Vocal Voices

Where is it?

We have all heard the phrase "heat or eat", but is it real?

A new report says that takeaways etc. are doing fine, everything from big chains offering pizzas and chicken to meal boxes, to your local versions. Box meals, that you still have to cook, come in from £2.99 per person per meal - those are the cheapest meals - others are more, a lot more, expensive. Six pieces of chicken ( + four smal bags of fries) is only £15 and a medium (10 in) pizza is a bargain at £10.

I'm sorry, but if you can afford those prices, and many of us seem to be able to, then you do not have a "heat or eat" or cost of living crisis. Either that or you do not know how to cook or do a shop. Some people seem to live on these offerings from day to day without givng the cost or alternatives a second's thought.

Yes, I do know that these places have rents, rates and wages to pay, so are obviously more expensive than home cooking, but if people are really strapped for cash they are easy to cut out.

I always think of Karen Matthews, the woman who kidnapped her own child to try and scam some money.
Karan Matthews never cooked for her family, they lived on takeaways. Karen Matthews had never worked. And it does strike me that many of these "struggling families" so eagerly espoused by local TV stations seem to have a mum who is somewhat on the large side.

Yes, some people will struggle. But the ones who really struggle are generally too proud to admit it.