Great British Budget Menu

But across the country, I've never seen a fridge

Food prices have rocketed by 25% making the weekly shop

For nearly 24 hours you didn't have anything else to eat

until you ate that egg sandwich?

To feed their children and themselves,

families are filling up on cheap convenience foods

high street supermarkets put on offer every day.

Family lasagne for 2.98.

I couldn't make it for that.

And with fewer offers in the supermarket aisles on fresh food,

home cooking isn't seen as an option by budget shoppers.

There's a lot of canned food here. There is, yeah.

I get them in the pound shop, you know.

Behind closed doors, our nation is facing a food crisis.

In the last six months, I've lost just over 3.5 stone. Ooh!

So, tonight,

three of Britain's leading chefs, James Martin, Angela Hartnett

and Richard Corrigan are going to discover just how bad things are...

That doesn't look a lot. No, it's not, but I have to settle for it.

..by living with households who find it hard to get food

on the table because money is so tight.

How low was your bank account? It had about 20 pence left in it.

20 pence?!

The chefs will try and use their many years of experience

in the kitchen to help tackle this massive problem.

But it won't be easy.

If you had to shop like this on a daily basis

it would just do your head in.

They'll pull together the great and the good

for a budget banquet where they'll try to inspire the nation

with nutritious dishes that cost less than a cup of coffee.

Do you know how much this was? Two pounds. A quid.

A pound?! You're joking.

As well as trying to help by cooking their way out of the crisis,

they'll attempt to convince our supermarkets and political leaders

that we're now in a 21st-century food emergency

that can't be ignored.

What's happening in the next 18 months?

Because there's a crisis.

There's a crisis out there.

The chefs are travelling today to homes that are struggling

to put food on the table and struggling to eat nutritiously.

It will be a totally new experience for me and one that...

fills me with nerves, to be honest.

For the next three days, Richard Corrigan, Angela Hartnett

and James Martin are going to live and eat like their hosts

in order to try and understand the problems faced by households

on the breadline.

I don't quite know what to expect.

I suppose the experience will certainly be different

from anything in my normal day-to-day.

The chefs are heading out into a country where half a million people

every year are relying on the charity of food banks and food aid,

many of them working families.

When I think of food poverty I suppose I always think of...

maybe a cigarette out of one side of the lip, a can in the other.

You know, all the stereotypes you kind of would think about.

But I'm sure I'm going to be surprised.

Their mission is to see if their combined experience

of over 65 years can provide some practical help

to the millions of people who are spending more and more money on food

but getting less and less in return.

Richard is nearing his home for the next few days,

Mansfield in Nottinghamshire.

The Millers are a double income family.

Darren is a software engineer and Karen works at a children's centre.

Not the type of people you'd necessarily expect to be

struggling to feed themselves.

I just think...

Obviously coming from a working household I shouldn't have to worry

as much as I do about the cost of food

and about scrimping and saving.

Like millions of others,

the Millers are being hit by food costs that have risen

three times faster than wages in the last year.

You can't cut the cost of your rent or the bills.

save any money is the food budget.

There you go, Tia. No cheese on yours.

On average, the Millers have just �1.66 a day

to feed each member of the family.

Maybe somewhere along the line things will get easier.

I really don't know, to be honest.

Hi, Richard. Pleased to meet you. Hi. Karen. It's Karen.

Darren, how are you doing? Fine, thank you. Come in.

Richard's come to stay in the last week of the month

when the family budget is at it most stretched.

He wants to see what they eat, how they shop

and if he can try and help improve things.

So, who have we here?

I'm Tia. Tia.

Jack. Jack. I'm Cody. Cody.

And this is Evie.

Evie. How are you?

Shy. Very shy.

goes to waste, that's for sure.

There's not a great deal. I just hope you like beans. Beans.

Yeah, and tomatoes. Really?We like our pasta as well, don't we?

I'm afraid not. Oh, my! Oh, my!

It's lunchtime in the Miller house and, as promised, there's beans.

What's for lunch for the children today?

Today we've got hot dogs and beans and then ravioli for the older one.

processed sweetened food here.

You know what I mean? Hot dogs. Jars of hot dogs, ravioli...

I can understand they're very kid-friendly.

I understand that, but is it nutritional enough?

When you consider the cost of that ravioli in a can...35p.

35p?

Research shows that, in the last few years,

families have been trading down on food - buying less fresh

fruit, veg and meat and eating cheaper and more unhealthy food.

You're telling me 35p? 35p. Sausages are 49p.

25p for the beans.

�1.10p for all of this here. And how much was this?

The finger cobs, I got six for ten pence.

Six for ten pence? Yes.

Youngest son Jack, who is ten, has agreed to give up

his bedroom for Richard to stay in over the next three days.

Are you sure I'm going to fit in here?

I'd forgotten how small kids rooms are. I know! I know.

I looked in the fridge when he was gone.

HE WHISPERS: I've never seen a f

There is literally nothing in it apart from milk.

James Martin is in on his way to Watford.

One of the most vulnerable groups are the over-65s

and James is going to discover how far a state pension stretches today.

My granny never had much.

They were living on a basic pension

but there was always food on the table.

She was fortunate.

She had a veg garden at the bottom o

It's going to be difficult.

James' home for the next three days- is this sheltered housing complex

with his host, 65-year-old Patrick Ryan.

I am struggling at the moment. But I'm getting by there, you know?

