€7.50 for three chicken fillets

Stheno

The Irish Times have been doing their usual pre Budget articles, but I was shocked by todays article.

A single mother of four claims she cannot feed her kids healthy food as it is too expensive with 3 chicken fillets costing €7.50 and two baskets of strawberries €5 and it's easier to "It’s cheaper to buy a packet of 10 chocolate bars for a euro than give them some healthy snacks."

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/the-kids-are-going-to-starve-then-they-have-health-problems-1.1544207

I was shocked as I can buy two whole chickens which would feed a family of five for 2-3 days as main meals for that price, and if you shop in Lidl/Aldi (to which this woman has access, there is a large Lidl not far from her, there is plenty of good value, low cost fruit/veg. My local butcher does ten fillets for ten euro and three pounds of mince for 7.50

Is this an indication that investment in basic budgeting, and cooking skills may be worthwhile?

What's even more amazing is just how cheep it is to produce chicken.

Frosty McSnowballs

This just reminded me of Total Recall......carry on.

Super-Rush

Bring home the 3 fillets and let the kids fight it out.

darkpagandeath

I think there trying to point out high calorie high fat sugary foods are way cheaper to buy than reasonable fat free healthy alternative. Hence childhood obesity problem. don't think it’s cooking skills but this should be taught better in secondary school.

TheBegotten

Some fecking fancy chickens...

Fr_Dougal

€10 a week on bin tags? Maybe if she didn't buy so much junk food for her kids she'd get away with the €20 per month that the rest of us pay.

Merkin

I couldn't believe that article when I read it. If people made themselves aware of basic good nutrition and secondly actually go the effort of cooking a nutritious meal they'd still be quids in regardless. You don't need need huge amounts of money to eat very well.

Plusminus

darkpagandeath wrote: »

I think there trying to point out high calorie high fat sugary foods are way cheaper to buy than reasonable fat free healthy alternative. Hence childhood obesity problem. don't think it’s cooking skills but this should be taught better in secondary school.

Yea and they are wrong. You can eat healthily very cheaply.

rawn

Where is she shopping that 3 chicken fillets cost €7.50?! Tesco, butchers, Eurospar etc. always get 4/5/6 chicken fillets for a fiver (depending on the deal of the day)

People just do not know how to feed themselves. Of course it's easy to buy a pizza or chicken nuggets, but it's just as easy to roast a chicken if you know how

Nutrition should be taught to kids from a young age. Food is not something that exists in order for you to eat it to feel full, it is to nourish our bodies and give us energy. Our health mirrors our diet and people need to be educated about it from an early age, before bad habits take hold. Just teaching Home Ec in secondary school is too little, too late. Should be right there from maybe age 7-9, along with English and Maths.

tritium

Stheno wrote: »

The Irish Times have been doing their usual pre Budget articles, but I was shocked by todays article.

A single mother of four claims she cannot feed her kids healthy food as it is too expensive with 3 chicken fillets costing €7.50 and two baskets of strawberries €5 and it's easier to "It’s cheaper to buy a packet of 10 chocolate bars for a euro than give them some healthy snacks."

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/the-kids-are-going-to-starve-then-they-have-health-problems-1.1544207

I was shocked as I can buy two whole chickens which would feed a family of five for 2-3 days as main meals for that price, and if you shop in Lidl/Aldi (to which this woman has access, there is a large Lidl not far from her, there is plenty of good value, low cost fruit/veg. My local butcher does ten fillets for ten euro and three pounds of mince for 7.50

Is this an indication that investment in basic budgeting, and cooking skills may be worthwhile?

