Eat more than five a day

a. attard

Jun 21st 2009, 14:11

@ Joe Fenech. Lots of work man or people on breaks find pastizerrijas convenient to grab something quick as a snack and they are all over the place . What’s wrong in selling a fruit or salads with their puffed pastries? Maybe Moules marinieres can be selled too!....who’s making the rules?....then just call them pastizzerija plus…so what!

Re Turkish takeaways I never mentioned the Meat. One can buy a VEGITEREAN take away (pls see my commet) easily and its also healthy, they always have a nice mixture and can leave the yukkie rotating dripping junk meat bits out, unless you opt for healthy chicken or beef kebabs.

a attard

Jun 20th 2009, 22:30

@ Mr. Joe Scerri. an internet connection costs an average €20 a month for all the family to use. 5 fruits a day for an average family costs an average of €140 a month and that is no exageration. Of course if anyone takes just 1 fruit a day then its all much cheaper - but its the five we are talking about. I know because i buy the fruit and we have the five daily...and whats political about this fact? its just a reality. Maybe you are mixing lettuce with onions..........

v.pulis

Jun 20th 2009, 21:22

I haven't heard of any fast food joints closing down lately. In fact they seem to be doing a triving business notwithstanding the price of a kingsized burger. Those who can't afford to include fruit and veg in their diet must be eating meat or pasta. Don't they cost money too?

m.j.brincat

Jun 20th 2009, 18:37

@joe scerri: you are100% correct!!

and plus, people dont have to over do it with veggies and fruit, just a moderate portion, thats all. instead of having an icecream, have an orange or an apple. i dont think just because a person would take an apple instead of an icecream is going to make him poor.

stephen mifsud

Jun 20th 2009, 18:06

i think the fruits and vegetables are the best tasting from malta as it must be the soil and the sun...

Joe Fenech

Jun 20th 2009, 17:43

a attard :

"I would suggest that the psstizzeriji that mushroomed all over the place can at least offer some kind of healthy alternatives"

If you go to a pastizzerija, what do you expect to find?: moules marinieres??? What I would say about pastizzi is eat less, and pastizzara: use good products and stop putting God knows what in you rikotta and pastry! A bit of pride!!!!

"The only place where one can get a tasty healthy vegetarian quick meal and at reasonable prices is at the Turkish takeaways. Cant the pastizzeriji offer something similar? "

Absolutely untrue: I have tasted the meat in many of them round the island (ie the main one) and it tastes like dog food or if you want a better comparison, to kebabs in the UK! They use the worst parts of meat (connective tissue, etc , skin) and add all sorts of pigish stuff similar to what happens in bad sausages! Healthy kebabs are the ones in Turkey, France and Tunisia, etc.

Joe Fenech

Jun 20th 2009, 17:34

joe scerri:

You are right in that many Maltese get their priorities wrong. It's OK for them to have mobiles, Playstations and all that but they're unwilling to spend money on good food which marks a stark difference between us and the Italians, French, Spaniards..and recently even the English.

However, I must say that, still, even by European standards, food is VERY expensive in Malta. Let's not forget that we have used our land so that the fat cats make money out of property and entertainment venues which shows how soul-less we are.

joe scerri

Jun 20th 2009, 14:30

As usual we have to put politics into everything.
To those moaning that they cannot afford to buy fruit and vegetables , and yes it is expensive , to be able to make comments on this blog you can afford to have a computer and an internet connection, unless you are wasting your employers time and resources and doing it from work..... what a pathetic lot we are

a attard

Jun 20th 2009, 12:49

@m.j.brincat, there is nothing unhealthy about hobz biz zejt. Vegetable oil is very high on unsaturated fats that tend to lower blood cholesterol levels, thus reducing the risk of heart disease. They are still fattening though.

I would suggest that the passtizzeriji that mushroomed all over the place can at least offer some kind of healthy alternatives - Do we know what type of fat is mixed with all tha pastry? Some margarines are worse than animal fat. Maybe the health authorities should promote some scheme or ideas to these entrepreneurs.

The only place where one can get a tasty healthy vegetarian quick meal and at reasonable prices is at the Turkish takeaways. Cant the pastizzeriji offer something similar?