But I would never have thought when I was 44 or 45 or whatever

that I'd be in the situation I am in today.

I'm just ticking over. Just about, like, you know?

Patrick was a truck driver in the UK for over 30 years.

Now, his only income is his state pension

and, after rent and other essentials,

he has just �2.14 a day for food.

It's a big knock back in life. What can you do? Just accept it.

There's people worse off, you know.

Hi, you must be James. Hello there,- Patrick. Nice to meet you.

And you. Would you like to come in?- Thank you for having me.

You're welcome. Yes. Thank you.

This is home, yeah? Home sweet home.

Right.

Erm... I'll just show you the basics.

It's small, like, but it's comfortable.

Yeah. So this is where you sleep? That's where I sleep. Yeah.

Would you like to see the kitchen? I'd love to.

Er, small. It is small, yeah.

There's not a lot in it at the moment, like.

That's the way it is, like.

You like your soup. Is that a full meal?

No, no. That's two meals. Two meals out of that?! Yeah.

I put it in the pot and I get two cups out of it. So...average cups.

So, I have one in the evening and a slice of bread with it.

And that's your meal? It is, yeah.

And sometimes I have two slices of bread, you know.

Chicken veg soup. I like that sort of thing. And my beans.

I get them in the pound shop. Right.

Sometimes, if you're in early in the morning,

you get four of them for a pound.

So, that's the...

That's basically the cupboard, yeah. What's in that?

I'll show you my fridge. There isn't a lot in it.

You're not wrong, are you, Patrick? No, no.

As I said earlier on, that's the remainder. If you shake it, it's OK.

I put a drop of water in it. That doesn't look a lot.

No, it's not. But I have to settle for it.

Times are tough for pensioners.

Over a million elderly people are estimated to

be on the brink of poverty.

Angela Hartnett is in on her way to Surrey,

one of the wealthiest counties in the country.

This is where superstars, millionaires

and Chelsea football players live.

It's a very affluent part of the world and it's hard to imagine

you're going to find anyone here who is struggling to live off

the money they earn or that they're struggling to feed their family.

In this affluent part of the country,

there are people who find it hard to afford a decent meal.

Like working mum, Joanna Rendall, and her daughter, Carly.

Single-parent households have been hardest hit by the economic downturn

In general, I struggle to get food on the table for both of us.

Carly is my number one priority.

As long as she's got food filling her b

31-year-old Joanna earns just over the minimum wage for her

full-time job managing a charity shop.

She and 11-year-old Carly have just- �2.14 per day to feed themselves.

I go without eating a meal or a dinner

so I can ensure Carly has got her meals.

Hello. Come in, Angela. How are you? Are you Joanna? Yes.

to disturb you. What are you eating?

Chicken noodles with sweet corn. Nice! I love chicken.

Do you like chicken noodle soup? Mm.

I'll let you eat your lunch. Bye.

Whilst it's lunchtime for 11-year-old Carly,

her mum is making do with a cup of tea.

missus. How many do you have?

Three sugars. Jeez, missus!

Angela first wants to discover what the family eats every day

so she's keen to go through the food diary

Joanna and Carly have been keeping.

Is this for one week? Yes.OK. And is it both your diets? Yes.

So why don't you tell me what you've been eating, Joanna?

For lunch I had a cup of tea

and then for dinner I also had a microwave roast dinner.

You just had a cup of tea? Yes.

You basically drank tea through the day? Yep.

And then on the Monday for breakfast and lunch I had a cup of tea.

Then I had a fried egg sandwich in the evening.

Just by looking, Carly has a good couple of pages of food diary

and you've barely got one because most of it is cups of tea.

How long do you think you can carry on like that? I don't know.

It's not something I've thought about.

I try to ignore it until something changes.

In the Miller house, it's chicken nuggets,

fish fingers and chips for the children's dinner.

And soup made from tinned veg for the adults.

It's not how Karen wants things to be.

At the moment, this is what works for us.

We know there's going to be food on the table and, yes,

all right, it's not as nutritional as we might like it to be

but that's the situation we're in.

It's not easy living with the guilt that you feel.

You see, when you say that to me then I understand that.

Sorry...

I've gone!

You find it tough, don't you?

Yeah.

I must say, you two are a hard-working couple,

you're doing your best, you don't get o

Nope.

You honestly both deserve better than this.

In Watford, Patrick has cooked one of his staple meals for James.

Half a can of chicken soup and vegetable mash.

It seems to me it's the meat that you're missing.

I mean, I'm looking in here.

We've had a few bits of chicken, but it's the meat that you miss.

Such meagre portions are not that unusual.

It's believed well over one million- over-65s are malnourished.

Do you ever feel as if you're hungry? Yeah. Yeah.

I might be watching something on the telly,

a television programme, you know?

Occasionally, they'd be wining and dining, you know? Yeah.

And that's when you would be hungry.

You know what you're missing out, but you can't afford it.

You settle...

Right, you've cooked. I'd better wash up.

If you don't mind, please. I don't mind at all.

Thanks for dinner. Yeah, you're welcome.

I wish I could do more but... Don't worry.

HE SIGHS

Food is also at short supply at Joanna's.

She and Angela have had their first- and only meal of the day.

Two microwave burgers which cost just one pound each.

Angela wants to try and help Joanna

find a way she can afford to eat healthily again

and she wants to start by having a heart to heart about what

she's surviving on now.

