A bit of a forward
My wife is a really good cook (and baker). However, she has CRPS so to cook everyday is too much for her. Takeaway is not healthy to have 3 times a week, and getting restaurant food couriered is not affordable for us. Unfortunately I can't cook at all. I used to be able to. It's just not safe. So to make it easier for us we decided to try meals-on-wheels. What follows is a partial review...
Delivery
There was a knock on the door at midday. My wife let the guy in. He brought us a hot meal, a hot desert, a sandwich (of sorts) and a slice of cake(pre packed).
What shocked me was the fact this stuff was not produced in the local area. It was not fresh food. I'm not a qualified dietician or scientist. I'm not just taking issue with this for the nutritious value though. The cost.
It makes no sense to manufacture something 200 miles away in a different country (of sorts) and to then transport it and store it until it is heated and delivered.
There is little evidence to suggest mass produced frozen food to be nutritionally poor. There are too many businesses making money (producing, transporting, making freezers and cookers) for that sort of data to be freely available.
The hot meal
The idea is that you eat the 327 kcal meal and desert when it arrives and have the 311kcal sandwich and cake for your evening meal.
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| Actual food too depressing to show |
Calorie (kcal) average for a day should be 2000 for women and 2500 for men. Yeah I haven't got the wrapper for the cake bar or the details of the desert because I didn't eat it. It was apricot cake in industrial custard. So it may well have met the kcal for the day assuming a 1000 kcal breakfast materialised before me when I woke up. This is pretty funny though: The 'meal' is manufactured by http://www.tilleryvalley.com/ (in Wales) on their site they say "Our in house dietitians ensure our varied menus deliver on nutrition, as well as taste."
Industrial is a good word to describe the meal. It tasted industrial. I admit after the Hairy Bikers Meals On Wheels four part series on BBC2 in 2011 I had too high of an expectation. I wrongly thought people who ran these things would all realise how backwards the processes they are using are. Maybe they didn't see it.
Processed food isn't saving any money.
I'll get to the financial aspect after the.
Cheese and butter sandwich
This tasted al-right it was just insubstantial. Genuine cheddar cheese and genuine butter. The roll wasn't fresh and may have been full of junk but it tasted fine. One assumes the bread and/or butter was made as far away as Australia since the cheese is specifically advertised as British.The thing about this is the ridiculousness. The Ginsters brand is established. A mass produced product 'of Cornwall'. Or so it seemed. On the back it says "Produced in Leicestershire". That's weird, I thought.
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| Logical |
Portsmouth City Council are withdrawing their subsidisation of £2 something leaving service users to pay £6.50 a day. £2.50 for the sandwich and cake and £4.00 for the hot meal and desert. The meals are delivered by volunteers so no complaints there. The front line workers are, unsurprisingly, the only positive thing. The meal and desert is probably under £1 worth of junk and there are much better and more substantial lunch time offers on the high street in a profitable market. Obviously trucking shit all over the country is driving the price up.
Meals On Wheels should not operate as a profitable organisation. I have no evidence on the contrary. However, the processed food suppliers and the suppliers of logistics like transport and storage are businesses all about profit. Privatisation is the problem. Capitalism is the problem. Stupidity is the problem.
Let's avoid the politics. Privatisation vs Nationalisation. Meals on wheels is supposed to help the vulnerable and those unable. Maybe if the quality was improved they could operate a two tier pricing structure. So if social services refers you it's just above cost and otherwise to subscribe it'll cost a little more. Make it a good enough quality product so that people can choose it.
Vulnerable people shouldn't have to endure it.
It's basic business stuff. The product is terrible, therefore customers should leave. We will be buying more ready meals from the store which is the same shit it just costs less. What about the people who can't do that and are stuck with the meals-on-wheels?
Even if a less ambitious model is used. The quality could easily rise with virtually no increase in cost surely. Portion sizes could even increase!
Healthy takeout? Why hasn't that market been tapped?
Humus and Baked Potatoes and Soups and... All freshly made. All delivered. I'll write a business plan. After I've got my cloning machine built.
