After a Nottinghamshire Tory MP sparked outrage on Wednesday, May 11, by saying nutritious meals could be cooked for as little as 30p a day, a top chef has slammed the claim. Chef Gareth Mason, has backed up his response by cooking seven 30p meals to show just what that looks like on a plate.
Lee Anderson, Conservative MP for Ashfield, made the claim in the House of Commons. He was later reported as saying that he was "glad" his controversial comments on foodbanks kicked up a fuss and led to a debate.
The Tory backbencher has suggested struggling Brits were only using food banks because they 'can't budget' and 'can't cook a meal from scratch. Hull Live reported that he doubled down in the face of criticism by sharing a video from last November when a team of chefs cooked 170 meals from a £50 shopping list in an industrial kitchen.
READ MORE: Charities condemn Tory MP Lee Anderson's comments for adding to foodbanks' 'negative stigma'
Top chef Gareth, 34, created the paltry portions to show exactly what the 30p budget can stretch to. He said the MP's comments were 'tone deaf' and 'insulting' to the public who were facing the worst cost of living crisis in living memory.
Gareth cooked meagre portions of spaghetti napoli, crab stick salad, burgers, beans on toast, a jacket potato with beans and a 'spam fritter' made from cheap luncheon meat. He said: "I’ve come to the conclusion it’s a load of rubbish. These meals I’ve done, as soon as you put any protein or dairy into them, it’s not feasible to do it for 30p.
“If you eat beans on toast for every meal, it might work, but even if you did cheese on toast, the cost of cheese would be more than 30p on its own. And you have the cooking coast on top of the cost of the food. Even if this MP is talking about batch cooking army food, even the smallest amount of spaghetti Bolognese is going to go above 30p."
Gareth, who has 19 years’ experience, said none of the meals were balanced and he had to exclude things such as increasingly expensive butter. He said an adult would struggle to get the recommended daily allowance of 2000 calories per day and most ingredients were high in salt, fat or sugar.
Mr Anderson, who earns £84,144 a year as an MP, was accused of being "out of touch" when he made his comments in the commons last week. He urged Labour MPs to 'come to Ashfield and work with me for a day in my food bank and see the brilliant scheme we have got'.
He told Parliament: "What we do in the food bank, we show them how to cook cheap and nutritious meals on a budget,' he added. "We can make a meal for about 30 pence a day. And this is cooking from scratch."
His comments sparked uproar but he defended himself by saying he was trying to "educate people" to make their lives "a little easier". And he pointed to a cooking challenge at his local food bank in conjunction with the college and a local chef to feed a family of five for £50 a week.
However, Gareth, head chef at Absolute Bistros in Westhoughton, Lancs., questioned where the average person was supposed to find the kitchen or storage space. He added: “Has this guy ever eaten a 30p meal in his life? I doubt it.
“He’s contradicted himself by having chefs cook the food in a big kitchen with an industrial oven. Where does he expect the average person to cook all this food and then freeze it all?
“It takes a trained and experienced chef to work out the precise cost of a meal to the penny like that, how is the average person supposed to do that?"
During lockdown, Gareth created 15 days worth of lunches for a child for just £20 with every meal under a pound comparing the result with the paltry hampers given to kids during lockdown. But he believes 30p is far too low a budget for a healthy, nutritious meal that the average adult would need to function throughout the day.
Gareth added: “You could just about feed yourself, but it’s not going to be healthy or nutritious or get anywhere near the amount of calories an average adult needs to function each day. “He’s treating people like peasants. Energy prices are going up, people are struggling, the cost of living is on the rise and what’s their solution? Eat for 30p?
“The cheaper you go, how much rubbish is in the food? It will be full of additives and preservatives and all sorts of junk. It’s not fresh, nutritious food that people need to have a healthy diet.”