Carry on drinking cups of tea instead of a proper meal and,

I'm not talking a meat and two veg or anything,

You can't if you carry on like that.

You'll get there. You will. You'll be all right. Yeah, you will. Come on.

I know.

You will. It's not...you know. It's food.

It's hard. Of course.

I didn't realise how much! Go on.

You've just got to look after your health because, you know,

in the nicest possible way, you're no good to anyone,

least of all your daughter, if you're not healthy and fit.

You're going to be fine, yeah? We're going to help you do it.

As bedtime approaches, James is heading to his temporary home,

just down the corridor from Patrick.

It's unbelievable. Do you really look forward to this?

Do you look forward to eating tinned food?

I've just left Patrick now, that's it.

He's got nothing till his boiled egg in the morning.

It makes it all very, very real.

Today, the chefs face a very real challenge - to see

if they can create healthy home-cooked meals

on the budget their hosts have for food.

It's a school day in Surrey.

As ever, Joanna makes sure Carly has a filling breakfast.

What's your favourite? Bacon sandwich. Bacon sandwich, nice.

It's a good start to the day for Carly.

Have a good day. Yeah, you too. Good luck. Bye.

Yeah, good luck with your exam.

But that is not the case for her mum.

This morning, like most mornings, Joanna is skipping breakfast.

How many cups? I've had one today. You've had one today?

OK, that's your second one.

This is just the second of the 20 sugary cups of tea Joanna

has each day instead of food.

It's 8am in Watford and pensioner Patrick starts each day

the same way, with one egg and the occasional slice of toast.

I've had my toast. I want you to have the egg. Thank you, James.

Go on, have it. What I do is I'll leave it for dinner.

Don't leave it for lunch! No, I'll leave it for lunch.

I like to make a sandwich out of it.

OK, you have that. James. Thank you, just the same.

I

In Mansfield, Richard's waking up to the reality of the Millers' finances.

It has just been a matter of pride.

Things have got so tough, they've considered doing what

hundreds of thousands of Brits will do this year - going to a food bank.

I can remember saying to Darren, I've just been

given this information on a food bank and I said, I think

we're seriously going to have to think about it.

I think it were just pride really that stopped us from going.

A food bank is there to help people like yourselves.

You know what I mean?

Just to have to go through and explain your situation to other people.

You kind of feel quite embarrassed about it. You have to ask.

You can't just close your doors to your house and just sit here

and say, "We're hungry because we've no money."

Mm.

Unlike the Millers, Joanna uses her- local food bank regularly.

Today, she's collecting another emergency food package.

Surrey is an incredibly wealthy county,

if not one of the most wealthy in the UK.

I was gobsmacked to think that you would need food banks

and there would be a crisis.

I think that's what makes it all the more reason to set it up.

We have very high levels of depravation

and in the first seven months, we fed just under 1,000 people

and we're the smallest borough in the county, so it just

shows that the need is there and we're continuing to grow every week.

The Trussell Trust, the UK's largest provider of food banks,

says use of their banks has tripled this year.

But this isn't a permanent solution for Joanna.

Food banks can't give an unlimited supply of food.

When you came the first time, how did you feel?

I was very nervous the first time.

It's still quite a nerve-racking thing.

And also, do you think it's been a big emotional support, feeling that you're not by yourself?

It has. I come here and see other people that are in the same boat,

that's it, look around, it's not just me struggling and as much

as I'm probably uncomfortable, they were at some point as well.

Thank you. Bye. Thanks a lot.

It's clear each household is stretched to the limit.

Now, the chefs are going to see for themselves

the challenges their hosts face.

They're going to have to shop on the same budget their hosts have

to spend on dinner.

For the Millers, it's nearing the end of the month,

when money is at its tightest.

69 for dinner. That's per head.

Ho-ho-ho(!) Looks like I'm going to be done for a bit of shoplifting!

So that's basically, nearly a pound for each of you for dinner.

Yeah. Jesus!

I figured it out, about �1.04. So double it, �2.08.

Yeah. So I've got to go shopping cos I haven't got long.

Well, good luck to you and don't get mugged. Don't get mugged with that!

No, no. Cheers.OK. See you later.

The chefs are up and running.

Well, there's a lot of red stickers here.

There's no question about a lot of red stickers.

In Leatherhead, Angela thinks her best bet is to find

independent shops. I can't see any butchers.

Can't see any sort of fruit and veg places.

The only thing so far has been a little baker's.

James is looking for his ingredients at Watford market.

I've got a few things, which is a bit of a head-start.

I've got an onion.

Decent size onion as well. That was 48p.

And then I pushed the budget out.

I went to 78p and I got a...nice fresh tomato.

So...78p of my budget has gone already.

Angela's in the supermarket Joanna goes to in search of cheap ready-meals, but Angela's got lucky

and bagged a bargain on discounted fresh food.

I've bought six pieces of chicken for �1.50.

So I've got �1.50 left of my budget to spend.

Richard's struggling to find the food he wants at a price

he can afford. He seems to find it easier to track something

he can buy in the processed food aisle.

Family lasagne for �2.98.

I couldn't make it for that.

Now, I'm after something for pensioners. What about chicken?

Chicken legs? Chicken legs, yeah, 3.10 a kilo.

Maybe I'll try one of those then.

78. That'll have to do.

cut it in half for me as well.

