Gratuitous Gushing about River Cottage Everday, Thurs 8pm c4

[oldjerry]

sorry,pressed the wrong button,I just feel that however ethically sound your message might be,you have to have some comprehension of the lives of the people you are preaching to.If you live on an estate you may well not be stupid,feckless or unaware of green issues.maybe you just didn't have the breaks.If you struggle to feed your kids,and to do your best for them ,the last thing you need is some bloke,who's basically trying to make a popular program for a minority TV channel,that you're inadvertandly contributing to the destruction of the planet,and let's face it,it' s really about profit.

[Sinmara]

Hehe, 'religious zeal' - that is exactly it!

The only problem is, he is not very health conscious - the amount of butter and animal fat he uses is a tad obscene. I suppose you can't have it all.

I agree! I like watching his programmes, but most of the things he cooks are not for me - either too much fat/butter/oil, or meat (I only eat poultry, and that only occasionally. But I do eat fish.)

He does have loads of enthusiam though. Also I like the River Cottage bread books, very handy.

[battybird]

I have mixed feelings about Hugh...watched some then got a bit irritated..however, he has convinced my mother and father-in-law to try diferent cuts of fish whereas they only ate breaded cod portions before...so I forgive him for doing in half an hour what I have been trying for years He does seem upfront about his non self-sufficienitish, but there is never too much propoganda regarding growing your own stuff! My main objection is that we have no fresh fishmonger in our town and we live by the sea!! So I have to use the supermarkets offerings! Maybe someone will open one now Hugh has raised the profile???

[Milims]

I like him. I think he's funny! I loved the one where he took all the blonde hairdressers fishing and by the end of it the stopped being quite such fluffy bunnies! I also liked that when the football team took the p*ss out of him for saying "chaps" but he just joined in with the joke. Ok so he might be a bit "posh" and he may not appeal to everyone, but even if just one person changes from eating supermarket carp to eating something home cooked with decent ingredients he's started someting good moving forward. Don't forget, it that one person teaches their children and those children teach their own children...............

[pelmetman]

"Pooh" is a favorite of ours

We are along way from being self sufficient and grow our own because I am a slave to my stomach and it only likes quality grub now days I am not convinced that decent food is too expensive for people on low incomes

We tend to buy our meat from the butcher in the next village, and it is always much cheaper than most supermarkets, and its excellant quality I can make a lovely spag bol/lasagne or chillie for 2 for less than a £1 a head
If we buy a joint we often get 6 meals out of it using "Pooh's" recipies, and if we ever get really hard up then I have threatend to try his Roadkill

Dave

PS just bought some Salt marsh fed lamb chops for dinner tonight from a small butcher, just over a £1 each and they're big chops none of those tiddly little things you find in T***o that cost an arm and a leg

[oldjerry]

We do that too,but it's our CHOICE.Yes you CAN live on next to nothing by sourcing your food on a daily basis,and cooking and recycling etc.etc.using local shops,...but isn't necessarily so easy for everyone,you cant ignore the social and cultural factors involved in being born and bred in poverty(I know some people escape ,but most do not).To me it's a bit like MPs\celebs or whoever living on the streets for a week to 'understand what it's like to be homeless'.

[ina]

Oldjerry, I agree with just about everything you say... (I feel you need some support here!;) )

Any of those celebrity chefs are hugely irritating; I sometimes still look at the recipes if I come across them in newspapers don't watch telly), and inevitably end up shouting out something along the lines of "whaaaaat???? 100g of butter for a starter for two, plus half a pint of double cream? And who's going to pay the NHS for that? My self imposed allowance for butter is 250g per month; cream - maybe half a pint for Christmas, unless I get it for 10p because it's past its sell by date..."

Yes, they may have induced some people to try stuff they wouldn't have tried before; good on them. But it's always annoyed me hugely that living the good life the way the celebs show it is only possible if you are middle class, with a good income.

Oh, and of course, they rarely seem to have anything to add for vegetarians.

[Susie]

I think I am middle class. Shall I get my coat?

I watched half of Hugh (fell asleep for the last bit, not him, it was late) because he had attracted so much discussion! I thought it was good and I ate a mackerel the next day so it worked on me .

I don't have the 'twee middle class person telling everyone else what to do' reaction with him particularly but I do know the feeling because Nigel Slater has that effect on me (I hope this isn't controversial). I remember him doing a column once in the guardian about his vegetable box and how he got recipes with it handwritten in ink distilled from a parsnip or something, and how superior it was, and I could have punched him. I also remember him doing a column about how you should order a few whole smoked salmons in the run up to Christmas so you could see which one you liked best, because you don't want to be sitting there on Christmas Day with an inadequate kind of smoked salmon as a starter.

