Wasted food produce in the UK

[Esther Knapicius]

I was devastated by the types of vegetables my granddaughter didn't know when she helped with my garden this summer.

many times at the check out the clerk asked me the name of the vegetables.

 

[Beth_B]

many times at the check out the clerk asked me the name of the vegetables.

Me too! And often what I regard as fairly mundane items - asparagus, bulb onions, eggplants, artichokes, ginger root, even once, zucchini I kid you not, I got asked once what zucchini tasted like.

I know many poor (and uneducated) people through personal experience and volunteering and the common thread is: generational welfare. (Bridge aka food benefits are normally used to buy such things as pop, meat bundles, chips and processed foods because the recipients do not know how to cook with raw materials such as rice and dried beans and fresh vegetables.) A reliance on cheap fast food joints. No exposure to cultures that utilize food economically. Reliance on meals on wheels, delivered commodities, school meals and again super-cheap fast food. It really is possible to get lots and lots of calories for free or little money in the US for your entire family, which is why so many poor people here are obese.

However, to eat well and cheap is also very, very easy, but requires that people put in a little extra effort and take some responsibility for their choices. As long as the Federal government hands out hundreds of dollars per month that allows people to buy cases of Mountain Dew, water (really?), jumbo-sized bags of Doritos, ham snack packs and other such nonsense nothing will change.

 

[marlingardener]

Beth, two friends and I did several "cooking fresh" demonstrations locally. Most of the ladies who attended were using food stamps or some other subsidy, and existing on a diet of pasta, canned soups, and quick meals like macaroni and cheese. We encouraged them to get fresh produce and showed them what could be done with it.
There was some initial resistance (my kids won't eat that, what is broccoli?, all I can afford is hamburger) but when they found that a meal for four could be made for less money than the prepared foods, and that it actually tasted better as well as being better for their children, many of the ladies hopped on the bandwagon and started cooking with fresh vegetables.
The failure of the community garden, and possibly the orchard, is perhaps more a matter of education than lethargy.
We do one demo a year now, and have fewer people attending, but more people are hitting the local farmers' market! We may be making progress!

 

[Chuck]

Beth, two friends and I did several "cooking fresh" demonstrations locally. Most of the ladies who attended were using food stamps or some other subsidy, and existing on a diet of pasta, canned soups, and quick meals like macaroni and cheese. We encouraged them to get fresh produce and showed them what could be done with it.
There was some initial resistance (my kids won't eat that, what is broccoli?, all I can afford is hamburger) but when they found that a meal for four could be made for less money than the prepared foods, and that it actually tasted better as well as being better for their children, many of the ladies hopped on the bandwagon and started cooking with fresh vegetables.
The failure of the community garden, and possibly the orchard, is perhaps more a matter of education than lethargy.
We do one demo a year now, and have fewer people attending, but more people are hitting the local farmers' market! We may be making progress!

You may think you are making a little progress now but just wait until the government sticks its nose into it. I have told this story before on this forum but I was almost arrested for trying to give away excess vegetables from my garden at a church where they also had a government give away program. The government was giving away fake Valveeta cheese, powdered milk and butter. It seems as though you must have some kind of permit to give away organically grown vegetables and/or vegetables that haven't been inspected by a government inspector. I kid you not. I then moved my pickup and trailor off of the church property into the street, parallel parked lawfully, put a sign up that said FREE VEGETABLES and was then quickly given a ticket for illegal parking and obstructing traffic. This in a town of less than 2000 people. I took it to court and won. All I do now is to take my excess to the nursing home and senior citizens center. (thru the back door)

 

[Beth_B]

Beth, two friends and I did several "cooking fresh" demonstrations locally. Most of the ladies who attended were using food stamps or some other subsidy, and existing on a diet of pasta, canned soups, and quick meals like macaroni and cheese. We encouraged them to get fresh produce and showed them what could be done with it.
There was some initial resistance (my kids won't eat that, what is broccoli?, all I can afford is hamburger) but when they found that a meal for four could be made for less money than the prepared foods, and that it actually tasted better as well as being better for their children, many of the ladies hopped on the bandwagon and started cooking with fresh vegetables.
The failure of the community garden, and possibly the orchard, is perhaps more a matter of education than lethargy.
We do one demo a year now, and have fewer people attending, but more people are hitting the local farmers' market! We may be making progress!