James's next stop is to buy the rest of his ingredients to make

a chicken curry.

Meanwhile, Richard is still searching for the fresh ingredients he wants.

I'm looking for a piece of salmon to feed seven people altogether.

Now, he's torn between wanting to give the Millers the kind

of nutritious meal they used to enjoy or sticking to the budget.

What's the damage, Fred? �11.33.

Go for it.

There goes the budget.

Right.

James managed to get his single chicken leg

and individual veg for �1.56, just below budget.

But the rice and spice for his curry have taken him over by �1.12.

It's so difficult. I cannot tell you how hard this was

because when you're trying to cook for four or six, it's a lot easier.

When you buy stuff individually, it just costs you so much more money.

Five minutes and you're ready to eat? OK, yeah. All right.

With rice and spice left over, James hopes the overspend will become

an investment in many more of the curries Patrick loves.

He can have the best bit, he can have the thigh.

Richard knows he's gone way over budget by buying fresh salmon.

But his cooking tips are also useful with budget

ingredients like frozen fish, still- healthier than pre-prepared food.

salmon, just in a little Thai broth,

with some Jasmine rice. Sounds delicious! Fresh.

So how did you find it, shopping on a budget?

Very, very difficult. Yeah.

And the technique is simple enough for a busy working family.

I was just trying to absorb everything that's happening

so we can repeat it. Yeah, pretty much.

A piece of salmon. One.

Two.

Three.

Richard also knows this dish will stretch over more than one mealtime.

And there's going to be plenty of broth left over as well

because when we poach the salmon, we're going to use some of it

and we'll be able to make another dish maybe for tomorrow,

taking it up slightly, putting a little rice into it, boil up the

rice in the broth that's left over a

Would you like a carrot? Eat a carrot, please!

Eat a carrot, that'll make my day!

That you eat a carrot.

All right?

Is that good?

Yes? You love vegetables, don't you? I do like them.Mm.

That's a good thing.

Angela thinks Joanna could also afford fresh ingredients

if she spread them across more than one meal.

This is a big cabbage. This is going to last you a good week.

And then I find with the carrots as well,

I'd probably make a coleslaw out of it.

I was thinking that as well today. I do like it.

It's something my granddad made for years, home-made coleslaw.

There's enough of the half price chicken for tomorrow as well.

You could take one drumstick for you for lunch.

Yeah.

But ultimately, by buying the extra- veg to go with dinner,

Angela too has gone over budget.

When was the last time you ate a meal like this?

I'm not sure, to be honest. a while? Yeah, quite a while.

Bon appetit!

Nice. Hey, nice?

Hmm!

At the Millers' house, Richard's freshly cooked meal is a success.

Did you taste that salmon? Yeah, I tried it. What do you think? It's really nice.

Fresh cooking is nicer than, like, chicken nuggets and stuff.

And I did enjoy it today. It was really nice.

There you go, Patrick.

Oh, my God! Chicken curry. Is that all right? Oh, yes! My favourite!

Is that right? Honestly!

It's so long since I had a chicken dinner.

You're a fantastic cook, James. Fair dos to you. I try.

Mm. You haven't seen all the washing up! I don't mind. I'll do that.

The chefs have given their hosts a few tips to help them cook more.

But they couldn't stay within budget.

So Patrick's had a decent meal at last.

But it kind of makes me feel a bit depressed, really,

because I didn't achieve it in the budget.

I did actually genuinely think I was going to be able to do it.

So although we had a great meal, it's still tinged with sadness.

Yeah, I feel I failed really.

If the chefs want to succeed at the budget banquet,

they'll need to be a lot more creative with their pennies.

The next morning and Angela thinks she'll be able to give Joanna

recipe ideas on her budget.

But first, she wants Joanna to confront her current sugar consumption in all that sweet tea.

So, if we sort of say each spoon, cos they're quite big spoons, you do

say five grams, so that's 15 grams of sugar in every cup you have.

You do 20 cups. Averages about 300 grams of sugar a day.

So you're looking at over two kilos of sugar a week.

That's halfway through the week. That's Monday to Wednesday.

This is Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday.

That is how much sugar you have. Are you shocked by seeing that? I am.

That's an awful lot, to look at it.

I'm surprised I'm not bouncing off the walls. I'm surprised.

From now on, Angela wants Joanna to start the day properly.

I'm going to make her just the simplest, cheapest of breakfasts,

which is a lovely porridge with the sweetness from bananas.

What's in there?

Do you like porridge? I do.You do?- Hallelujah! Lots of sugar on top!

Well, we're not going to maybe do that bit.

The banana again, it's going to give you energy, for a start,

which is what you lack in the morning.

The great thing about something like this is because you're not

buying cereal covered in sugar, it's a lot cheaper.

Porridge is one of the cheapest cereals on the market.

In Mansfield, Richard's pleased to see the Miller children

are also having a nutritious breakfast.

How are you doing, kids? All right.

Is this one of your favourites?

Yeah.

Enjoy. Thank you.

Richard's joining Karen on her weekly shop in the car she's borrowed from her dad.

It's a job that can take many hours,

as she hunts for bargains in several stores.

But the shopping is always more enjoyable

when the wages have landed in the bank account.

When it's payday, you can afford to go and restock the fridge

and have lots of choice in there, lots of variety, lots of colours.

How low was your bank account? I think I had about 20p left in it.