This sh1ite comes out on a regular basis. Truth is a lot of people are too lazy to cook and think a microwave is the height of sophistication. Too expensive my ass, just to damn lazy and to be honest, ignorant. A (good) few years ago I worked in a shop in the inner city and the staple dinner for several local kids was a chip sandwich, with a crisp sandwich for a bit of variety once a week. For the price of those one of the families whose kids were there could have easily bought a pound of mince, some onions and a sauce from the local butcher. Meanwhile the local off licence did a fine trade

MadsL

I couldn't possibly feed the children anything other than the finest cuts of meat. I cannot survive, what with Kobe beef Wagyu filet mignon costing €15 each!

crockholm

Sometimes people would be more productive if they tried to think more about solutions than problems.The lady mentioned something that seems a little unrealistic about the price of food.(unless she does her shopping at mortons,if it's still open)
There are cheap,simple solutions out there.Last week,I made a ratatouille that lasted us for 3 days,all the ingredients cost under 6 euro.

Cavehill Red

http://agirlcalledjack.com/category/recipes-food-etc/

darkpagandeath

MadsL wrote: »

I couldn't possibly feed the children anything other than the finest cuts of meat. I cannot survive, what with Kobe beef Wagyu filet mignon costing €15 each!

Make sure you cremate it too it tastes better

--Kaiser--

Christ almighty, you can get 2 whole chickens for that price in some places

dxhound2005

darkpagandeath wrote: »

I think there trying to point out high calorie high fat sugary foods are way cheaper to buy than reasonable fat free healthy alternative. Hence childhood obesity problem. don't think it’s cooking skills but this should be taught better in secondary school.

Fat free doesn't sound very healthy to me.

Miss Behaviour

There is this place called Aldi. The food in really good (most of the time) and it doesn't cost much.

Gummy Panda

--Kaiser-- wrote: »

Christ almighty, you can get 2 whole chickens for that price in some places

She must be shopping in M&S

Stheno

darkpagandeath wrote: »

I think there trying to point out high calorie high fat sugary foods are way cheaper to buy than reasonable fat free healthy alternative. Hence childhood obesity problem. don't think it’s cooking skills but this should be taught better in secondary school.

Merkin wrote: »

I couldn't believe that article when I read it. If people made themselves aware of basic good nutrition and secondly actually go the effort of cooking a nutritious meal they'd still be quids in regardless. You don't need need huge amounts of money to eat very well.

Answering quote two first, I was the same, we eat very well, quite cheaply.

As for the first post, I actually don't agree, it's cheaper to buy highly convenient food rather than put time into cooking a more nutritious meal imo.

I cooked a stew today and it took me half an hour at the most. Each portion will contain a couple of servings of veg for the day along with good protein and fat.

Cost per portion? €1.25

Seaneh

As a former chef and someone who works in the social services area it genuinely astounds me how clueless a large percentage of the population about such basic things as the cost and nutritional content of everyday foods.

You can feed 5 people a damned good meal on about €2.25 a portion, easily,using fresh veggies and meats (even cheaper for a veggie meal).
You can get 8 bananas for 1.50 in Tesco, and so on.

There is no way its cheaper to feed a family on ****ty processed foods if you actually plan meals, people are either ignorant of reality or lazy.

I honestly think that for at least one year in secondary school, all teenagers should have a compulsory class that covers basic cooking skills, nutrition and budgeting.

Being able to cook a good, simple, nutritionally complete meal is a basic life skill everyone needs.

IvySlayer

I bought 2 chicken breasts for 2 euro earlier in Tesco, where is she shopping

And her child has been diagnosed with ADHD, I was predicting that

hfallada

In fairness where the fu ck is she buying those chicken fillets? Im sure not even Marks and Spencers are that expensive. She clearly cant budget. She lists her income as €250 a week and out goings as €97 a week. Where does the other €150 a week go? I know people who feed their family of 5 decently on €70/80 a week from Aldi with no take aways or buying school lunches.

People need to know welfare is for helping people in between jobs. Not how they are supposed to live for their life. If its so difficult living on €200 odd a week, get a job. But why would you when you lose you bundle of benefits.

BattleCorp

Yer wan is a lazy yoke.

Feck all to do with money, more likely it's easier to get nuggets and chips rather than actually bother cooking something.

Aldi/Lidl/Tesco. They are all dirt cheap if you shop around for bargains.

The kids are probably ruined now too. They will be too used to bars of chocolate rather than fruit and veg.

darkpagandeath

Miss Behaviour wrote: »

There is this place called Aldi. The food in really good (most of the time) and it doesn't cost much.

