I have lost count of the amount of times that I have answered the ‘tinned vegetables’ question this week, regarding my use of tinned potatoes, tinned carrots and tinned tomatoes on my blog, in my cupboard, and in my recipes.
There are several reasons why I use tinned vegetables – but the main one is the price.Last week when I went to do my food shop, I picked up, out of curiosity, two small-medium sized loose, ordinary potatoes from the grocery section. They certainly weren’t big enough to be jacket potatoes at any rate. When I got to the self-serve checkouts, I weighed them, and those two potatoes came to 67p. I put them back – because for 67p, I could buy 4 tins of potatoes at 540g and 15p each, from the same store. 2.8kg of potatoes, or two potatoes – I know which is better value for money!
Secondly, tinned vegetables can be stored without electricity, as they do not need to go in the fridge. Although I now live in shared accommodation, and my bills are included, for several months last year, I unplugged my fridge to save electricity, as there wasn’t anything in it anyway. Tinned vegetables can also be stored for longer, meaning that there’s less risk of food waste – no murky vegetables rolling around in the bottom of the fridge.
Finally, tinned potatoes and carrots take less time to cook than fresh ones, as they are sometimes pre-cooked, and often softened by sitting in the water in the tin.
Saving money at the supermarket, potentially saving money on storing them, and saving money on the cooking process – are all very good reasons to buy tinned vegetables!
I recorded a programme with the BBC for this Sunday about food, food waste, and cooking on a low budget – and in it I pointed out that in order to get the most food for your money, which is important when you are on a low budget, you need to shop across the fresh grocery department, the tinned aisle, and the freezer department of a supermarket.
Those people lucky enough to live in areas where there is a rich diversity of fresh food shops available may find that independent Asian retailers are a cheaper place to buy stem ginger or garlic from, an Indian shop that sells spices in large quantities for less than you might pay for a little jar from the supermarket, or large bunches of coriander for less than £1. However, not everyone has these shops within easy walking distance, which is why I use supermarkets as the ‘base’ for my blog – because many more people have access to one of the ‘big four’ supermarkets than have the ability to potter around a town all day looking for the best bargains.
People seem almost horrified by my use of tinned potatoes – but they’re exactly that, potatoes in a tin. People seem far less shocked by 77p macaroni cheese meals and jars of preservative-pumped pour-over sauces – which is where, in my opinion, it is all going wrong.
Viva la tinned potato!
Jack Monroe.
Twitter: @MsJackMonroe. Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/agirlcalledjack