And we don't have a fishmonger either despite being about 2 hours or less from the coast (although we do have a man on the market). I seriously feel sometimes like driving to Cromer and buying a big batch and selling it on!

[pelmetman]

I don't consider myself to be any class, just a selfemployed oike

But we have a fish monger comes to the door once a fortnight, does that make us posh
Nice fresh fish from Grimsby though and reasonable

Dave

[battybird]

The sad thing is that I actually live in a seaside town and the last fishmonger closed due to lack of custom. We often eat fish that has been caught by friends who fish a lot but the nearest fish for sale (other than supermarket) is at the harbour in the next town. It used to be really cheap but has now been taken over by the trendy set who moved to the town and the prices have rocketed accordingly!! Used to be the cheap option to buy direct from the boats but its not any more! I suppose the fishermen are happy anyway!!
I have to say that £1 a head for the main ingredient seems quite generous to me now our budget is very limited!
Oh well!!

[oldjerry]

Haven't been back to Penzance for over a year now,but you usedto be able to buy fresh caught mackerel from a bloke in a layby(depending on the size) 3 or 4 for a quid .....go out with tackle,feathers etc. , buy 3 quids worth off bloke in layby , spend a couple of hours in Kings Arms , go home triumphant !!

[ina]

I think I am middle class. Shall I get my coat?

I see class more in terms of income - but I know we have the poverty subject somewhere else on the go just now - and that's what I mean: they (the celeb self sufficientishs) seem to tell us "you can all do it if only you want to", but sorry, we can't all do it - not if we don't have the appropriate income! I dare say there are even a lot of folks who can't afford an allotment, if they are lucky enough to find one: some charge horrendous rents (I heard of something like £150 - £200 per year in one place not far from where I live - not council ones, of course, but the council don't have any); then, if it's not within easy walking distance, you need a car (unless you are lucky and live somewhere near a bus service, and, preferably, are entitled to a free bus pass, as "under age" folks like myself can't really afford the bus); then you need tools, and some money for seeds etc - yes, you can get a lot of that free or very cheap, but there is no such thing as a free lunch! For example, I get my veg and fruit "free", for doing voluntary work at an organic veg box scheme (paid in kind). But I need a car, and about £6 worth of diesel to get to that place. So not really free... I'm doing it because I enjoy it, it keeps me off the road, and I'm not losing out financially. I certainly don't make enough out of it to keep the car on the road...

An ex-colleague of mine asked me the other day how I cope with having next to no income, being middle class. I hadn't even realised that I am seen as middle class, but I suppose I am.

[Thomzo]

I just feel that however ethically sound your message might be,you have to have some comprehension of the lives of the people you are preaching to.If you live on an estate ....

Is that who he's preaching too though? Or is he trying to get to the people who do have enough money to be able to afford to buy better but can't be bothered and go to T£sc0 because it's convenient? He did a series recently where he set up a community allotment in Bristol and I really enjoyed that. They were just normal, ordinary people. Nobody cared about class or income, it was just a chance for neighbours to get together.

Of course, there are those who just bash anybody who is successful. Personally I like his no-nonsence, down to earth attitude.

Zoe

[pelmetman]

Sorry before you all shout I can't get my head from this class thing. In the past we have been hard up to the extent I could not even afford to get to work. But through persevence and hard work, two jobs a day (one of them cleaning in a factory) we pulled ourselves up and gradually worked our way up to being for us reasonably well off. As the years progressed we took many risky chances and, when we couldnt afford to live where we were we moved, this has happened more than I care to remember. Through all this we have met many people some worse off than us, who have become great friends some really well off and good friends but through it all we have never felt any class thingie, to us we are all human beings some do better some are not so lucky but for us who ever we are I wouldn't think us better or worse than the next person.

Sue

[oldjerry]

Of course, there are those who just bash anybody who is successful. Personally I like his no-nonsence, down to earth attitude.

Well ,now I realise that 'success' ensures immunity from crticism,I'm forced to realise that I should reassess my opinion of HFW(as well as my opinion of Jordan,Jedward,the Cheeky girls,and many others).I should learnt by now not to describe somone in class terms as this seems to have tainted what (I think) I was trying to say.Anyhow,apologies for any unintended offence to anyone. I now accept he may actually be a messiah sent from above,and when I can afford it,I'm going to buy everything he's ever written.