Good for you, and I agree that it's probably a need for education, rather than laziness that is the issue. Although I do find it odd that with media being so available to almost everyone, regardless of income, that so many people are ignorant (or simply don't see nutrition as being important) especially when they have children to feed.

Anyway, I recently read of a similar program in Detroit, where people on assistance were offered classes in nutrition and more healthful cooking, which is a great thing. Also, I don't know if this is a Michigan thing or everywhere, but if people use the Bridge card (aka "food stamps") at farmers markets and some grocery stores to buy produce, they get a credit for every dollar spent on fruits and vegetables towards their next food purchase.

 

[marlingardener]

Beth, we enjoy doing the demo programs, held at a local church who loans us the use of their kitchen and meeting room. They even have a few ladies who pitch in and help with the set-up. We set the limit at 20 people, and have lately been having 12-15 people come for the demo. The heartening part of it is the new attendees say that they heard about it from a friend/neighbor, and wanted to come. It's a lot of fun for us, all of us. Sometimes we even sing while cooking!
I don't think Texas has the $ for $ program, but I will look into it and see if it's available. What a great idea!
Without the federally subsidized food program, and the federally subsidized crop support programs, a lot more people would be going hungry--seriously hungry! We grow our own vegetables and have a small orchard going, but anything that isn't canned, frozen, or eaten (often on the way to the house after harvesting) we give to the local food pantry. So many of the elderly, handicapped, or those simply overcome by circumstances appreciate fresh vegetables.

 

[Beth_B]

Beth, we enjoy doing the demo programs, held at a local church who loans us the use of their kitchen and meeting room. They even have a few ladies who pitch in and help with the set-up. We set the limit at 20 people, and have lately been having 12-15 people come for the demo. The heartening part of it is the new attendees say that they heard about it from a friend/neighbor, and wanted to come. It's a lot of fun for us, all of us. Sometimes we even sing while cooking!
I don't think Texas has the $ for $ program, but I will look into it and see if it's available. What a great idea!
Without the federally subsidized food program, and the federally subsidized crop support programs, a lot more people would be going hungry--seriously hungry! We grow our own vegetables and have a small orchard going, but anything that isn't canned, frozen, or eaten (often on the way to the house after harvesting) we give to the local food pantry. So many of the elderly, handicapped, or those simply overcome by circumstances appreciate fresh vegetables.

Yeah I know, those programs can be a double-edged sword, but it's great that you're doing what you do. Although I am not aware of anyone going hungry here, unless it's kids of drug-using parents who sell their Bridge Card bennies or homeless people with absolutely no resources. And I know plenty of poor people for real, plus I volunteer with a Catholic Charities homeless shelter/resource organization. All the poor people I know - granted mostly older folks, not families with kids - routinely have a surplus of food, plus their Bridge card benefits, commodities deliveries and meals on wheels, and spare food is typically given away, traded for money, fed to feral cats, or just thrown out.

I have done a search and can't find anything like the Detroit program, or what you are doing, around here. I'm just north of Murderville USA, aka Flint Mich, and there are scores of black churches here. I know the pastors at a couple of them and I'm going to ask if there are similar programs here, and if not, why not?

And also: I know two people personally and others tangentially, who live at the very bottom edge of Social Security - which means monthly benefits of like $392 per month. Total. To live on. Yet also get $190-odd in food benefits, plus Meals on Wheels (daily deliveries of two meals per day Monday through Friday), plus generous monthly deliveries of canned and dried food, government cheese and milk...they don't need food, they need money for utilities and to pay their water bills and if they have a pet, to pay for pet food and care. So they sell their food benefits that they do not need for basic living expenses because who the heck can live on $392 per month? I am approved to legally buy groceries for a neighbor on her card and I do but mostly what she needs is money to pay Consumers (gas and electric bill) and other basic expenses. doG strike me down, but I sometimes use her card to buy food, then pay her cash so she can pay other essential bills.