Joe Fenech

Jun 20th 2009, 12:12

This is a culture that's expanding!!! Tina nieklu l-imbarazz u daqshekk.

A couple of years ago I returned to my old private school in the north of the country. I was more than shocked to see the high number of obese/overweight children. Before you used to have 1 obese/overweight in a class of 35!!!! Today there will be around 25 /35!

Thank god we've become a modern sophisticated country: we've got computer drinks, energy drinks, McDonalds, KFC, kebabs (go and eat REAL kebabs in France, Turkey and Tunisia and see the difference!) ....! Plus 'il-professur' Austin Gatt was promoting 'WIFI in the park' to children (he actually took a photo with them) instead of encouraging them to use parks to exercise and run around!

Instead of wasting money on illegal immigration and giving out pocket money and E5000 to return home, we should spend our money to set up eating, health and sex education programmes in school. We've become a FAT country with an explosive rate of STDs!!

a attard

Jun 20th 2009, 12:10

No matter what anyone says, fruit (not to mention vegetables) are expensive in Malta unless people earn such salaries that cost would not really matter. In one of my recent visits at a Palermo Market, I could not believe how cheaper fruit was compared to Malta. We should maybe recycle water more wisely protect agriculture land from further development and aim for better and cheaper produce. Healthy produce do not come at a reasonable price and I don’t see much effort to make it such.

R.Gauci

Jun 20th 2009, 11:46

I don't smoke, drink alchohol,eat out in restuarants,gamble,have a car etc.and can swear it that yes in Malta its very tough for the normal family to eat healthy vegetables and fruits and other fresh stuff such as fish daily!!
Now that I am living in Ireland I can buy a lot of veggies and fruits at a more cheaper and reasonable prices and the quality and grading is excellent (see my previous blog about this).
Where the wages are at least twice better!!

I still miss some local products for the taste but absolutely not for the price and grading!!!
1 example was the price of strawberries that suddenly exploded up with the euro price!!

I am not a Maltese MOANER as how you are calling some people ,the fact that I left Malta because I was not doing it at the end of the month proves that and what Jos Rijpman wrotes confirms it 100%!!
Yes the Maltese are being definetely being ripped off in prices and quality of a lot of products and it will take some of you to live abroad to see the difference but it won't be the case for some politically blinded people!!

m.j.brincat

Jun 20th 2009, 10:45

@ all those poeple moaning:
being expensive is no excuse why one should not eat healthy. it is better that the bunch of you moaners cut down on useless things which are harming your life such as cigarettes, arcohol, drinking coffee every hour, hobz biz-zejt(or better yet, zejt bil-hobz) and eating pasta with a bowl full of cream everyday.

Miriam Ellul

Jun 20th 2009, 09:47

U ejja ....issa anki dwar kemm nieklu frott se ngorru? Ghal-loghob u ghas-sigarretti ghandna flus? Jien naqra u nibqa' skantata .... mela ghal-frott m'ghandniex flus, imma kull meta nohrog u mmur fejn immur nara Maltin jieklu u jghomodu! Restaurants kollha mimlijin u dejjem nispiccaw nistennew ... Tal-lottu dejjem bin-nies ... Il-pjazza ta' Rahal Gdid dejjem bin-nies jilghabu t-tombla .... fid-djar tal-loghob anki nisa tad-dar nara dehlin .... u dan bir-ricessjoni u b'hajja gholja ... mela kieku kien mod iehor x'konna naghmlu? Meta jsir il-gbir kemm ghal-Karita u kemm ghal-partiti jingabru hafna flus ... J'Alla jkun hekk ta ghax kullhadd irid igawdi ... Imma ghal tuzzana frott kulljum ma jkollhomx flus dawn?

Galea. L

Jun 18th 2009, 23:08

G.Debono
Can you tell us where and when you had carried out this research and how many people you have interviewed to reach your conclusions?

Francois Bulteel, Jos Rijpman
You are right. Some pn apologists do not want to accept the fact that Malta has some of the highest prices and one of the places were wages/salaries are the some of the lowest in the EU.

Gino Schiavone Can you advise us from where you can get 100% juice?

Dr Michael A. Riccioli

Jun 18th 2009, 21:38

The same campaign has been going on in France for the past 3 years or so ... but the problem is not all people have the money to pay 3 euros for a kilo of apples or 5 euros for a kilo of cherries or even 3.60 euros for a kilo of tomatoes.