That German company were do there profits goto again ? if you try to buy Irish in an Irish store the prices are way higher.

BattleCorp

darkpagandeath wrote: »

That German company were do there profits goto again ? if you try to buy Irish in an Irish store the prices are way higher.

Aldi and Lidl contribute plenty to society here. They pay damn good wages to lots of Irish staff and they buy lots of their products from Irish suppliers too.

lafiamma09

I get mine from a farm shop in kildare.. 30 fillets fresh from the farm for €27... there are quite a few places that do it. Go down with a €100 and you have meat for a month

dxhound2005

darkpagandeath wrote: »

That German company were do there profits goto again ? if you try to buy Irish in an Irish store the prices are way higher.

Not my experience for fruit and veg which I get in the greengrocer who is Irish.

dee_mc

Strawberries aren't that expensive when they're actually in season, and there are many other, cheaper fruits.
Chicken breasts are more expensive than whole chickens, legs and many other meats etc which are just as nutritious.
This idea of 'I can't afford premium organic fruit and veg so I might as well feed them Haribo for breakfast' is such a pile of sh1te copout.

dxhound2005

BattleCorp wrote: »

Aldi and Lidl contribute plenty to society here. They pay damn good wages to lots of Irish staff and they buy lots of their products from Irish suppliers too.

They also provide employment for lots of immigrants, nothing wrong with that. One of their stores I know about has 31 East Europeans and 14 Irish staff.

fussyonion

I buy ten chicken fillets for €10 and they last me about two weeks.
I make stir-fries, fajitas, curries, casseroles, breaded chicken etc etc.

I buy 2lb of round mince for €5 and I halve that again, and again. I can make Shepherd's Pie, Bolognese, burgers, meatballs, chillies etc.

I buy veg from Aldi and using veg bulks up meals like you wouldn't believe.

I spend about €50 on groceries for two adults every week and we eat very well AND have leftovers which I freeze.

There really isn't any excuse not to eat well. It's about budgeting, switching supermarkets, learning to cook home-made meals, freezing, cooking in batches.

It's common sense.

johnnyskeleton

TheBegotten wrote: »

Some fecking fancy chickens...

Even in the fancy shops like fresh, fallon & Byrne etc you can get 4 large guaranteed free range irish chicken breasts for €6-7.

Another poorly researched article where the most outrageous claims are printed without question. Thanks Irish Times.

flutered

Deleted User wrote: »

What's even more amazing is just how cheep it is to produce chicken.

then ship it here from the far east.

Deleted User

Deleted User wrote: »

What's even more amazing is just how cheep it is to produce chicken.

I see what you did there :cool:

masterK

People like that women should have money withheld from their social welfare and their shopping done for them. €7.50 for 3 fillets, crazy. €5 for 2 strawberries is true but what about all the other fruits she could buy. Aldi, Lidl, Tesco and Dunnes have massive competition at the moment on a lot of their fruit and veg with their Super 6/7's. It's actually never been cheaper to buy fruit and veg if you're smart. All 4 of these stores are within a short distance of Corduff.

hfallada

dxhound2005 wrote: »

They also provide employment for lots of immigrants, nothing wrong with that. One of their stores I know about has 31 East Europeans and 14 Irish staff.

Thats because most Irish people seen Lidl as a ****ty place to work. But unlike most Irish companies they pay their staff €11,85 an hour, give them health insurance, pension and paid holidays. My local lidl is gradually being more Irish.

I think when you have worked in Ireland for the last 10 years, you are more Irish than Eastern European.

tritium

Seaneh wrote: »

As a former chef and someone who works in the social services area it genuinely astounds me how clueless a large percentage of the population about such basic things as the cost and nutritional content of everyday foods.

You can feed 5 people a damned good meal on about €2.25 a portion, easily,using fresh veggies and meats (even cheaper for a veggie meal).
You can get 8 bananas for 1.50 in Tesco, and so on.

There is no way its cheaper to feed a family on ****ty processed foods if you actually plan meals, people are either ignorant of reality or lazy.

