There are some people who for political reasons want to believe that poor people cannot afford to eat a healthy diet. If you read the Guardian newspaper this opinion is often expressed. I am a poor person and I do not have a problem eating a healthy diet. For years I have lived on Job Seekers' Allowance. This is considerably less than the basic state pension, Disability Allowance or Income Support.

It may or may not be true that there are some people poorer than me in Britain. It may or may not be true that some mothers, especially young mothers, may be poorer than me. If that is true then this should be made clear; generalizations should not be made about poor people. Some people take on financial commitments that make them poorer, whereas others are too disturbed to make use of the system.

I have discussed this issue on the internet and the fact is that people on benefits with children are given much more money than people on benefits who do not have children. So people who have said to me "It's easier for you, you don't have children" are just wrong.

In any case, it is always cheaper to eat unprocessed, vegetarian and seasonal food. A complex carbohydrate like bread, pasta, rice, beans and potatoes combined with vegetables is ideal. Poor people from around the world have developed cuisines that use cheap but healthy ingredients. I am not a vegetarian, although most of my food is vegetarian, and I don't eat much organic food.

Unpasteurised goats' cheese may be what affluent people are eating, but that does not make it healthy food. Baked beans on toast may be what poor people are eating, but that does not make it unhealthy food. The only unhealthy thing about baked beans on toast is the amount of salt that is put into both baked beans and processed bread.

Organic food is more expensive than non-organic. But you don't have to eat organic food to be healthy. Organic food is not much more healthy than non-organic, if it is at all. People usually choose organic food for other reasons than health. Cheap burgers may be cheaper than ordinary burgers, but people don't have to eat burgers.

Intensively-reared chicken is cheaper than free-range, but people don't need to eat chicken every day. If people ate smaller amounts of good quality chicken it would not be more expensive, their health would be better and they would possibly enjoy it more. People do not need that much protein.

According to a November 2006 issue of New Scientist magazine, Some chickens in UK shops and supermarkets have been found to contain up to 55% water, absorbed with the help of beef and pork proteins. People should remember this when they think that intensively-reared chicken is cheaper. Also, it has more (unhealthy) fat and less protein.

Affluent people and poor people alike usually eat more calories than they need. They eat a lot of saturated fat. They eat two or three times as much protein as they need or is good for them. Education saves lives, and it irritates me that journalists like Julie Bindel at the Guardian stand in the way of poor people helping themselves.

There are some people who do not have time to prepare meals from basic ingredients. This is a different issue. Not all of them are poor. People who are working and on the minimum wage and have children may be in this category. However, when they understand the principles of nutrition and forget about the concept of 'square meals' and recipes they can feed their families well. Baked beans on toast may not be a 'square meal' but it is nutritious. Wholegrains and vegetables may not conform to a recognized recipe. Nuts and seeds need no preparation.

Cooking pasta and adding a pasta sauce may take more time than taking something out of the freezer and popping it into the microwave, but not much more time. If you choose a good brand it is tasty, nutritious, cheap and doesn't take much time to prepare. Like lots of foods.

People talk about "blaming the victims". Most people are neither 'victims' or 'to blame'. If I say that poor people are not victims, that does not mean that I think that they are to blame. I am a poor person and I do not blame other poor people.

Some people (like Bindel) are extremists. They are simple-minded people who either believe that people are victims or to blame. Some people are victims and some people are to blame, but most people most of the time are neither victims or to blame for their circumstances.