What's more, we should also bear in mind that apples are sprayed with about 25 different chemical products ..... excellent for our health, n'est-ce pas?

michael southgate

Jun 18th 2009, 20:00

WHY BOTHER! YOU ARE GOING TO DIE FROM POLLUTION ANYWAY!

Steven Brockwell

Jun 18th 2009, 19:08

if you are serious then look at the prices of fruit and veg ? combine that with high electric cost and low wages ?? what do you expect ?

Moira Heath

Jun 18th 2009, 17:15

@Francois Bulteel Apples are not the only fruit and vegetable around. I spend on average 15 euros a week on fruit and veg to feed a family of three. Using direct proportions, I would calculate that for a family of 8 you're looking at a maximum of 180 euros a month ( I tend to buy quite a lot of imports, local seasonal produce would be much cheaper, and if you buy your fruit and veg directly from a farmer at a market, it's even cheaper), a far cry from your estimated 372 euros. Not cheap by any means of the imagination, still it's not an impossibility if you forego less nutritious products. With six kids, you have a lot of responsibility for their health. If you can find it in your budget to make some more room for health food, it will pay off in the long term, I'm sure.

J.Brownie

Jun 18th 2009, 16:46

But why in this one track-minded country even a good advice that health authorities the world over recommend has to be politicised and reduced to trash. If you all moaners do not want to heed the advice , just don't take it and probably you'll be increasing the risk of dishing out double the amount in medical expenses . Very often the question whether you afford fruit and veg all boils down where you place your spending priorities - cut down on your Saturday pizzas for example and probably you will afford the equivalent of some 3 consumption days of fruit and even more days of veg. A broccoli in high season usually fetches some 3 Euros at most and that alone gives you lot of protection against an array of deseases including cancers . So for heaven's sake , put your money where your mouth is and take a break from politics .

A Zammit

Jun 18th 2009, 16:28

@ Giov De Martino: Try Acai Berry, it is much better than eating out, cigarettes and alcohol. Since you are a millionaire you can afford it

G.Debono

Jun 18th 2009, 16:17

Some people moan like they're so unfulfilled in their lives. If you can't afford fruit , then how do you afford the junk food you eat, the tombla you pay, the car you drive, the fags you smoke, the internet connection and computer, the mobile, the mp3 player, your games machine, the time used to moan?

Francois Bulteel

Jun 18th 2009, 16:16

About 5 apples in a kilo, and there are my wife and 6 kids, so we would need 40 apples a day, at 1.5 Euro per kilo. That makes 12 Euro per day, or 372 Euro per month. Do you want to know how much my wage is, and what other expenses I have? Please Mr Joe Cassar, cut the crap.

mario gellel

Jun 18th 2009, 16:06

@jos Rijpman
I truely support your view. I used to work in holland in late 90"s. Food was already cheaper than Malta and that when your salary is more than double than ours.Here we have some pro-goverment readers that cannot accept the fact that Malta is one or even the most expensive countries in the EU. The only cheaper item there is Malta than the rest of any EU member is True Lies.

Moira Heath

Jun 18th 2009, 16:05

Here are a few points to ponder:
1. It's not the first time I have a chat with my green grocer whose sales slump whenever the super 5 jackpot hits a high. Gambling vs fruit? A no-brainer for many maltese apparently.
2. It's not that expensive buying fruit and veg if you cut out those trolley-loads of soft drinks, sweet packets, biscuits, chocolates, burgers and all kinds of junk food that I see stacked in the average trolley at the supermarket. I regularly buy and consume fruit and veg. It's not cheap, true, but I make up by eliminating products that lack nutrition. At the end of the day a soup is not expensive to make and it feeds a whole family, I can vouch for it.
3. Apart from this campaign I would like to see more organic produce being introduced on the market. Our fruit and veg contain way too much pesticides. That can't be as healthy as the ministry wants us to believe.

Tonna J

Jun 18th 2009, 15:43

@ Giov De Martino - You said "I have to spend an average of TWELVE euro a day on cigarettes? Not to m,ention alcohol, eating out etc etc."

