Healthy eating unaffordable for poor
A study by Ofsted has found that the poorest families are struggling to afford a healthy diet. Following Michael Gove’s scrapping of Labour’s plans to give free school meals to all below the poverty line, the study found that some families were even taking it in turns to eat a nutritious dinner. Others complained about a lack of advice on balanced but affordable packed lunches. How would you tackle this?

One in three UK kids is obese
In possibly related news, 34.7% of UK children are obese or overweight, according to research by Datamonitor. Whether this is accurate or not, an interesting aspect of it is the suggestion that parents don’t trust products aimed at their children. Products that promise increased concentration, for example, appear not to convince shoppers. Simple health messages, it seems, are the way forward.

Bernard Matthews posts £4m loss
Turkey titan Bernard Matthews has announced losses of four million quid for 2009, a small improvement on the previous year. Despite the hit, MD Jeff Halliwell said he thought the company had ‘significant scope for growth’. It recently signed up Marco Pierre White as an ambassador of their expertly frozen turkeys, in an effort to position the brand at a more upmarket end of the spectrum.

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Other food news this week:
* Four cups of coffee a day ‘reduces risk of oral cancer’. Apparently.
* Tea and coffee can also protect you against heart disease. Apparently.
* Labour’s cider tax gets a reprieve in the new budget.
* New EU rules require compulsory labelling of halal meat.
* Cost of grub in the Commons goes up.

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Food for thought
L.A. Weekly’s ‘Top Ten Foodie Words We Hate, Starting With Foodie’. Particularly agree with ‘foodie’ and ‘bounty’. I also detest the word ‘eatery’.

Recipe of the week
This time of year you don’t want anything fancy, or time-consuming. Just something you can slap on the BBQ and be done with. Here’s just the recipe. Grilled chimichurri pork skewers from Choosy Beggars.

Video of the week

Man blends an iPad. Show off.