive - as she nibbled on potato crisps (much more expensive per kilo than most vegetables and many fruits and with much less nutrition).
LMcC
Good, nutritious fresh food servings are more expensive than some processed options in dollar terms; also, you know something is wrong when soft drinks and cordials are cheaper than fresh milk and fruit juices. Personally, our mainstay is plain old water. Children learn from example. I remember hearing one mum justify their cordial purchase because "their children don't like plain water". I also discovered that the root of this story was that the mother didn't like plain water and so decided that it was not suitable for her chidlren. How could they tolerate water when she couldnt'???
When comparing nutrition per dollar though, nothing beats fresh, basic foods. I agree that many people do not have the time and energy for food preparation. With both parents forced to work outside of the home, they are exhausted at the end of the day with little energy for menu planning etc. Other parents I have met who are time poor but work rich (with the finances to support their choices) choose the unhealthy options for their convenience with little thought of the nutritional value or unhealthy additives.
Do you drink many smoothie drinks? Whenever we have a glut of fruit, (mangoes and peaches are perfect examples) it is easy to peel and chop many fruits and freeze the pieces. They become perfect, icy cold additions to blended drinks complete with nutrition and fibre.
Some foods like beans and peas are often more nutritious in their snap frozen form if the fresh alternative has taken time and distance to travel to the shop shelf and deteriorated in quality as a result.
I was surprised to see an advertisement on tv for a delivered meal diet plan. The voiceover was saying "it's so easy" and showing a fresh salad. For goodness sake! There's nothing hard about a fresh salad! It doesn't even need cooking. I have to laugh and cry at the same time, especially when we live in a country where good produce is plentiful.
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