 

[Radish Geek]

I can top all of your stories! When I was in my early 20's (long ago) I was living on Social Security and got food stamps, which aren't enough to live on in Michigan.

My mother and her parents had taught me some homesteading skills, so I decided to plant a garden so I could have something more to eat during the spring and summer. After reading online about intensive cultivation, spending about $300 in food stamps and social security on tools, fertilizer, and vegetable seeds, and hand-cultivating a hundred square foot patch down to an 18-inch till, I finally planted my vegetable garden.

This garden had everything - corn, spinach, basil, carrots, eggplant, bok choy, two rows of cayenne peppers, dill, lettuce, beans, zucchini, and of course the rows were marked by radishes.

I had about $5 left, and my neighbor was an older lady who was an impoverished government employee by day and a church-going old maid by night, so I decided to surprise her by planting some phlox and zinnias by her basement apartment window to cheer her up. She saw me and asked what I was doing and I explained.

She had never seen a cultivating fork before! She was really scared, and asked where I got it, and didn't believe me until I showed her my hoe and spade. She asked me why I had them and I showed her my veggie patch.

No good deed goes unpunished.

The next night she went to a week-long "social workers' convention". A couple of nights later, at midnight by my analog cell phone's clock, I heard a lot of noise outside and went to the window. The Federal Bureau of Investigation was in my vegetable garden with a forensic vacuum, sucking up $200 worth of seed and fertilizer and about three weeks' worth of grueling physical labor. The next morning they knocked on my door bright and early and asked to see my seed packets.

It was like they had never heard of vegetables. Or eaten anything but fast food. Or cooked for themselves. They had no idea what cornbread was. Fortunately, I had some cornbread mix so I was able to explain by whipping up a batch for breakfast. They asked what kimchi was, what pesto was, why I had planted so many kinds of radishes (literally only three or four), and demanded to know why I ate so much salad and so many vegetable crudites.

Even US government employees are ignorant where it comes to cooking and nutrition.

 

[Marck]

What an nightmarishly, outrageous occurrence! I'm so sorry that happened to you. Were you ever compensated for your loss? I'm guessing not.

 

[Radish Geek]

No, I was never compensated for my time or the financial damages.

Then again, they've sent a lot of social workers after me over the years, and those social workers have wound up in the French Foreign Legion, or as mercenaries in the Japanese army, or the British army, or ANZAC, or the Angolan army (a pet project of mine since Angola is a fledgling Communist government in northern Africa where there are too few Communists), because apparently they give away the answers to the ethics test in social worker school when the students have no ethics of their own. Frequently, these higher-functioning college-educated white collar workers have turned out to be unable to read and write at third-grade level well enough to keep a journal with a ballpoint pen and a wide-ruled composition book. The ready revenue from their contracts has saved me a lot of expense because I was able to meet otherwise ruinous lawsuits with even more ruinous countersuits and build a lot of wealth in the government contracting sector all over the world in the process.

My children are all privately educated at very, very good boarding schools, and they eat well (including lots of veggies), and they're mostly headed for careers as NYPD officers who will never, ever be bribed. I've been able to start a few organizations devoted to literacy, homesteading skills, and geopolitical awareness. And if America gets invaded, the standing military is just the beginning of how we'll play hell with the invaders.

And to think, when I was a kid, I just wanted to be a carpenter.

 

[Esther Knapicius]

maybe we should ponder that if the educational system incorporated . "Food Skills" at an early age in school , like began at age 5 years old then waste would not be an issues. People would know what to do with food, even if they did not grow it. How to can, how to preserve, how to cook keeping nutrients. Lets face it, We usually eat 3 meals a day, what education is there to understand what that means. Also no education to strengthen the immune system. Lets face it lots of parents have no clue. I had to deal with this absence in my job daily. Taking care of the body properly means feeding it well.