I honestly think that for at least one year in secondary school, all teenagers should have a compulsory class that covers basic cooking skills, nutrition and budgeting.

Being able to cook a good, simple, nutritionally complete meal is a basic life skill everyone needs.

Agreed, but unfortunately you can't teach people not to be thick and lazy

Stheno

lafiamma09 wrote: »

I get mine from a farm shop in kildare.. 30 fillets fresh from the farm for €27... there are quite a few places that do it. Go down with a €100 and you have meat for a month

Now it's just me and my OH here, but for €100, I'd have 40 chicken breasts, (€40) 15lb of mince, (€37.50) and about 4 chickens @ 1800g (€22.00)

For five people, that's 29 dinners by my reckoning, so working out at less than €4 per dinner for meat.

Veg/potatoes /rice/pasta would add maybe €3

So that's €7 for a dinner for five people

For myself and my OH, that's €100 on meat for 72 dinners, so three months worth

Miss Behaviour

darkpagandeath wrote: »

That German company were do there profits goto again ? if you try to buy Irish in an Irish store the prices are way higher.

I'd say Tesco profits go to Britain. Aldi say in their brochures that they buy more goods from Irish food producers than any other supermarket. And have won more food awards than any other supermarket.
And the Rose wine is lovely!

efb

maybe she means chicken fillet burgers in KFC?

Seaneh

tritium wrote: »

Agreed, but unfortunately you can't teach people not to be thick and lazy

If you ingrain it early enough, peoples habits will change.

Teach nutritional information from a young age, teach cooking skills and budgeting from adolescence, and over time peoples attitude to food will change.

AnonoBoy

If people are too stupid to know that there are other places to buy food than the shop across the road from them then there's nothing you can do for them.

darragh16

Three chicken fillets for €7.50?? Go down to Spar or Centra and you can get 3 chicken fillet rolls with 2 salad and a can of coke for €6 with 1.50 extra for a couple of bags of Crisps

Electric Sheep

darkpagandeath wrote: »

I think there trying to point out high calorie high fat sugary foods are way cheaper to buy than reasonable fat free healthy alternative. Hence childhood obesity problem. don't think it’s cooking skills but this should be taught better in secondary school.

I suspect it has a lot more to do with laziness than cooking skills. That and spending one euro on chocolate gives her more left over for fags.

BattleCorp

AnonoBoy wrote: »

If people are too stupid to know that there are other places to buy food than the shop across the road from them then there's nothing you can do for them.

She sounds very very lazy to be honest.

darkpagandeath

Miss Behaviour wrote: »

I'd say Tesco profits go to Britain. Aldi say in their brochures that they buy more goods from Irish food producers than any other supermarket. And have won more food awards than any other supermarket.
And the Rose wine is lovely!

Ah ok as long as they say they do that's ok wonder if it's bought in Ireland and not packaged here or bought up North many ways to call something Irish when it's not. You could Make pork mince for example and use 60% imported pork from the Netherlands and slap a made in Ireland label on it. Is it really Irish then ?

Gummy Panda

I'm hungry for chicken now

johnnyskeleton

flutered wrote: »

then ship it here from the far east.

Eggactly

dxhound2005

BattleCorp wrote: »

She sounds very very lazy and thick to be honest.

I dread to think what her children would make of the taste of fresh mackeral. I posted this in another thread about 18 months ago, but prices would be around the same still. No excuse for not eating healthy.

Today in my local greengrocer

10 Kg potatoes €5
3 cabbages €2
3 turnips €2
I Kg onions €0.79
1 Kg carrots €0.89
5 large oranges €2
5 pink lady apples €2
10 bananas €2

Less than €17 and in my local fishmonger 10 good sized mackeral fillets for €10. I think it is good value.

Eight Ball

Oh look another thread on boards bashing people with no work. Who would have thunk it huh.

johnnyskeleton

efb wrote: »

maybe she means chicken fillet burgers in KFC?

Or the breaded ones in the hot counter at spar that are cheaper if you get it in a sandwich.