Eating Well on Empty Pockets? 

Sorry, Aldi….. 

Every week, another headline tells us what not to eat. Don’t touch tinned food — the lining has plastic. Don’t eat frozen vegetables — not fresh enough. Don’t buy supermarket bread — too processed. Don’t eat white rice — stripped of nutrients. Don’t, don’t, don’t. 

The problem is that all this advice assumes a certain kind of life. One where you have a big fridge and freezer, a decent oven, enough spare time to batch cook, and enough money to buy ‘the good stuff’: organic, grass-fed, sourdough, wild-caught. 

But what if you don’t? 

I live in one of the areas of the UK labelled as ‘deprived’; and this is the population from which our patient clinic is drawn. Part of our consultation process is dietary and lifestyle advice. I think you know what the problem is… 

When I teach students, I sometimes take them to the local Aldi [other low-cost supermarkets are available]. Not to a shiny deli or a wholefood co-op, but to a place where ordinary families shop. I ask them two things: 

1. Find something you could eat for lunch, on the hoof, without additives and without being an ultra-processed food. 

2. Buy food for a family dinner that children will actually eat, without preservatives and without being ultra-processed. 

It’s harder than it sounds. Walk those aisles with £20 in your pocket, and you’ll see the dilemma. Cheap convenience almost always equals UPF. Tins, jars, packaged bread, pre-made sauces. If you’re poor and tired, those are the things that keep you afloat. But then you’re told off for buying them. You’re poisoning your kids. You’re ruining your health. 

Well then, what should they do? Fresh fish at £6 a portion? Organic chicken at £15 a bird? Or is the answer that poorer families simply don’t deserve to eat well? 

Here’s the thing: eating well when you’re poor is possible, but it doesn’t look like the lifestyle blogs or nutrition gurus would have it. It’s not sourdough and kombucha. It’s not farm-shop veg boxes. It’s not grass-fed beef or wild salmon. It’s survival food, made thoughtful. 

A few examples: 

• Porridge oats — cheap, filling, genuinely whole food. Not glamorous, but a solid start to the day. 

• Eggs — still the best protein per pound you’ll find. 

• Frozen vegetables — picked at harvest, often more nutritious than ‘fresh’ ones that have travelled and been stored. 

• Dried beans and lentils — humble, but a slow cooker turns them into dinner with little fuss. 

• Whole carrots, cabbage, onions, potatoes — the backbone of cheap eating for centuries. 

• Tinned fish — sardines, mackerel. Yes, they come in tins. Yes, the linings are plastic. But they’re still protein-rich, full of good fats, and a world better than chicken nuggets. 

• Pasta with a mince & lentil sauce – minced meat is often the stay of cheap family meals. But you can’t eat it every day. 

The truth? If you’re poor, you can’t avoid compromises. You will use tins. You will eat bread that isn’t artisanal. You will sometimes choose what fills a child’s belly over what fits a wellness influencer’s feed. And that’s not failure. That’s feeding your family. 

But here’s the sting: while you’re serving up lentil stew and fresh apples, your children are seeing adverts for chicken nuggets, fruit winders, honey nut cornflakes, and the brightly packaged snacks that shout louder than you can. They go to school where ‘normal’ is lunchables and crisps. They know what they are missing. And you, the parent who makes tea with the dried nettle leaves collected in the spring to add extra minerals and vitamins into your life, you are the strange one.  

So, the dilemma isn’t just nutritional, it’s cultural. What is affordable is often seen as backward. What is really healthy is mocked. And what is advertised is what children demand. 

Maybe the real question isn’t: What should poor families eat? 
But: Why have we created a food system where the healthy choice makes you poor, tired, and slightly odd, while the advertised choice makes you normal? 

Until that changes, feeding a family ‘well’ on empty pockets will remain a nearly impossible task. 

Meanwhile, if people have tried and trusted meals that are cheap, easy to cook, not highly processed and kids will eat – post them in the comments and we can pass them on to our struggling families…… 

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