wondering about increasing food prices, why people eat crappy food thinking it’s ok for them, and figuring out how much it cost me to have an organic meal last night (with recipe)

The British, as portrayed in the media, are facing food poverty, or “nutrition recession” as the Guardian put it.

Now, this is the kind of information that turns my stomach.
And I tell you as someone that is currently out of a job: even if I cannot define myself other than rather well off, as a foreigner in this country during a period of economic stagnation I have to worry about my future budget availability. Am I going to skimp on food?

Definitely not, and certainly not as my first move.
There are quite a lot of things that are not essential in our lives: plenty of clothes, the latest technology gadgets, driving a car all the time – and those are just some.

But food is essential. It is the fuel that makes our bodies work. And what you put in, you get out. Adding the trouble of poor health to financial problems is doing nobody any good. Besides, food is an inexpensive pleasure that we can enjoy with our family and friends. It gives colour and flavour to life.

Is the price of food the first thing we need to address for better nutrition? Maybe not.

We do not spend that much of our budgets on food, anyway. In 2009, the average UK household spent 11.5% of their budget on food and drink, the lowest income households spending a bit more at 16% [1]. Back in the 60s, it was +20% [2]. So food is considerably more affordable now than it has ever been. And we are among the luckiest: in developing countries food costs way more, with Kenyan households spending some 45% of their budgets [3]. With all that extra availability, it is disgraceful that we do end up eating nutrition-poor diets here.

Even if rising, food prices are still comparatively low. So, why do people turn straight to cheap, processed food, that is nutritionally poor albeit “filling”, and makes them sick and the environment worse off ? I find that a bit baffling myself, but I suspect there are many factors involved, as well as a healthy dose of laziness.

1. expectations and perceptions on the price of food


It appears a lot of people consider good, healthy food a preserve of the rich. And organic as the brand name for frivolously expensive food, not – as it actually is – the normal way to produce food, proven by millennia of human history. In fact, what we call “conventional” agriculture has been around only for less than a century, a lot of it spurred by a need to find a use for the thriving post-war chemical industry.

Besides, a 60 odd year-long ad campaign has drilled into our heads that food has to be cheap, we have a right to cheap food. It does not matter what the real costs are: how much it actually costs to produce food in the fields, whether our farmers are paid decent wages, if there are any drawbacks to current production and processing methods – on the environment we live in and on our health.

2. misinformation and lack of awareness


How many people really know what’s behind the glossy appearance of the food supply chain? Who has the time and means to find out? Without mentioning that calling for cheap food wins votes – pointing out the real cost of food not that many.

Besides, many do not seem aware of the nutritional value of different foods, and, in any case, they would not know how to cook them.
Despite the proliferation of celebrity chefs – on TV, on the web and in the bookstores – everyday cooking from scratch is far from being part of the everyday life of most people.

We throw away enormous amount of food – often we buy too much without realising (allured by misleading promotions of all kinds [4], sometimes we do not know if something is still good to eat, most of the time – it’s so cheap – we do not realise the effort needed to produce food [5].

3. culture and social pressures


And the culture around food in general does not seem to help. I was beyond shocked by an article last year: “toast sandwich is UK cheapest meal“. Its playfulness I found appalling. The nutritional value of industrial bread with butter and seasoning must be close to zero. The fact that is filling is not really relevant. And that they called a contest to find an even cheaper meal isn’t just sending the plain wrong signals? Well, it was after all the Royal Society of Che-mi-stry (rather than say a farmer or cook) to push this genius idea…

I should be writing about crop rotation, so why I’m posting on making yogurt instead?

It is a truth universally acknowledged that growing your own affects the way you cook and eat. In my case, it has affected the way I think more broadly, for example about reuse and recycle.

On the plot I reuse a lot of punnets, bags and all sort of food packaging, including yogurt tubs, with which I make seedlings domes. I started using them because – mostly coming in plastic 5 – they were not recyclable in our council scheme, which does only 1 and 2 (plastic bottles, basically). When I reached capacity on the plot, I got very annoyed to have to throw them in the bin.

Then I found that Rachel’s used recyclable pots. Then Rachel’s stopped using recyclable pots, and in any case I was so disappointed they used starch in the flavoured yogurt. Then I found that Woodland’s makes lovely sheep yogurt in recyclable pots. But what if they stopped? I have had enough of unreliable supply of my favourite products – it happens a lot here in the UK: as soon as I  find something I like, it disappears from the market.

I thought I would like to make my own, so I asked around and ever resourceful Carl said it would be easy peasy and shared his recipe, with which I had a few mixed results trials. Then I also had a chat with Sonia (another great source of food-related advice), and, in just over a month, I managed to come up with a recipe that worked for me, and I’m not going back to tubs!

Trial and error is necessary, because results depend on the milk and tools you use.

I use non-homogenised, organic milk. If you can find it locally, so much the better. If you can find it in a glass jar, possibly even better.

And I process it with the kit in the picture.

Besides, you need some yogurt as a starter (after the first time, you will reserve a few spoonfuls of the previous batch). I tried several and the one I liked most was Yeo Valley Greek Natural, because it does not contain any funny stuff (“No added ingredients. No added sugar.”) and because it contains

• Lactobacillus bulgaricus;
• Steptococcus thermophilus (the two yogurt bacteria); and 
• Bifidobacteria (probiotics)

So, pour your milk in a thick bottom pan, plunge a food thermometer in it and place on the simmer hob at lively temperature, until it reaches a temperature around 80C.

Stir frequently to prevent a film from forming on the surface of the milk. 

When it reaches temperature, if you have stirred enough, it will look slightly foamy as in the picture.

Turn the hob to the minimum and keep the temperature around 80C (give or take 2) for 8 minutes. I guess this step serves to evaporate a little bit of the water in the milk, so it gets thicker.

It is likely in the past taking the milk to boiling temperature was necessary to kill all nasties, but now it’s pasteurised already.

After the 8 minutes, take off the hob and leave it alone to cool down. 

The nice bacteria listed above eat and reproduce more happily in warm temperature, let’s say roughly body temperature, so you need to have the milk around 40C for as long as possible.

Adding the starter, which is cold  and pouring the milk in your final vessel will cool it down. So, to allow for that, the milk is ready to take out of the pan when around 55-60C.

For 1.5 l milk I use 3-4 tbsp yogurt starter, which I place in the bottom of the jar. I usually take the starter out of the fridge before starting the whole procedure and keep a room temperature for a while just to avoid temperature shocks to the bacteria.

Then I pour my warm milk over it and stir well before closing the jar.

Finally,  I get out the very secret tool to perfect the recipe: an old woollen jumper.

I wrap my jar in the jumper, place it in a drought-free place in my sitting room and wait for a few hours. 

If you make it in the morning, it should be thick by evening and if you make it in the evening it should be thick by morning (but I have read 3 hours might even be enough).

Place in the fridge for a few hours to cool down and settle  before eating.

It will keep for a week (if you do not eat it before!), getting sourer with time. 

Oh by the way, if it does not work and you do not find it thick,the cause was the temperature not being warm enough for enough time. You can heat it up in the jar to around 50C by placing in the oven (mind any plastic that might melt), and let it cool down inside.

Sometimes it comes out of the jumper with yellow residue water on top, I am not sure why, but it does not affect quality that I can tell. I had experiments in which the whole thing was watery, like diluted curdled cheese, and I strained and ate it with great pleasure….

Besides doing you good eaten as is or with cereals, it is delicious to cook curry with: tried and tested!

Are you going to have a go? Or you are an expert and have any tips? Would love to share.