Well, that is what some call 'human rights' - you have the right to die early, although the P.S. is advicing us how to live longer and without much trouble. :)

A. Saliba

Jun 18th 2009, 15:13

Just minutes before posting my previous comment, GiovDeMartino posts a comment that proves my point precisely.

Hmmmm.. what shall it be today? 12 euro on cigarettes or 12 euro on fruit? Tough decision.

Jos Rijpman

Jun 18th 2009, 15:10

You must be joking sunshine, will these high prices you guys in Malta are charging, we might end up by taking a bank loan to buy your produce and supermarket daily food let alone 5 a day, take note form my country in the Holland, send some of your guys on a path finding mission and you will see, and shall i say feel or taste the difference in price, its MUCH MUCH MUCH realistic price then yours and sometimes alot better quality, come on spoil yourselves and let the Maltese live as they should be living life on the same standard as we.

A. Saliba

Jun 18th 2009, 15:05

LOL @ the people who are saying they cannot afford to buy fruit. Try cutting down on the garbage you stuff down your throats everyday.

Tonna J.

Jun 18th 2009, 14:54

@ Health Parliamentary Secretary & Mr Gino Schiavone, thank you for your advice and explanation. I will do my best to do as adviced.
@ the rest - Gemgem, gemgem. Kif lanqas parir utli ma jghogobkom, imma ssibu skuza biex tmaqdru?

GiovDeMartino

Jun 18th 2009, 14:48

How can GONZIPN expect me to eat five fruits a day when I have to spend an average of TWELVE euro a day on cigarettes? Not to m,ention alcohol, eating out etc etc.

mario gellel

Jun 18th 2009, 13:41

MR.HEALTH SECRETARY
NICE ADVICE, THAT IS ONLY IF WE CAN AFFORD TO BUY FRUIT,

R.Gauci

Jun 18th 2009, 13:34

I am glad to hear about the launching of this campaign ,however I would like another campaign to be launched by the Agriculture Ministery or another authority that is how our fruits and vegetables products are packed and displayed for sale and the price which are being sold at!!
Living abroad made me realise how good the Maltese products are in taste but lack in presentation and grading (eg. spoiled fruits with good ones)when put on sale in shops,veggie mongers etc. and this is surely one factor which keeps people from buying fresh fruits and vegetables when everyone is in a rush and would like to pick up a product which is ready!!
Its not the first time you buy a 4kg bag of Maltese potatoes and you find half of it with soil!!
Its about time that a serious packing and grading system is introduced in Malta and prices are monitored as some local products are really expensive!

Kif jghid il-Malti L-Ghajn l-ewwel ma tiekol!!

Gino Schiavone

Jun 18th 2009, 13:10

We have heard it all before. If only it was that simple to have your 5 a day mostly up to 9 from fruits and vegetables we would have a healthier nation. for the general public it is not that simple because they also need a full campaign on creative ideas. Here are just a few ideas; if you do not like fruit or hate peeling it- get it from 100% juice- easier to give to kids at school. Add frozen vegetables to any pasta dish. Add fruit to your cereal. Keep fruit and vegetables in sight when possible- seeing them will help you consume them daily. Fruits and vegetables are packed with nutrients. Remeber 1 serving is equal to 1 medium sized piece of fruit or 4-6oz of 100% fruit juice.
Television cooking programs need to constantly put these reminders and they should also start giving calorie counts of the recipes especially how many cabohydrates, protein, fat cholesterol and sodium each recipe contains. The public must get concrete examples. restaurants should also give calorie counts in their menus.

For more information visit www.mehfa.eu

ann grech

Jun 18th 2009, 12:52

do you have any idea how much fruit and vegetables cost?it is useless giving advise when families cannot afford the high cost of both winter and summer fruit which are even costlier.

J.Brownie

Jun 18th 2009, 12:28

I was always puzzled by what is meant by portions - certainly they don't refer to whole fruits but are they 'bite-size' portions , bigger , smaller, what is the rough size of such portions ? Can the health Authorities advise please . Thank you

laurence schembri

Jun 18th 2009, 12:17

The prices are enough to give you a heart attack.

edward bartolo

Jun 18th 2009, 12:06

May I remind the authorities that for most families the prices of fresh fruits are too costly. It is no use making campaigns if the prices are out of reach for many people.