Karen! 20p?! Yes.That was what you had in the account?

Yes.

I spent the last... 20p?! That's a monthly occurrence.

It happens every month.

With Joanna consuming so much sugar,

Angela wants her to see a professional about her diet.

Hello. Joanna, would you like to come through?

Pleased to meet you. Come in.

So she's brought Joanna to Paula Gilbert,

who's worked as a dietician for over 30 years.

It's been roughly six months, coming to replace breakfast

and lunch with cups of tea.

And having a lot of microwaved food at the moment.

So lots and lots of tea and three sugars in my teas.

How often do you have vegetables with your ready-meal? I don't.

The vegetables, I will save for Carly.

And what's happened to your weight over the last few years?

In the last six months, I've lost just over three and a half stone.

Ooh.

My first thoughts are you're most likely to be suffering

from anaemia because you're getting- very little red meat in your diet.

And fruit and vegetables.

If you eat a low fibre diet, long term,

you may be at risk of sort of bowel cancer.

So again, we need to look at your fibre intake for more beans,

pulses, lentils. There's a history in my family. That is in your family?

Yeah, bowel cancer. On both sides. Really?Yeah.

With that family history, on both sides, which is quite unusual,

we don't want you or your daughter to go down that path.

It's very important both for you

and for your daughter that you get the right nutrition in your diet.

The good news is that you're young enough that if you make

the changes now, hopefully these problems are reversible.

OK? Yep.

How did it go? Intense. You were in there quite a long time.

A lot of reality in facing things. How are you feeling about it all?

It's a lot to take in. It's going to run through my mind and at the moment,

I

I know it's not going to be easy. Good. Well done. Done a great job.

OK? Yeah.Proud of you.

For dietician Paula, Joanna's story- is an increasingly familiar one.

I think we are now in a nutritional recession.

People are not eating as well as they perhaps did 30,

40 years ago, or even less than that.

And convenience foods are certainly playing

a part in lots of people's diets.

And they're not getting the basic nutritional requirements.

It's almost time for the chefs to leave their hosts.

They've realised that in order to start cooking more, it would

help to make a small investment in a store cupboard of ingredients,

staples that could be used as the base for a variety of recipes.

I've got you...this.

So James has a starter pack of basics that are not too

expensive to restock when they run out.

In amongst all this is what I believe is a good little starter for you, all right?

Now, you know you were on about basics, peeled tomatoes,

If you've got some pasta.

I'd like you to try a little bit more of this. More of that.All right? A bit more pasta.

bit of garlic there. Milk.

And then what I've done is I've put together just two recipes for you.

Yeah. All right? You've got a chicken leg.

You know that chicken leg? I really enjoyed that.

budget. Yeah, I really enjoyed it.

Thanks so much for that. I won't be- falling asleep after that.

Angela also thinks there are ways Joanna can cook the nutritious

meals she needs on her budget and to get her started,

she's stocking up her store cupboard.

This costs under �20, all this stuff in here.

So I've even written down a recipe for you which is meatballs in tomato sauce.

My mum made them with me, my grandma made them with my mum and it's such a simple thing to do.

So that's for you and that's one of many that are going to come

and that's under budget. Do you feel that you can do it? I can.

It's going to be hard. And it is going to be a struggle. Come on.

Do it for yourself and do it for your daughter.

Not for me, for yourself. Yeah? Yeah. more cup of tea before I go, yeah?

Go on, you sit down, I'll make it.

Bye-bye.

Richard's saying goodbye to the Millers. He's leaving them with recipes, a store cupboard

and a special delivery in the back garden.

An extra source of food to supplement the weekly shop -

four egg-laying chickens.

You just have to feed them, make sure they've got water,

shut them up in their coop at night, clean them out once a week.

It's easy.

Richard's given the family enough feed and grit for several months.

The chickens should provide the Millers with 20 or more eggs a week,

which, even when they need to buy their own feed,

will save them about �4 on their weekly food budget.

One's in. That's Mary.

Really chuffed. Yeah, I'm pleased about the eggs!

It's been a long time since I've had any animals in my house,

so I'm a bit nervous about that, but I'm going to go with it.

In Watford, James is bidding Patrick a fond farewell.

Thank you very much. You're more than welcome. Lovely, thank you.

A man hug. I will indeed. You're an absolute star.

I hope it hasn't been too unbearable for you. It's been good.

It's been an eye-opener.

It's also time for Angela to say goodbye to Joanna and Carly.

Are you going to really try? Yeah. Sure? Yeah?

For this one's health. Yep. And for yours.Bye.

I think I'm just beginning to understand what it must be like,

living off such a low budget.

I think we're just hitting the tip of the iceberg

and this is just one part of the country.

There must be hundreds of families like that.

The chefs have all taken a first small step with Joanna, Patrick

and the Millers.

Now, they need to take things up a gear

and come up with even more recipes and prepare for the budget banquet.

Where the chefs will bring together- a specially invited

group of VIPs to confront the issues head on and ask -

are we doing enough to tackle the nation's food crisis?

A week later and preparations have started for the budget banquet in South East London.

It's the day before the big event and the chefs are out shopping.

If I just wanted one? 30p.

But two for 50, one for 30? That's right, yeah.

The more you buy, the cheaper it gets.

They left their households with their first recipes and a store

cupboard of ingredients to help them start to do more home-cooking.

Now, the chefs are buying the ingredients for a new

set of recipes for their banquet meals.

