Wasn't there similar types of things going on em with fire departments.

Farm animal names have Saxon origin. Cow, pig, sheep etc.

When they are turned into meat the words have Norman origin. Beef , mutton , pork etc.

Saxons looked after the animals but the Normans ate them.

According to David Crystal (wot knows these things) cow is from Anglo Saxon because they were farmers and too poor to eat the meat. The Normans were the conquering nobility and only had to worry about eating the meat so they called it beef (from boeuf, obviously enough). You can fairly easily apply it to sheep - mutton (mouton), pig - pork (porc). So Davy is right, of course.

Tbf the farmers were selling meat to people before the Normans moved in but like many things French, maybe they cottoned on to the idea that you could put your prices up if it sounded posh.

SpaceGazelle wrote:

Tbf the farmers were selling meat to people before the Normans moved in but like many things French, maybe they cottoned on to the idea that you could put your prices up if it sounded posh.

The French were the elite, so French was spoken at the posh dinner parties. The middle classe peasants were doing that typical English thing of aspiring to be the aristocracy, so mimicked their "betters". French words for meat products became the norm.

GooberTheHat wrote:

Wasn't there similar types of things going on em with fire departments.

Sort of. It needs citations, but I found this while link hopping.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowery_Boys

There seems to be some cross over between volunteer fire fighters and criminal gangs around the same era as the dual police force. Sometimes, a group of firemen/gangsters would turn up at a blaze, only to find a rival gang already there. A fight would ensue over who got to put the fire out.

Meat was really expensive until quite recently I think. People kept animals but didn't really eat them that often.

Milk, eggs and wool were the perks, with a bit of meat now and again.

Some "round the pub" talk is that the WW2 rationing era wasn't far off the mark being a very healthy diet.

I bet the best diet in Britain is middle class suddenly turned very skint.

davyK wrote:

It would require a lot of planning of meals, having the time, and eating far less meat. I know I should be eating less of it.

It's certainly easy to stick a slab of protein down when you live this far North but cheap food is where my tastes lie. Even with meat the cheap bits are the best and for years you could get away with paying peanuts before cheeks became a thing again. 

Fish can be a stumbling block but again, mackerel is still cheap and probably my favourite overall. Smoked haddock is pure luxury without breaking the bank. 

Veg is cheap but limited in winter, and this is a problem. There's only so much you can do when you're skint, but some veg is usually better frozen and canned tomatoes are great.

The best thing to do is learn 6 or so vegetables really well so when they're in season and look good and are cheap you can buy them knowing that you can do something with them, ideally that day. Learning 3 dishes for every season isn't hard but it's getting round to doing it that is the problem.

Sites like this are invaluable imo. Then a good seasonal recipe book like Slater's Food Diaries or just look in the Sunday Papers.

davyK wrote:

It would require a lot of planning of meals, having the time, and eating far less meat.

Hello. I’m a single person who lives alone with an above average income but, due to being the only one contributing to mortgage, bills etc, I don’t have great spending power. Healthy eating with fresh food at a decent price is a fucking nightmare.

There is a great butcher in the crap supermarket across the road but, due to the butcher’s opening hours, I have limited opportunities to get to it. There is a fishmonger close by, but I have similar issues with its opening hours, and it’s also fucking expensive.

There are no greengrocers. My options for fruit and veg are the supermarkets.

I find eating fresh fruit the easiest. I buy it loose, and I can buy it once at the start of the week, and keep it on my desk at work.

However, even if I plan meals, it’s a nightmare. Food is packaged for family consumption. I have limited space in my kitchen, and keeping any sort of larder is impossible. I don’t have the freezer space to cook in bulk, if I want any sort of variety. Variety is one of the main issues, tbh. If you want variety, and don’t want to waste, buying small amounts of things often ramps the price up.

So, if I buy fresh ingredients to prepare meals, things go off. I hate food wastage, and it doesn’t work out as cheaper if you’re constantly throwing food out.

Ready meals are much better than they used to be. Salt can sometimes be an issue in some meals, but not always and, as someone who completely avoids salt in the things they cook, I think I generally still stay under the recommended levels. Often, by the time I price up all the ingredients I have to buy to make something, it is cheaper to buy something prepared, and that’s before you take wastage into account.

And, yes, planning is a large part of it. Working full time, and not having anyone to share any household tasks with, I’m not sure I’d have a life left if I tried to always eat fresh all the time. I’ve only got myself and my dog to look after. If I was a single parent, it would be a nightmare.

Healthy food might not be more expensive as such, but cheap food is unhealthy. And very profitable.

It's so rare for us to have the time to cook that i literally count doing fajitas or spag bol (from kit/jar) as 'cooking' since it involves more than sticking something from freezer into the oven.

Don't forget that there is nothing wrong with whacking food in the freezer too. It takes almost the same amount of time to cook a 4 serving lasagne or whatever as it does a single serving. The extra portions will last a good few weeks in the freezer and don't lose much in the freezing and reheating process.

Food rule number 1 is buy nice things and try not to fuck them up. It really is that simple. Find what's in season, cook it. It's easy when you get the hang of it but it takes a small bit of practice.

If in doubt:

If it's a good veg make soup.
If it's fish don't overcook it.
If it's fruit just eat it.
If it's meat do a tiny google search and cook it properly.