In his first blog Advertiser reporter Jason Lavan tries to stomach a supermarket ready meal.
Listening to Shropshire Radio over the weekend the DJ announced the death of one of the founders of frozen dinners. I laughed out loud.
The thought of the frozen dinner ‘inventor’ making the news was about as outrageous as trying to live off the microwave delicacies.
But the truth is, with little money and a big appetite, I admit to having gone frozen dinner shopping - with haunting consequences.
I was in ASDA doing my shopping and normally I would cook fresh food each day but with a lazy attitude and a wallet to match, I headed for the frozen section.
Walking down the aisle there seemed to be a ready-meal for every kind of occasion -curry, beef, chicken and even organic dishes, which I thought was rather adventurous of the food companies considering their target market are stereotypically dormant of nutritional concerns.
Knowing the smell, touch and look of fresh vegetables is no use when you enter down the chilly aisles of the ready-meal.
One of them even had a testimonial on the back from ‘one happy eater’ with a picture of her smiling holding a fork. No doubt she was told she was selling the forks because she certainly wouldn’t have been smiling after eating the food.
Meanwhile, alongside me the ready-meal experts were sliding open the boxes to look at what’s inside. So I decided to do the same. I can only imagine the ’sea food experts’ were drowning when they drew up the line between convenience and standards.
By the time I had stopped dehydrating from disgust, a new set of ready meal buyers began the loitering process of box checking and comparisons of frozen gravy.
Feeling that if I hung around the aisle long enough I might be forced to make small talk when I’m recognised in the ‘five items or less’ queue, I was trying to build up the courage to choose between the varying degrees of gravy-soaked meals.
Suddenly and without warning, one of the basket holders engaged in ready-meal chat.
“I’ve had that one, it’s not very nice,” he said.
No sooner had the last syllable left his malnourished lips than I was back over weighing the broccoli.
Jason Lavan will be writing a weekly blog published on www.newportadvertiser.com every Wednesday.