They need to cost just �1 a head.

That's the average of what their hosts have to spend.

That's going to cost me two quid, which is

still too much for what I want.

They didn't manage to cook on budget when they stayed

with their families, but for the banquet, that's not an option.

These are now going to cost me more than I wanted to spend,

so I'm going to have to sacrifice something along the way.

So they're having to go from place to place

until they find what they want at the right price.

Pound a bowl. Any one you like, a pound.

Markets are often good places to try and strike a deal.

I know it's a pound a bowl, but can I sort of do four lemons,

two limes and a bit of ginger for a pound?

OK, that's fine. Thanks a lot.

Cheers. Thank you.

They all want a bit of protein in their dinner, but meat is

expensive, so James is considering the cheaper end of the scale.

What's the best price a kilo on your sausages?

It's what we have there. I'd love to, but it's still out of my budget.

Angela is still looking for her main ingredient.

Oh. Well, they've got chickens here.

Well, that's actually a steal. That is exactly what I wanted.

So we've got whole British chickens- that are high welfare standard

and it's three for �10.

Just around the corner, Angela discovers more chickens,

but on a different offer.

Actually, I'm going to change them

because you look here now,

I've got a medium chicken,

so the weight of this, these are there for a tenner

and then I can get three now for under a tenner.

I've got that wrong. I've totally got that wrong.

Angela's finding out that the supermarkets don't always

make it easy to figure out what the best deal is on the shelves.

You have to really read your labels- and really think.

Richard discovers that local shops can sometimes offer good bargains.

So what could you do, the best price? I

How many are you looking for?

Four chickens. I'll do you a buy three, get one free.

Thank you. See you later.

This is so difficult.

Already today, I've been to two supermarkets, I've been to the market.

If you had to shop like this on a daily basis, it would just do your head in.

James still needs his main ingredient,

so he finds the place with the biggest discounts.

I've been told there's a clearance aisle down here.

There's a few people around it.

Maybe there's a couple of bargains in there.

It's generally the stuff that's maybe got a day or two days left on its shelf life.

He's in luck.

They've just marked down what he wants for dinner - sausage meat.

So I've got about...just over three quid for a kilo, which is

a decent amount.

So I'm going to buy that before nobody else does.

Some supermarkets make big reductions on certain items

more than once a day, but you've got to ask when they happen.

That's �21.13. Can I give you these- peas to put back? Sorry.

I'm not going to take those. That's fine.

Would you like a carrier bag? long as you don't charge me for one.

No!

That's �15.51 please.

I haven't got �15.51.

What happens in this circumstances when someone doesn't have enough money?

Do you start deducting food from the bill? Yes.

We are going to have to do that, I'm afraid. No problem.

The chefs have finished their shop.

Now, they need to take all those ingredients and turn them

into a delicious and inexpensive meal at tomorrow's budget banquet.

It's morning on banquet day.

James, Angela and Richard need to bring what they've

learned about the nation's food crisis to the attention

of people who can do something about it -

to the MPs and supermarket execs coming today.

It's hard to believe that food poverty is such a big issue in the UK

and the Government has to do more.

And, of course, the chefs have to show they can create meals

that are cheap, nutritious and easy to cook at home

to inspire their families and the millions of others in the UK

who are struggling to put healthy food on the table.

It's not going to be the most elaborate banquet

but it's not about that, it's about making simple, quick,

nutritious meals out of fresh produce.

The chefs had to create a meal that- costs just one pound per head

so that it's affordable for their households

when they are back at home.

They've all come in right on, or just under, budget.

How tight was that shop?

I've never done so much maths since I did my maths O-level,

for crying out loud!

Today, they are getting

help in their kitchens from the families they've lived with.

Working mum of four, Karen,

struggles to do home cooking for her family on her tiny budget.

Karen! Good morning. Good morning. Good to see.

What do you hope to get out of today in the kitchen?

I'm hoping to learn some of your skills

because I really don't do the cooking in my house. I'm hopeless!

With very little to spend, pensioner Patrick has got

stuck in a food rut and eats the same things over and over.

Looking forward to doing some cooking.

Hello, how are you?

Single mum Joanna has been fuelling- herself with sugary teas

and skipping breakfast and lunch to try and save money.

Main question, how many sugars?

I'd make you a cup of tea but there- is no tea. How many sugars? One.

Wow! Brilliant.

Now that the chefs' new assistants have arrived,

it's time to get started on the cooking.

I've got this, Joanna, and I want you to slightly start to season all these pieces up.

Angela has gone for a one pot wonder - chicken with veg

and spicy rice packed with flavour and nutrients.

James has created a meal that mixes- inexpensive meat with filling

carbohydrates - gnocchi with two different kinds of sausage meat.

It's so long since I've had beef sausages.

It's a long time since you had beef! Yeah.

Richard is serving up a hearty creation of roast chicken

bulked up with cheap bread stuffing- and a side of filling

and protein-packed lentils.

The inspiration for dinner tonight is...your family.

The Great British Menu regulars, Prue Leith, Oliver Peyton

and Matthew Fort will be judging dinner at the budget

banquet along with special guest judge Mary Berry.

But it's not all about taste and presentation.

They'll need to decide if the meals- deliver on value and cookability.

There are a lot of politicians and supermarket bosses,

people of influence, who can do something about this

coming to this banquet today and it's a lovely opportunity -

I just hope they listen and t

As things heat up in the kitchens,

the budget banquet guests start to arrive.