 

[Radish Geek]

My Grandma taught me to bake bread and can pickles, and kept me entertained by having me slice vegetables for the salad when we visited. Those were happy times and I had no idea I was learning anything. Later, when money was scarce, baking my own bread kept me alive.

 

[Esther Knapicius]

I can top all of your stories! When I was in my early 20's (long ago) I was living on Social Security and got food stamps, which aren't enough to live on in Michigan.

My mother and her parents had taught me some homesteading skills, so I decided to plant a garden so I could have something more to eat during the spring and summer. After reading online about intensive cultivation, spending about $300 in food stamps and social security on tools, fertilizer, and vegetable seeds, and hand-cultivating a hundred square foot patch down to an 18-inch till, I finally planted my vegetable garden.

This garden had everything - corn, spinach, basil, carrots, eggplant, bok choy, two rows of cayenne peppers, dill, lettuce, beans, zucchini, and of course the rows were marked by radishes.

I had about $5 left, and my neighbor was an older lady who was an impoverished government employee by day and a church-going old maid by night, so I decided to surprise her by planting some phlox and zinnias by her basement apartment window to cheer her up. She saw me and asked what I was doing and I explained.

She had never seen a cultivating fork before! She was really scared, and asked where I got it, and didn't believe me until I showed her my hoe and spade. She asked me why I had them and I showed her my veggie patch.

No good deed goes unpunished.

The next night she went to a week-long "social workers' convention". A couple of nights later, at midnight by my analog cell phone's clock, I heard a lot of noise outside and went to the window. The Federal Bureau of Investigation was in my vegetable garden with a forensic vacuum, sucking up $200 worth of seed and fertilizer and about three weeks' worth of grueling physical labor. The next morning they knocked on my door bright and early and asked to see my seed packets.

It was like they had never heard of vegetables. Or eaten anything but fast food. Or cooked for themselves. They had no idea what cornbread was. Fortunately, I had some cornbread mix so I was able to explain by whipping up a batch for breakfast. They asked what kimchi was, what pesto was, why I had planted so many kinds of radishes (literally only three or four), and demanded to know why I ate so much salad and so many vegetable crudites.

Even US government employees are ignorant where it comes to cooking and nutrition.

I just read that. is that for real? Would want to know how your garden was discovered. who told them. Why you were singled out a one person? Why was it so important that they send out folks to a backyard garden grower. something is a miss. We have lots of back yard gardens here, they grow lots of stuff, no one cares.

 

[Radish Geek]

My money would be on my paranoid neighbor. She grew up in a very bad neighborhood, so for her to think that anybody who had a garden was growing drugs would not be unexpected.

Compared to some other stuff that's happened to me, this story is actually kind of humorous.

 

[Esther Knapicius]

No, I was never compensated for my time or the financial damages.

Then again, they've sent a lot of social workers after me over the years, and those social workers have wound up in the French Foreign Legion, or as mercenaries in the Japanese army, or the British army, or ANZAC, or the Angolan army (a pet project of mine since Angola is a fledgling Communist government in northern Africa where there are too few Communists), because apparently they give away the answers to the ethics test in social worker school when the students have no ethics of their own. Frequently, these higher-functioning college-educated white collar workers have turned out to be unable to read and write at third-grade level well enough to keep a journal with a ballpoint pen and a wide-ruled composition book. The ready revenue from their contracts has saved me a lot of expense because I was able to meet otherwise ruinous lawsuits with even more ruinous countersuits and build a lot of wealth in the government contracting sector all over the world in the process.

My children are all privately educated at very, very good boarding schools, and they eat well (including lots of veggies), and they're mostly headed for careers as NYPD officers who will never, ever be bribed. I've been able to start a few organizations devoted to literacy, homesteading skills, and geopolitical awareness. And if America gets invaded, the standing military is just the beginning of how we'll play hell with the invaders.

And to think, when I was a kid, I just wanted to be a carpenter.

just read this also. SMH, interesting. stilling here in wonderment.