UK - Resources for help getting food during quarantine and other supermarket related problems

I didn't realise that milkman now deliver a whole range of goods, including organic fruit and veg, artisan bread and dairy-free items! I just checked my local company, they aren't currently taking new customers but are hoping to soon - I will definitely sign up for an account when they do. I realise this isn't a good option for people who live in flats and is also more expensive, but I think it could really improve my quality of life. It's also possible to just make one off orders of milk (and other items) so that will be very useful and probably mean that I can have less regular supermarket deliveries.

https://www.milkandmore.co.uk/

 

Just thought I'd let you know that the fish we ordered, way back when, arrived safely today. Came via FedX. If I understand OH's notations, we've got enough for 16 meals for 2, plus 2 kippers for OH (I love kippers but can't cope with the bones these days they're too fiddly for me) and some smoked salmon for a bit of a treat. So glad to have some fish back in the freezer again - have really missed it since we ate the last trout fillet about 2 weeks ago.

We also had a sort of unexpected Tesco delivery. OH spotted a slot so went for it, thinking it was NEXT Wednesday! Since we'd run out of some stuff, plus he forgot to order some stuff last week, he decided to keep the slot.

We're all at sixes and sevens this week as we didn't have "Sunday lunch" until Tuesday! So now neither of us know what day of the week it is. Good thing we're not going for Memory Testing by GP!

 

I had my first ASDA delivery in several years today.

They sent me an SMS message when the driver arrived, then brought it up the stairs and left it outside my door in bags, as requested.

No interaction, my door remained shut until he left.

The van then left so it seems the driver didn't dissolve or drop down dead at all, as Sainsburys seem to think they will if they come inside the building to deliver my shopping to outside my front door, as they are still promising they do, but don't.

Pity about charging me before they picked it as I am now waiting for a refund for items they didn't supply, but that's ASDA, they have always had a very 'odd' way of handling payment.

Pity about not getting a single egg, as I now have only 5 eggs to last the 18 days until my next delivery.

The veg looks okay, the rolls were both substituted with much smaller ones, and conveniently delivered at the bottom of a bag of tinned stuff, but that's not a problem at all as I have no eggs to put in the flats.

Their cheese and onion pasties are the second worse that I have encountered in 54 years - so I probably won't be buying them again

Other than that they have done better than sainsburys have recently.

I am also now on Tesco's list, so they are next up for a trial.

 

On the phone yesterday to friends.

They have been getting home deliveries from Kale and Damson, Papworth Everard, Cambs

https://www.kaleanddamson.co.uk/

they're wholesale fruit and veg suppliers but now supplying a range of foods locally. Delivery area seems to be some Cambridgeshire, Peterborough and Stevenage postcodes - full list on website.

May be of interest to anyone in that area.

 

I've only just spotted this: apparently it was in last week's newsletter, so probably everyone else has already taken advantage of it, but still ...

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/t...ies-and-online-shopping-if-you-re-vulnerable/

 

in the comments was this:
https://www.freshpastures.co.uk/fresh-pastures-home-deliveries.php

"
across the North of England, Yorkshire and the East Midlands.

• FREE DELIVERY
• LOCALLY SOURCED PRODUCE
• ONLINE ORDERING"

 

Today, out of the blue, I received a government food parcel.

The evidence is definitely suggestive of my now being on the 'extremely like to get seriously mucked up by coronavirus and make us look bad' list.

These are better than the food parcel that @Hell..hath..no..fury... received, but are, IMO, missing vital stuff if they are to be a sick persons only source of nutrition, for a week.

My box contained;

2L branded semi uht
1 onion
2kg white potatoes
maybe 400g of carrots (in good order)
166g of typhoo tea bags - it doesn't say how many this is)
500g of unknown penne pasta
50g coffee in foil bag
5 small granny smith apples (i'm under the impression these are cooking apples)
1 fray bentos chicken pie inna tin
500g long grain rice
112g "the nice fisherman" tuna chunks in brine
3 400g tins of baxters tomato soup
2 415g tins of heinz reduced salt baked beans
1 800g tin of chopped toms
1 homepride tomato and herb pasta bake
5 small valencia oranges in good order
400g mcvities digestives
400g weetabix crunchy weeties
1 toilet roll that's too deep to fit on any domestic holder
5 body wash things - if only I had a shower
1 very tiny soap
1 frozen white loaf - thin sliced (annon - just in clear bag)

No meat, eggs, butter, green veg, no lots of things.

I have received the NHS shielding text and I am not supposed to go out my front door.

The box was delivered by Bidfood, the official government contractor, who, as far as I know, only deliver to people who have been told to shield.

