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Mission: Shop so I don't drop
by Chris Osuh14/ 4/2005
HOME cooking allows me to take pride in my diet.
African and Caribbean staples like fresh fish, yam, pulses and
"exotic" fruit and veg play a key role in offsetting the
waistline-straining effects of weekend treats like Princess Road
patties, Wilmslow Road kebabs and toffee bonbons.
However, left to my own devices, I could find myself existing on
Greggs pasties and Haribo gums, being unable to cook anything that
isn't breakfast-oriented to a reasonable standard.
So it was with mixed feelings that I made the epic journey from
Deansgate to Handforth Dean to see Tesco's in-store nutritionist,
or "personal food shopper", Jane Frank.
Jane, of Powys, worked as a teacher and a cook before becoming a
nutritionist four years ago. She has travelled extensively and
written books on diet and diabetes and diet and menopause.
In short, she can change a drab Old Labour diet of Spam,
over-boiled veg, Mothers' Pride and Angel Delight to a sparkly New
Labour culinary repertoire of tofu, avocados and sun-dried lychees
before you can say "Jamie Oliver".
Jane is a firm believer that organic is best as they are grown
without chemical help in richer soil.
I'm told that broccoli is the most nutritious food in the whole
store, full of cancer-fighting properties and magnesium. Mums
everywhere are right it seems - cabbages, broccoli and greens are
essential to health. In the trolley organic broccoli goes.
Jane advises clients to buy things that haven't travelled too many
"food miles". Obviously you can't take this too far - you wouldn't
want to buy bananas with a "Produce of Burnage" sticker - but it's
something to bear in mind, because the further something has
travelled or the longer something has been in season, the less
tasty and nutritious it's likely to be.
So, British greens go in the basket, followed by swede. I'm told
the humble foodstuff is "underrated", "cheap and full of carotene",
which is good for the immune system vitamin C-rich kiwis and
strawberries follow. Jane wanted to get some watercress, but the
store had it only ready packaged and apparently hydrogen gas is
used in the process, so it was rejected.
Next we get walnuts, and almonds, which I'm told have essential
fatty acids and are a better for your bones than milk because they
combine calcium and magnesium. Blueberries, which work out at a
staggering £19 a kilo, also go in, because along with broccoli,
they are the healthiest food you can eat, according to my
guide.
We finish off the fruit and veg selection with blood oranges and
avocados, which are full of "good" monosaturated fats and good for
PMT, plus Fair Trade bananas.
My trolley is now loaded with ethical, expensive and organic foods.
Those of us who can't afford to shop like Nigella Lawson can swap
the organic options for the regular versions.
Chicken is the exception to this rule, according to my guide. She
hurries me along to the regular meat section, where rows of
plump-breasted chickens await.
"See those black marks on their legs, hmmm? That's because these
chickens have been bred so fat they can't walk properly, so they
kneel in their own excrement," Jane says.
In fact Jane isn't particularly keen on meat at all, nor big fish,
because they absorb more of the sea's rubbish. The only red meat
she recommended was a lean joint of organic lamb, £6.99 a kilo
compared to the ordinary joint at £6.09 a kilo, but the store was
out of stock. A pack of organic chicken drumsticks make a poor
substitute for a nice bit of livestock.
In the dairy aisle we pick up full-fat organic milk. I learn that
skimmed milk, loses vitamins A and D, along with the fat. We also
pick up organic tofu, because "it's a better source of calcium than
milk", organic yoghurt, cottage cheese for its protein content, and
butter.
By now I'm surprised at Jane's enthusiasm for full-fat dairy
products. She claims there's nothing wrong with butter, and that
butter, olive oil, and luxurious and tasty coconut oil are the only
fats you should use for cooking.
"Fear of fat has been a bad thing for the nation's waistline, she
says. People believe cholesterol in the diet is connected to
cholesterol in the blood, but the two don't necessarily correlate.
If you eat less fat you eat more carbs and that's a problem. Atkins
was kind of right - but he goes too far because not all carbs are
bad. You can't compare the carbs in cabbage to the bad ones in
bread, just as you couldn't compare the good fats you have in nuts,
which are fantastic for you, with the type of fat you get in a pork
pie."
We swing by the fruit juices, rejected as "concentrated sugar".
Margarine and spreads are also frowned upon, as not being "real
food", and free range eggs and corn-fed chicken are described as
"cons", because "free range" can mean an open door on a coop,
rather than a large yard. Modern bread comes in for similar
treatment, described as "inedible" because of steam-baking
processes that she believes rinse out the goodness and make it
difficult to digest. Even granary bread, I'm told, is "just white
bread with bits in." White rice too, has lost a lot of its value
when compared to brown.
Healthy eating ready meals are dismissed as being unhealthy and
full of sugar. Jane, frank like her name, picks one up and says
"wouldn't touch it with a bargepole".
The touchstone it seems, is the list of ingredients. If a product
has countless extras listed on the back, half of which are unknown
to ordinary consumers, don't put it in the basket.
What I bought
Princes' wild tinned salmon - £2.98 buy one get one free; Peanut
butter with no added sugar £1.18
Large pack of organic eggs £1.29; Princes' sardines 65p; Tofu
£1.39; Organic chicken drumsticks £4.99; Mackerel £2.18 a kilo;
Organic mueseli £2.59 for 750g; Brown basati rice 69p; Porridge
oats 99p.
Extra virgin olive oil £3; Walnuts £1.39 100g; Almonds 100g 90p;
Soup and broth mix 47p; Butter 89p.
Kiwis 69p for four; Blueberries £2.98; Strawberries 2 for £2;
Organic grapefruit 39p; Organic avocado £1.59 for two; Organic
butter 88p; Cottage cheese 95p a pack; Linseed £2.89; Rye
crispbread 99p; Oatcakes 79p
Pumpkin seeds 99p; Rye bread 97p; Fair Trade bananas £1.08.
Organic yoghurt £1.09; Carrots £1 a kilo; Red peppers £5.40 a kilo;
Broccoli £1.78 a kilo; Fresh greens £1.50 a kilo.
avoy cabbage £1.20 a kilo; Fresh herrings £2.53 a kilo; Butter
beans 89p
Salmon fillet £5.97 a kilo; Blood oranges £1.69 a kilo
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