| The family meal is back in vogue |
| |
With our faster pace of life, convenience has become a key requirement of us all. We are increasingly more ‘time-starved’ due to our changing lifestyles and work habits.
A growing number of people now simply want to be able to eat “on the go” and minimize to the greatest extent possible the time commitment given to preparing and consuming food. ‘Deskfast’ dining and ‘dashboard’ dining are on the increase. ‘Out of home’ food consumption or the amount of food we are eating outside of the home has risen to 30% of total Irish food.
| | |
| |
|
Examples of hand held snacks such as breakfast bars, yoghurts in a tube (no spoon required), individual cereal portions & plastic spoon in a bowl, high powered energy drinks are increasing on forecourt and supermarket shelves.
While convenience has become more important, it is not enough in itself to satisfy our changing lifestyles.
There is more and more understanding about issues such as obesity and the health risks associated with poor diet. Consequently, there is now a growing demand for convenience foods that are good for our health as well as suiting our faster lifestyles.
Functional foods are growing in popularity, providing health benefits beyond basic nutrition and helping to prevent disease or an improved state of health. The market is valued at over €4 billion globally and €25m in Ireland.The supermarket shelves are exploding with more probiotic drinks, cholesterol lowering margarine, organic foods etc.
|
| The Irish Consumer |
Bord Bia undertook the first PERI scope study in 2001, exploring consumer
attitudes to eating, cooking and shopping in Ireland. It was updated in
2003 and 2005. The 2007 research tracking our changing attitudes is currently underway.
For the last number of years we have seen evidence of the breakdown of the traditional family unit negatively impacting on home life and meal times. But times are changing! After all that, it seems that Europeans and Irish people are returning to what matters – the home and family. We saw this ‘homing’ clearly post 9/11 – with the trend where the home and family started regaining importance in society. In Ireland the ‘homing’ trend may be escalating on account of the smoking ban and the price of alcohol outside the home.
|
 | Since 2003 we now see an increase in the number of families eating together. |
|
| |
| One in two has their main meal in the living dining room in Britain but most Irish people prefer the kitchen. |
|
| |
| Traditional Sunday dinners appear to still exist. 75% claim to eat as a family. |
|
| |
| 25% of Irish ate breakfast together in 2003. This has increased to 32% in 2005. |
|
| |
| However 25% never sit down together for breakfast. |
|
| |
Primary factors that influence our choices when purchasing are taste and quality, freshness and healthiness. Safety is the fifth most important factor. Price is ranked relatively low compared to other factors.
|
| 39% of Irish people see cooking as a chore – something that has to be done.
|
|
| More British people (43%) see cooking as fun or as a passion (perhaps because of celebrities like Jamie Oliver) whereas only 24% of Irish people see cooking as fun.
|
|
| The older you get the more enjoyable cooking becomes.
|
|
| 35 % of Irish cook / prep from scratch on a daily basis (more than UK 23%).
|
|
| 83% of Irish believe its important to spend time over dinner as a family.
|
|
| Males aged 15-24 were most likely to claim that they are eating convenience meals more often. |
|
Our attitude to convenience meals in 2005 was that they are:
Quick, easy to cook, require little no prep, expensive, 50% see meals as good replacement for home cooked meals, not very filling, 43% think they taste great, only 27% think they have natural ingredients that are good for you.
|
Making time for food
|
They say, "a lot of us would like to move mountains but few of us are willing to practice on small hills". Yet, it's the small steps (hills) that you take every day, that will add up to you moving mountains.
So if you want to make time for food – You need to identify what barriers that stand in your way of achieving that and then decide how you're going to overcome them. Here are examples of typical challenges or barriers you might encounter but it’s crucial that you identify those that are unique to you and, that you perceive could get in the way.
|
| |
| Time constraints because of long working hours
|
|
| Your tendency to eat junk foods or convenience foods in preference to prep / cleaning up after fresh food
|
|
| Inadequate cooking skills
|
|
| Lack of planning
|
|
| Pester power from children who would prefer to phone for fast food
|
|
| Restricted diet - e.g. vegetarian
|
|
| Limited knowledge on diet and nutrition |
|
By clearly identifying the challenges you will most likely encounter, you're better placed to find solutions.
Here’s how you might approach this task
Critically analyse your shopping list, your cupboards / fridge / shop receipt.
What percentage of less nutritious convenience foods do you buy ?
Plan your weekly shop so you have something substantial in your fridge or cupboard to prepare when you get home. The strategy of 'shop as you go', is seldom a successful one.
Plan at least two, three, or even four healthy food recipes you'll prepare each week.
Saying your cookery skills is less than adequate is no excuse. There are fabulous cookery books available. You'll find many magazines will feature healthy recipes you can experiment with. There are many online healthy recipe sites.
|
See www.bordbia.ie
|
A recent study published in the Archives of Family Medicine found that sharing a family meal together was not only associated with a more healthy way of eating, but that it also had a positive effect on the family's emotional and physical health as well.
In dietary terms, the study reported that children who regularly ate dinner with their families were more likely to have eaten at least five portions of fruits and vegetables. They also had fewer fried foods and soft drinks during dinner than those children who had infrequent family meals.
In addition, the children who ate with their families had a substantially higher intake of fiber, calcium, folate (a B-vitamin), iron, vitamins B6, B12, C, and E and a lower intake of saturated fat.
The reason for this may be that in the absence of parental influence, children are more likely to choose foods that are higher in fat and sugar. So reap the benefits now and make time for food.
|
| |
