Don’t suppose you live near 71? We could bring a bag over…
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Sorry, not sure I agree - there’s plenty of roughage and protein in beans - I’m talking about red kidney beans.
Daughter of a friend of mine - nearly six foot, incredibly fit in her late teens went to visit relations in South Africa who could not believe that she was the size/strength she was because so far as they were concerned she had “no protein” in her vegan diet. 
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I was talking about the rice, yes beans are good for protein & roughage.
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Awww, sadly not, I’m in Haute Vienne, within spitting distance (if one does such things lol) of Vienne, Creuse and Indre, but that’s just a little too far, even for good rice, thank you though!
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Aha… chili concarne delicious… Red kidney beans, mince, mushrooms, tomatoes etc on rice… but I can’t do that for 30p a portion… never mind, I’ll overspend just this once… 
Cut out the meat - not necessary.
It is for me… and we only use a small amount.
EDIT: seriously, 1 x steak haché is all that goes into the vege mix… delicious and enough for 2 people.
EXTRA EDIT: the steak haché is “minced beef” what the butcher prepares for me. He takes a nice looking piece of steak and pushes it threw the mincer and it comes out in a “patty shape”. The meat comes from a known source with good credentials and I feel I’m doing the best I can from all angles.
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OK, off the top of my head - 350g rice (15p), 1 tin Tesco mixed bean salad (70p) 1 tin chopped tomatoes (45p), 1 onion (10p), chilli powder or flakes.
Should do 4 people - BUT (and it’s a big but) only provides about 200 calories per portion. Great if you are on a diet but not so much if you aren’t. Also the ingredients are over 30p (not a lot but over just the same) and that doesn’t count the cost of cooking it.
It’s also just about he most basic “chilli” that you could make.
Jacket potato (UK prices)?
Ah… tinned tomatoes are ok at a push, but I like making a preparation using fresh tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, herbs and seasonings/spices… and then to the next step…
I tend to do this in bulk when toms are cheap… and freeze in portions.
Yes - though fresh plum tomatoes in the UK are not so easy to find so I almost always use tinned.
The aim was “could you do a meal at 30p a portion, and if you did what would it be like”.
But thanks for reminding me I should have included garlic - though it will add a bit to the price.
TBH I think it would be extremely difficult to make anything people would actively want to eat for 30ppp, though no doubt one could fill a belly.
Tin of adzuki beans (smaller, more consistent than kidney beans) for 2 X 60p,
Tin of tomatoes 2 X 20p,
2 X mixed peppers (capsicums) 2/3 65p for 3
Onions, probably around 20p or so
That’s up to around £2.20, allowing 20p for rice, oil and condiments to feed 8 people.
One might do better with jacket potatoes if using budget potties & cheese, but that requires an over which needs a greater wealth initially.
Well, we’ve given the matter a good thrashing I reckon. It will be interesting to learn if that MP wants to give any more little gems of advice…
EDIT: We didn’t really go into the cost of the cooking… should that be within the 30p ??
I wonder… surely not, seems impossible to me.
Min 75g per person, probably more if you want to get the calories up - that’s getting on for a kg for 8 people.
Plus where are you getting tins of tomatoes for 20p - at that price it’s going to be more water than tomato.
Another aspect to all this is that a lot of people on lower incomes live alone, it might be possible to cook a meal for 4-8 for 30-50p per portion but it is very difficult (i’d venture impossible) to cook a meal for one for that price.
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I watched an elderly gent discuss with the fish monger… while we quietly waited our turn.
I was amazed and delighted to see the fish monger carefully lift just one giant gambas and put it on the scales. Wrapped it and handed it over with a flourish and a broad smile.
Obviously this doesn’t come into the 30p conversation, it was simply that the fish monger was happy to sell such a small quantity.
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Entirely from memory - I do our shop on a Saturday in local tesco superstore. TBH I don’t think it’s possible to do a reasonable meal for 30ppp, although for £1ppp it should be quite practical for a family of 4. Again single people will not benefit from bulk-buying unless they can freeze portions away.
My diet was largely determined by what was reduced that week when we were hard up. Never paid full price if I didn’t have to - now I don’t buy reduced stuff because there’s likely to be someone who needs it more than me, though I find it hard to resist.
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Ours too (market stall). I’m the only one in our household to eat fish and, based on the recommendations of my Endocrinologist 100gms portion for midi and 50gms soir for protein, she cuts and weighs it as required.
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It is possible to do a full balanced meal for £1, and perfectly possible to make a dish like veg shepherd’s pie for 30p a serving or thereabouts. It just takes thought and effort and can be dull. I spent my university days living on dried pulses! Dried lentils are 3€ a kg here, so less than 10 centimes a serving. Add 10 centimes of carrot, onion and garlic, and 10centimes for 100g of potato, few bits of seasoning, and you are there.
Cans are very expensive compared to dried goods.
Some interesting information here…
Buy beans / chickpeas / lentils dry and soak them overnight. Much cheaper than buying them in tins.
There are so many ways it’s possible to eat more cheaply - we’ve just forgotten how.
Save electricity - warm up porridge and then put it in a hay box over night - perfect to eat the next morning.
Buy eggs from someone who has chickens.