Politicians, supermarket well-known faces, excutives, and Joanna

and Karen's families are coming together to put

the issue of food poverty centre stage.

I think the fact we have the rates of food poverty

we do at the moment in Britain

is completely scandalous and unacceptable.

We are one of the richest countries in the world a

We all have to wake up to the fact that hunger is in our midst.

10,000 children in this country hospitalised with malnutrition.

Over a million children going to school too hungry to learn.

The guests have to choose which of the three dinners they want.

Angela's thought carefully about how bulk buying can make money go further.

Do you know how much this chicken cost me, Joanna? pounds?

Where are you shopping to get chicken for �6 like that?!

Ten quid which was a bargain.

Eventually when you start getting your budget in order and you've got

excess cash, you can buy three for ten, put two in the freezer and use one.

Or you cook it all in one big pot and freeze it off in portions

and then you've got it, OK?

Richard is making his chicken go that bit further by bulking

it with carbs, in this case, bread stuffing.

Spread it out, that's great. Every bit of that chicken is used, Karen.

Yeah?

The bones are boiling away for a lovely stock to

go on top of the lentils.

James is giving more flavour to his cut-price meat by using

value brand seasoning.

Spice it with chilli - I know you like a bit of chilli.

I do indeed.

Is this a more difficult challenge than you expected?

JAMES: The toughest thing is the shopping side of it.

When you're cooking for one, like Patrick is, everything is

so much more money. The eye-opener for me was when you see...

What pensioners are living on. It is unbelievable.

If people see this now, which I'm going to take back to my place.

Will you start making gnocchi for everybody in Watford?!

Start a trend!

He will! He'll have a van. I know you will!

Angela is using the same technique as James making relatively

bland carbohydrates more tasty with- just a couple of simple ingredients.

We've got a bit of bay leaf and that's cinnamon.

And we've got these things called cardamom

and that will flavour up the rice which is what we want.

Angela knows to get people on tight- budgets to do more home cooking,

it has to be user-friendly.

How did you decide what to cook?

Um, I mean, we wanted to have a protein

so chicken is the cheapest protein

and I wanted to show Joanna stuff she could do in one pot

so basically we sauteed the rice and spices and everything

in the pot, we added the chicken, added stock and put it in the oven.

That's what I wanted to show. Her biggest problem is time.

The chefs are keen to promote home cooking with fresh food

but finding great deals to make that possible isn't always easy.

You get frustrated because when the supermarkets are offering

Buy One Get One Free deals, they are on foods that are...

They're not brilliant...

Ready meals and things like that that are frozen.

Imagine how great it would be if the fresh fruit

and veg were on really good deals.

It is about time they took some responsibility

and put some more great deals on the fresh fruit and veg.

Richard takes up the point with one of the supermarkets.

The first thing I see is offers, offers, offers,

and they are always on the processed food side of things.

I'd like to see offers, offers, offers on the fresh food side of things!

You walk into one of our stores, every week,

week in, week out, there will be at least 50 promotions on fruit

and vegetables alone as well as money off on fish and meat.

Let's be clear, there is a place for offers on other foods,

let's remember there are no such things as... Er, bad foods.

Often there are poor diets and to your point we do need to help

people to understand how they can eat affordably and well.

We all want to treat ourselves sometimes.

The economy hasn't been great the last few years, from time to time

you want a biscuit with your cup of tea to cheer yourself up. That should be fine.

Richard, I really think

because you guys are so powerful that maybe you should start taking,

leading by example, setting up some- food academies on the local basis.

There could be more we could do, we have our own cafes in store which close at seven o'clock.

We could get people in. Maybe you'd like to come with us and put on a class, let's do it together.

I think it's a really good idea, we do a lot of it already.

Of course there's always more we can do.

Look at that for a meal. You wouldn't get that in the Hilton!

Now, all the chefs have dinner ready.

So, the budget banquet guests queue- up beside their kitchen of choice.

I hope you enjoy it, I didn't put too much. Lovely, thank you.

That smells good.

Angela's kitchen serving up chicken with rice

and vegetables is the most popular choice.

I'll put one of each for you to try. Try it, Carly.

The first dinner to go before the judges is James's gnocchi

with two kinds of sausage meat.

A bit of gnocchi, some meatballs, some are beef and pork.

That's clever buying to keep it all within budget.

I really like this, he's got lots of great flavours in it,

this is a proper meal.

The great thing about being a skilled chef is you take very

ordinary ingredients and get fantastic flavours out of them.

But the gnocchi, I hope people can do that at home.

This is a really good meal. My kids would have liked it.

It's the sort of thing kids would eat and enjoy and not complain about.

It's such a fantastic imagination to put those basics together

and produce something so tasty. It's great and I'll be doing it at home.

I'm not surprised something so delicious could be so cheap

but I'm surprised something with protein in could be.

It's time for the judges to taste their second dinner - Angela's

one pot chicken with spicy rice.

Oliver, I'm amazed you can have, within this budget, have chicken

and she's done excellent rice with it.

and spicy. I

And it's very, very cheap!

This is very achievable food,

there's nothing complicated or frightening about this dish.

It's tasty, it's got veg, rice, chicken.

It's got great ingredients going on.

You can do an awful lot with a bird.

