Yesterday I wrote a riposte to hunting foxes. I don't agree with this barbaric act of people on horses with dogs chasing a small fox to its death. But I am quite happy not to publish, it salved my soul if no one else - chuckle.
Jamie Oliver is arguing on the Today programme about taxing sugar and feeding our school children. For what it is worth I had school dinners, they were horrible but taking lunch to school was not encouraged. So you took your weekly envelope of 'dinner money' and got marked off by the teacher.
The Today interviewer says, rather stupidly, that should you have children then by having them you should be able to feed them, a Tory reply of course. Obesity is a problem also, this put down to the cheap filling food you can buy in the supermarket and on the street. Children and adults are hungry in Britain today. Basically for the children because their parents haven't got enough money to buy food, and now unfortunately, because energy has gone through the roof the choice between food and heating is unavoidable.
We talk of addressing these problems, I see pigs flying past, what happened to improving our housing stock, or even, keeping to our promise of building more social housing. Did the big building firms cut in on this one? Also I note the tax on sugar was proposed in 2013 by John Osbourne - what happened then in the intervening time? Did Tate and Lyle, or whatever sugar company - throw a wobbly I wonder.
Governments in this country have always been in free fall. Five years on the job, a few promises along the way and Bob's your uncle only he isn't, just another mess to clear up.
F eeding children these days on a low income must be a nightmare. So called cheap food is not necessarily the most nutritious, in most families both parents have to work with no time left to cook nutritious cuts of meat and lots of veg as mothers did in my day. I despair over so many things - glad I am not young with a family.
ReplyDeleteYes we have supermarkets full of empty calorie stuff, and the good stuff is expensive, especially meat Pat. I have looked at a few documentaries about food bank and of course what is provided is normally dried or tinned stuff, fresh food is limited. Henry Dimbleby and Marcus Rashford are doing their bit but there is a long way to go.
DeleteWhat makes me very angry is all the comfortable middle classes saying that they could get by on £6 a day. Presumably they would forgo one pint of beer for a couple of potatoes and and a carrot or two. I don't think so.
ReplyDeleteAgree there Tom, a condescending tone of how to run one's household is typical of a certain class - chuckle. But given the choice they have the funds and are able to go back and eat the fancy stuff. I know I would be cross with a carrier bag of stuff I had not chosen to eat.
DeleteAnd you get all your fancy stuff too and three presents where one would do. Take a look in the mirror before you start chucking stones Thelma. I got by with nothing and pulling the belt in.
DeleteHi, Rachel why do you dislike me so much?
DeleteI think the Today interviewer was actually pointing out what a lot of people say - things my Mum would have said - "If you have children you shouldn't expect anyone else to keep them". We went without a lot to make sure we always fed and clothed our children when we had one small income and I never expected any help from anyone.
ReplyDeleteI see what you are saying Sue, and I might have got him wrong but whatever, in the end there are children going to school hungry and parents who cannot afford to give them the food needed. Our generation/s emerged from the rationing of the war era. They learnt to live on a little, nowadays we have an abundance of food and parents who have never had the teachings of how to prepare simple food. Funnily enough, I cooked spaghetti with tomato sauce for the grandchildren, and there was some grated cheese left over, Tom was about to put it in the bin till I yelled 'keep it' Mind you he won't eat cheese....
DeleteNot having heard the Today programme I cannot directly comment ot it, but a lot of what Sue says is right - with previous generations priorities were different - keeping a roof over your head and feeding your children took priority over other discretionary spending. I have seen this with one of my wife's friends, they complain about not being able to save a deposit for a flat or house, but have taken on another rescue dog, and always have the latest iPhones in their pockets.
DeleteI'm not sure how to reply to that Will, we can all find examples to balance our argument but at the end of the day it is up to us to see that children in our society thrive and don't go hungry.
DeleteI agree that we all have a collective responsibility to ensure that children in particular are adequately taken care of, both physically (fed, clothed etc) and mentally/emotionally (a caring, loving environment).
DeleteWhat I think that I am reflecting is that there is a real tendency these days for a call for "someone" to do something first, rather that people taking responsibility themselves.
I would have to agree there Will but would also point out the many things ordinary people do to combat this need in society. These volunteers reach out and make things better for others and which has nothing to do with governments.
Delete"the rich get richer and the poor get poorer" - lyrics in Ain't We Got Fun - 1920 song
ReplyDeleteI know the feeling Ellen but it doesn't worry me.
DeleteI suspect that my attitude toward 'assistance' for struggling families is a bit on the harsh and critical side. Its well known that the welfare system in this country is abused: couples who live together, have children but don't get married as that would curtail the 'benefits' the woman can collect for dependent children; individuals who barter food coupons for drugs or alcohol--that sort of thing seems to abound. Of course it is the children who are deprived in so many ways. Surely there needs to be help when the primary wage earner is made redundant or is ill, or when a man absconds leaving no means of support for wife and children. One can blunder down a lot of byways considering childcare, entry-level jobs for the unskilled, affordable housing, etc.
ReplyDeleteWhen I notice what is piled in shoppers' carts--chips [you would call them 'crisps'] sugary treats, soft drinks, boxed dinners--even with inflated prices 'real food' could be purchased and prepared instead of endless 'snacks.' Such families always seem to have 'smart phones', even the children in tow clicking away on some little device.
The problems are almost too large for optimism and the programs in place--available birth control, opportunities to learn about nutrition and meal planning, job training, living on a budget, are ignored by those who most need them.
We were surprised to see that during the times when schools were closed last year the buses went round delivering meals to school children.
I suppose I'm ranting. We managed to feed and clothe our two children during some spells when our income was almost non-existent. Perhaps the age-old skills of living carefully and frugally have largely disappeared [?]
You have put all the problems in a nutshell, and given that, there are no grounds for optimism Sharon. It is like a ceaseless war but we should not lose our sense of empathy and at least give them social help. It is not possible to have the perfect society, striving to make it happen is perhaps the only answer. There is good in the world, whether it comes from the religious or secular side. And I think your last sentence sums it up - "Perhaps the age-old skills of living carefully and frugally have largely disappeared [?]" But times have changed now the, the problem is different.
DeleteThelma, did you and I live across a garden wall, I've no doubt we'd get along very well.
ReplyDeleteIt would be nice to live next door to you Debby, though funnily enough my grandchildren do not like America. They are still at that stage where everything is starkly simple.
DeleteWondering if your wealthy oligarchs influence your government leaders as is done here in the USA.
ReplyDeleteThat made me giggle Tabor, 'jobs for the boys' is often a required necessity for being in government, though of course we have hard working MPs who work for their constituents.
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I would have liked to read your foxhunting screed as I love foxes and I am as much against foxhunting as I am against the ongoing persecution of badgers by government funded marksmen. Lord knows how much they are paid. And before any nitwits attempt to knock me off my little animal rights soapbox, I will just say that I grew up in the countryside, worked on farms and witnessed the blood lust of posh fox hunting meets firsthand. Though it's illegal now they are still pursuing their wicked hobby.
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