It was left downstairs, in the 'lobby', with a note saying who it was for, and that he had gotten no response.

Based on the amount of time he was there it is unlikely he had time to write the note, unless it was prewritten before he attempted delivery.

It was left there after I buzzed him in.

The whole 'shielding' thing seems to be beyond everyone, even those whose job is only to deliver to those shielding.

The food box is appreciated, it's not perfect but it will be helpful.

The manner of delivery is less so.

 

I had my second government food parcel. This time the potatoes were green and some of the carrots were going rotten. The bread had been previously frozen and was drying out. There is almost zero protein - one tin of Frey Bentos chicken meatballs (17% chicken) and a small tin of tuna in brine. The rice and pasta are cheap white versions, so the only real fibre in the parcel comes from the apples, tiny mandarins and about 4 usable carrots - and possibly the baked beans. If these food parcels were your only food for 12 weeks your health would be seriously affected by the non-nutritional value of the items. Yet these were designed with food nutritionists!

 

The coffee is actually quite good, a bit strong caffeine wise, but tastes fine.

I am still trying to figure out what, precisely, they expect me to do with the onion.

Onions are used in cooking, soups, stews, etc. They are also sometimes fried and used as an accompaniment to meat inna bun. They can also be used sliced in meat or cheese sandwiches. They haven't supplied any meat, cheese, pulses, or anything to make soup/stew from. They haven't supplied any actual cooking ingredients - a lot of which keep forever so perishability isn't why, so, as person who normally uses over a kilo of onions a week, I am a little stumped as to what use it would be if my total food supplies were what they have sent.

Oddly, if they don't think people can cook so don't need ingredients, they also haven't supplied any ready meals - what they have supplied is some form of halfway house that, on it's own, won't actually result in what are conventionally referred to as 'meals', unless additional ingredients are used.

This is not the only puzzle - it looks like the specifications for what should be in such a box were arrived at by someone who doesn't cook, or even eat, at home.

A good 2-3 weeks worth of carbs, with very little else. A portion of rice is officially around 70g, so 500g is 7 portions, same with the pasta, and unless making a cottage pie or similar the potatoes are over a weeks worth as well - and such a thing can't be made as there is no meat.

So, it's heavily processed carbs for breakfast, dry toast with beans and/or soup for lunches, and basically just bare carbs for tea - yes there is a pie which is officially 3 portions, but have you ever tried one of those pies when it's been cooked, part used and left in the fridge for a day, let alone 2? Not nice.

Same thing with the pasta bake thing. It's one jar, it needs to be cooked as one thing, once cooked these things do not work well reheated- and even if they did it's basically white pasta, sugar, and some artificial flavourings. Calories but very little nutrition. Not suitable for a diabetic.

These food parcels are not, despite what the 'advertising' says, suitable as the only source of food, for anyone, let alone someone who is ill. They make a 'pretty' pile, and look reasonably substantial, until you look at what's actually in them and try and figure out what could be made from it, with nothing else.

Until you actually try and plan meals for a week.

This doesn't mean that I don't appreciate it, I do, they will be very helpful, as I do have the other bits needed to make meals out of what they have supplied, but as a sole source of food, a poorly thought out effort.

ETA - for example, with the addition of a mere 500g of mince, using half the onion, some of the carrots, and the potatoes (with the addition of around 2 spoonfuls of flour) could make 4-5 'generous' cottage pies, which is tea for 4-5 days, and the mince would be roughly the same price as the 'chicken' pie. Most people, with google, could manage to make a cottage pie (fair enough not everyone, but not everyone can make a pasta bake, or successfully cook the 'chicken' pie either)

ETAA - looking on a government website for what these boxes are supposed to contain it appears my box was a little light.

from https://deframedia.blog.gov.uk/2020/04/02/nutritional-content-of-the-government-food-parcels/

I did not receive the tinned meat, tinned veg, tinned fruit, or the 'multipacks' referred to (I have never seen a multipack of baked beans with only 2 tins in, and multipacks of soup are generally 4 packs ). From reading around it also appears that it is 'normal' to receive 2 jars, albeit probably smaller ones, of pasta sauce rather than one big (425g) one (which the cooking instructions on the jar state it requires to be topped with grated cheese halfway through cooking - which they don't supply).

Most of these omissions are irrelevant to me, as the pasta sauce will probably be given away, I do not eat heinz baked beans unless I have nothing else, I do not eat tinned fruit unless it's in 'natural' juice, and then very rarely, etc. The omission of a tin of meat and tinned veg however ....lol

It does sound like the contents list is being mucked around by people who don't understand, or care, about the purpose of the box, to provide at least 21 'balanced' meals for those with no other source of food. Things like 2 jars of pasta sauce (rather than one large one), tinned meat and veg, would all make it easier/more possible to make a weeks worth of 'fresh' meals from what's provided.