Use the bones of the soup, you can roast the wings, you can

do all sorts of things with bits of chicken and it's very good value.

As Angela and Joanna finish up in the kitchen,

they've got their eye on an executive from a supermarket.

They'd like to find out what the supermarkets can do to help

the millions of people like Joanna who need to find the best deals.

To me, it would be great to have one aisle that is your discount aisle or

your value stuff instead of... She works five days a week.

She doesn't have the time to do the whole day's shopping.

People don't have a problem with buying basics any more.

Why spread them out and hide them in each section, put them together.

So, it could be that they are there but we're not displaying them well.

It's nice you mention basics

because we've increased how much we've got in the basics range -

we've got 500 things in basics but if you can't see them that's not good.

Another thing we do and we are committed to is brand match

where if you buy a brand,

branded stuff, at the till we check 14,000 prices there

and then at the till and if you could have bought that stuff cheaper

somewhere else, that includes all the offers...

That's only when it is over �20. That's true. That's very true.

It doesn't apply to me because that's over my budget.

She's on two pounds a day. It won't apply to the bits I buy.

That's a really good point, Joanna, and we will take that away and think about it.

The top table gets its final dinner.

Richard's roast chicken with lentils. Lentils are not expensive.

There's a lot of protein in lentils

through that, carrot, celery.

I would have trouble persuading my children that this was going

to taste good.

The bread stuffing is a very good substitute for chicken

because it's imbued with flavour but costs nothing.

I love the idea of lentils with these vegetables in

and the idea of chicken.

That was a big satisfying meal.

It was really moist, you could taste the chicken

but he padded the meal out with bread and onions.

It tasted really tasty.

I love the idea that you can cook well on a budget nutritiously

but with lots of flavour and this is really delicious.

While most of the diners are eating their meals,

Richard and James are keen to find the MPs.

The chefs know that trying to cook food on a budget is only

part of the solution.

What they want to ask the politicians is how can

the Government even start to tackle the problem

when they don't know how big the problem really is.

There is no monitoring by Government of food poverty in the UK.

Do you think we need to start something?

I think it's one of the most important things that families,

and low income families in particular, are facing.

And that's why I've raised it in Parliament. Let's be frank,

the last 25 years no government has taken food policy seriously.

And that's why I've raised it in Parliament. Let's be frank,

the last 25 years no government has taken food policy seriously.

What they've been doing is either pandering to the supermarkets

or looking at production. What they're not looking at is consumers.

I think it's changing, we're going to introduce food education at primary school,

you know how important it is to... When you are young and passionate about food,

it's such an important moment.

So, to get that back into the curriculum is essential.

Do you actually think the Government has acknowledged it's happening

because I don't. I don't know if they realise how bad it is.

I think personally we need a national food strategy

because if we have one of those we can get the Government

working across departments to address the issue of how we get

affordable and healthy food on people's tables.

At the moment, if you are worried you are talking to the Department of Education

about schools' curriculum, the Department of Health

about obesity, biz about what the supermarkets are doing.

There's no way to get hold of it.

Food poverty should be on the top of everyone's head... It is!

Normally you cannot do the Marie Antoinette - let's feed them brioche -

because you end up with revolution and insecurity

and people on the streets demonstrating.

Food security must be a high government issue.

Of course it is and one of the issues

and something I'm campaigning for is unit pricing so you actually

get pricing so families can made judgements about food per unit.

The judges have taken the last bite- and retired to make their decision.

It gives the budget banquet guests a moment to reflect on the day.

It's hard for a lot of people but it shows you what you can do

and can create but we have to do a lot more to make sure those

that can't afford things have access to great food,

great cooking skills, great information so they can do it.

There's so much publicity about poverty eight hours

away on an aeroplane but actually it's on our doorstep.

People are really struggling these days and to try

and create a balanced diet.

What you've highlighted today is just how hard that is.

It was a struggle but James, Angela- and Richard are pleased

to have succeeded at producing a good nutritious dinner

for no more than one pound per head.

Ladies and gentlemen, these chefs today have proved to us

that you can have delicious, nutritious food for almost nothing.

In a sense, they are all winners, really.

LAUGHTER

But there can only be one winner of the Great British Menu Budget

Chef Of The Year trophy

and that winner

is Angela Hartnett.

APPLAUSE

Angela came out on top because not only was her dinner cheap,

nutritious and full of flavour

but it was a meal many people could cook at home.

Proud of your mum? Going to cook it at home? Good girl.

We didn't win. No, we didn't. There's always another time. I'm more sorry than you, believe you me.

It was brilliant.

We have learned a lot from this experience, Richard.

We are going to sit down as a family more to enjoy food.

The chefs have shown cooking healthy food on a tiny budget is

possible but having the skills to do it is essential.

With the combined experience and years between us...

And you might be talking 65 years between us all of food knowledge.

That's a lot so I'm glad we achieved it but it was hard work.

Change can happen. But change will take time.

There's huge food poverty in this country and the politicians,

the supermarkets, us as a society, really need to get on top of it.

The politicians here today agree the Government should

strategically address the problem of food poverty

but until that happens, the chefs have their contribution -

a book of over 50 budget recipes they've gathered from colleagues.

This is a recipe book -

this has been compiled by some of the most well-known chefs in the UK.

All priced up for you, all can be done on a budget.

Fantastic. Enjoy.

That's a treat. T

Take care.

OK, well done, Joanna.