$300 a week to feed a family of five

is apparently "difficult" but not impossible. There are people who do it.

I have been wondering about this and how easy I would find it. Over the past week there have been a number of news items about this, about hospital food and about prison food.  

I once saw the "dining room" of the state's prison. It was many years ago and I have no idea what it is like now but, back then, it was nothing more than row upon row of individual school like desks all facing in the same direction. We were told the inmates didn't like to eat with each other.  The only other thing I remember was the fact that each "table" had a currant bun on it - made that morning in the prison bakery.  

I don't know what they get to eat now apart from the fact that it is high in carbohydrates because carbohydrates are cheaper than protein.

I know more about hospital food. I know it varies greatly. I have seen it, more than once. The food the Senior Cat was given on various stays varied so much it is hard to believe that they were all hospitals. In one the food was almost inedible, certainly not what should have been given to people who were unwell. There was also the problem of trying to fight your way into the packaging if you could actually reach your food in the first place. No, don't ask. The rooms are all individual so there is nobody to help.

Another hospital had a kitchen on site and the Senior Cat was given half size but high energy serves. He said, "Not too bad actually - not like yours but definitely edible." Staff in the same place made sure he could reach his food. When he had difficulty uncapping the orange juice (which was actually juice) on the first morning the man in the bed opposite came over and helped. At the request of the over worked staff he continued to help.

The Senior Cat and I spent a day in the emergency department of another hospital. He couldn't have breakfast "just in case" but when the first investigation was over and he could have something they gave him tea and a packet of biscuits and cheese. I opened those for him. Later in the day they gave him sandwiches which were actually fresh and attractive looking. They also quietly passed a spare packet to me. There were four different fillings - one triangle each. The bread was fresh and the fillings identifiable.  It wasn't food we would have eaten every day of the week (the bread was white) but it was still good food, especially in a setting like that.

Yes, it can be done - even on a budget. So, $300 to feed a family of five for a week? A woman was saying how "difficult" this was. Yes, it probably is. I wouldn't want to try and feed three teenagers who play a lot of sport on that sort of money but I think I could do it. What is more I think I could do it with more than a lot of carbohydrates. So why is it such a problem?

I know part of it is a "time" issue. If both parents go to work then "cooking from scratch" isn't always easy unless you do batch cooking on your days away from work. That however may only be part of the problem. Too many people know very little about how to shop cheaply and how to cook the cheaper options. There are the expectations of what will be eaten too. 

I have said elsewhere that, as children, we ate a lot of mutton. We ate it along with potatoes and pumpkin and whatever vegetables the Senior Cat grew or, in one place, Mum managed to buy. As children we didn't know any different. It was food. It appeared after we had set the table. We did the washing up afterwards.  We saw Mum preparing food. If Grandma was around we "helped" and then really did participate. 

I suspect much less of that goes on now. I know T... and H... across the street can make themselves snacks like "toast and Vegemite" and "beans on toast" using the microwave. They know more about making pizza than their father does. I was told about that recently! (Their mother worked in a "proper pizza place" while at university.) S... engages them in the process but it is time consuming and it is time many parents seem not to have.

But I think I could send three children to school after a breakfast of cereal and toast. They could take a "food police" approved lunch. They could have an after-school snack and an evening meal which included adequate protein, vegetables and fruit as well as the inevitable carbohydrate. They would get their daily ration of milk.

What lost me when the woman was talking about the difficulties was something else. She was complaining she had to buy "snack" food from the cheap variety stores. There it is likely to come from somewhere in Asia even while it is labelled with familiar labels. 

That sort of food is empty carbohydrates, high in sugar or fat or both. The salt content is far too high even if you are not particularly health conscious. It really isn't that cheap either. If you want that sort of thing it is better to put money aside and wait for the "specials" in the supermarket. 

It seems that many children expect that sort of thing however and parents will buy it. Mum didn't buy it because it didn't exist packaged in those little convenient "individual" packets. I doubt she would have done so anyway.

We still had our treats. Come school holiday time Mum would sometimes make "peanut brittle" or "almond brittle" - clear toffee with a great many nuts in it. It wasn't in the least bit good for our teeth but it tasted delicious.