I have been looking simply due to curiosity (there's little else to do), the Bidfood page says these boxes are around 20kg, and mine was only just above half that. I know coz I had to carry it up the damn stairs, and I know how heavy 20kg feels in my current state of health, I doubt I could pick it up from the ground, let alone carry it up the stairs, so I was curious as to what the differences were.

https://www.bidfood.co.uk/2020/03/2...orces-to-support-the-vulnerable-in-isolation/

 

Technically my parcels have each contained 2 tins of vegetables. The first contained a large tin of mushy peas, and a can of chopped tomatoes, the second a large can of kidney beans and a can of plum tomatoes. There has been no tinned fruit or anything that could pass as a 'dessert'. The tea and coffee have all been prepacked individual portions (the coffee is the small packs given in hotel rooms).

The pasta sauce has so far consisted of 2 jars of tomato type sauce in each parcel (ingredients tomatoes, tomato puree and herbs).

The first parcel did contain a tin of ham, the second the tin of 'meatballs', each had a small can of tuna.

So technically they are meeting the list, but the contents can't be used to make proper meals in the way that most people think of them.

Some of the ingredients are useful to adding to an existing food cupboard, but in themselves they are not going to sustain anyone, much less someone with health conditions, for 12 weeks. Contrast to my local food bank, which is always advertising for things like tinned fruit and veg, as well as suitable desserts such as the individual sponge puddings etc.

 

Easy ways to provide dessert for people would be tinned fruit and packs of concentrated jelly. Sponge flan bases, tinned fruit and the instant packet glazing gel is another easy option, as well tinned or powder custard, tinned Abrosia rice etc. Really, they could have asked any food bank for advice on how to provide this. It's not as if most of these people won't have access to a fridge and cooking facilities (if they didn't have these the parcels would be no use in their current form anyway). They could have also provided some snacks such as dried fruit and nuts or crisps. It almost seems as if they want the most clinically vulnerable people (without a support network) to be going out shopping...

 

I’ve just had to postpone my Tesco delivery. I booked it a couple of weeks ago and it was due tomorrow.

For the last week I’ve had £4.50 in the bank and benefit money was due today but hasn’t been paid, thankfully I noticed before the Tesco cut off point tonight

I’ve postponed my delivery until Thursday. Hopefully my money will have arrived by then

 

Oh sh**!

Has this happened before? Mine is always paid bang on time - in fact it hits my bank account the day before it's due.

 

Its not a regular thing. But it was paid late only a few weeks ago, maybe Easter time? Or a bank holiday? Can’t remember.

whenever there was a bank holiday mine used to be paid before it. But it seems to have changed.

This particular one not paid yet is Housing Benefit. I get my ESA on Wednesday so I’m praying at least one of them arrives before my Thursday delivery.

 

I've noticed my bank tends to pay me late rather than early now if there's a bank holiday in the way - and since I'm the one paying me I can't really complain that it's someone else's fault!

So, I obviously didn't mention that I managed to get a Sainsbury's delivery slot over the weekend - first time this year (not that I'd tried before). We don't tend to buy a lot of things that lend themselves to delivery, so just tend to top up the long-life juices and other bulky/heavy goods every few months or so. Got a notification when I put the initial order through that they couldn't supply multipacks of apple juice, so I changed the order to lots of single packs instead, and it went through okay. No further changes when I confirmed the order the night before delivery. So rather astounded to find that the orange juice ... apple juice ... cranberry juice ... grape juice were all missing from the delivery. Put another way, there wasn't a lot left to deliver So there I was, taking up a delivery slot which someone else rather more vulnerable could have had, for very little reward Still, at least the food bank got some more supplies.

 

I've never had a DWP ESA or PIP payment late. If you're on the old (none UC) system I think housing benefit is administered by your LA.

 

I've decided to stick with using Tesco as most of my items are turning up and I don't allow substitutions for most items. I even got a pack of Hovis malted brown granary flour in my Friday delivery! I do however have to book my slots 4 weeks ahead in the early hours of the morning, when that day's slots get released. Even the priority slots are gone within 12-18 hours of being released in my area.

I think the difference is that Tesco pick their all delivery items in store, whereas it seems Sainsburys (at least in my area) pick their delivery items from a warehouse somewhere, possibly using robot technology. My local Sainsbury delivery service only offers a reduced range of items, whereas they offer the full store range of items for their 'click and collect' service (which are picked by hand in the main out of town store). This 'robotic picking technology' may be the reason that some people received chocolate eggs as substitutions for dairy eggs in their deliveries!