Irish chefs weigh in behind Oliver’s poverty comments

Irish chefs Rachel Allen and Kevin Dundon have thrown their weight behind controversial comments by British chef Jamie Oliver, who said he found it “hard to talk about modern-day poverty” after seeing families live on cheap, processed food but splurge on top-of-the-range gadgets.

Rachel Allen, from Ballymaloe House in Co Cork, said it was “a question of priorities” when families choose to eat processed foods rather than buy “food from scratch” to cook in their kitchens.

Kevin Dundon, who runs Dunbrody House in Wexford, said that, in many such families, “food was last on the list”... “because of a lack of education”.