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One scary thing is the energy that must be needed for keeping food cold. Hopefully, it works out an OK trade-off, on balance.

("In these straightened economic times" should really be "straitened". Sorry.)

Great frozen meals ARE available in the UK. www.cookfood.net

Having praised the suppliers (as quoted by Ramona, thanks) - I do wonder why (apart from the Waitrose ingredients) there is no "world food aisle" equivalent in frozen food shops - I would like to be able to buy things like skinned broad beans, artichoke bases, samosa wrappers etc that are available in specialist shops but not generally

And neither Iceland nor Farm Foods sells broad beans of any description. Odd. I suppose it is because frozen food IS in fact seen as down market

And like the first poster I do wonder if frozen food always justifies the energy costs in terms of both running costs and making the freezers

. We have an allotment and so tend to use the freezer for over production, but the trouble is domestic technology is rubbish at freezing - as you point out the long freezing process destroys the cellular structure, where as the blast freeze that the big companies use preserves the structure.

In your article, you have fallen for some of the hype and myths about frozen food.

1. It is cheaper - well, yes - if you do not mind a lower grade product. Top grade frozen food (which is rarely found in the specialist frozen food stores) can be as expensive as their fresh equivalent.

2. There is less waste, you claim, because the vegetables are pre-trimmed. So, who did the trimmings? And what did they do with them? Just because you do not generate the waste at home does not mean there is no waste.

The majority of home created waste is because we cook too much and throw much of it away. The UK Frozen food market with its emphasis on bulk buying encourages that waste rather than helps it.

I do use a freezer, but more and more it is for some meat and frozen peas and huge quantities of ice. But other than that, I would much prefer to seek my bargains in a good market than in a frozen food retailer.

As the general opinion seems to be, frozen food has its good and bad!

For a start some foods we take for commonplace have been created by the frozen food revolution (im thinking ice cream) whereas others have a level of snobbery about them.

I think as with all food it comes down to fresh and seasonal goods careingly produced. Maybe the fact the majority of the frozen food isle is filled with ready-meals harms the image of other less sub-standard produce?

As a side note I've just set up a food blog and would be grateful to receive a few followers of similar interests. I'm a student who loves all things food and will be sharing some of my thoughts with the world!

02curtisb wrote:

For a start some foods we take for commonplace have been created by the frozen food revolution (im thinking ice cream)

Ice cream pre-dates the Frozen food industry by quite sometime! We have been freezing stuff since Roman Times but Ice Cream as we would understand it dates back to the early 18th century. Even before any refrigeration, in great houses they would create Ice Houses where they stored ice from their lakes for many months insulated with straw.

I am not bought frozen food fan but do freeze my own veg from plot, homemade ice-cream and bread dough in small batches.

I mostly use my freezer to freeze food I have made (or grown) myself. However, I think the freezer can be a useful store cupboard and I will buy some ready made frozen stuff e.g. peas, broad beans and ice cream. I confess to a weakness for some frozen deserts, especially fruity cheesecake!

I use the freezer to keep meat, fish and meals which I have bought or made in bulk or as a single person my food waste would go up. The only veg I buy are peas and broad beans as almost everything else in the supermarket freezers are damaged by the freezing process. It would be much more budget friendly to buy frozen broccoli and cauli but the florets are generally so battered that they do not look right and they just tase of water. The fruit is good, but there is not enough choice available in the supermarkets. I would like to see more unmixed frozen fruit packets though. But the ready meals are generally poor quality packed with salt and and flavourings. The sound of the french chain sounds good but I can't see people moving away from the chiller cabinet to the freezer here in the uk.