Poor people can't afford healthy food

[Anonymous]

We are not poor, but to offset more expensive meals I make and for our health, I cook a lot with beans and lentils.The dishes I make are delicious and dirt cheap. If you have the time and enough sunlight to grow your own vegetables, that helps a lot. I can tell you the meals I make with beans, etc are a lot cheaper than eating at McDonalds, but they also take more time. it's not my place to judge someone working 2 jobs who does not have the time and energy for this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is the OP. Wow. This has gone off the rails way faster than I thought it would. I absolutely do not think poor people are lazy, unmotivated, etc. I grew up poor. My family in Africa is poor. My family has the hardest working people I have ever met.

I think that it possible for the many of the working poor (of course not everyone in every circumstance) to eat healthier. If they don't, of course it doesn't mean they are lazy, unmotivated, or whatever judgment you would like to attribute to me. People have lots of things going on in their lives that they may not be able to control.

I am not poor anymore, but I can absolutely feed my family of 5 on $100 per week if we don't eat out.

You new here?

I call bull, what are you buying and cooking that can feed a family of four on only $100 a week? DH and I, plus our baby is a family of 3 and it costs us $200 a week to eat. This is without buying fast food.

2-3 meals per day and snack items with current grocery prices are not inexpensive.

The OP's initial post is incredibly non-American. I don't want to hear about your rag story and fake morality about barely scraping by, it's disgusting.

What in the world. Ops story is actually pretty American - her immigrant mom came here and worked hard and now she has a better life.

I thought of this thread the other week when I was in food lion and they had a whole ton of fruits and vegetables on sale. I spent about $14 and went home with a ton of things including potatoes, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, a big bag of onions, radishes and a bag of apples. I used the butternut squash and onion to make a big batch of butternut squash soup with some home made veggie broth and some home grown herbs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are not poor, but to offset more expensive meals I make and for our health, I cook a lot with beans and lentils.The dishes I make are delicious and dirt cheap. If you have the time and enough sunlight to grow your own vegetables, that helps a lot. I can tell you the meals I make with beans, etc are a lot cheaper than eating at McDonalds, but they also take more time. it's not my place to judge someone working 2 jobs who does not have the time and energy for this.

Can you share some of your go tos?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s pretty funny that people are tossing around numbers like $60 and $100 for appliances as though these numbers are somehow insignificant to people that are living paycheque to paycheque. It’s insignificant to DCUM, but not to those where that may be a huge portion of their food budget for the entire month.

Again, you aren’t familiar with the poor. There are lots of surveys that give information like this. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 90% of households have a microwave. For those that don’t, they are often given away through agencies or Free Cycle, sold cheap at garage sales or thrift stores, etc. Poor people spend lots of money on stupid things too…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow PP…

In what state/city were you allocated $750 per month in food stamps??! 😲

That is a very large amount for only two people.

Bragging about having enough left over to purchase steaks + shrimp though makes it look bad for those depending on food stamps because this is rarely the case for most families who receive assistance.

Most people get enough food stamps to purchase food for their families for about 1/2 the month…..then the rest of the month they may have to scrimp or visit food banks, churches, etc. in order to eat.

This was in a blue state that’s pretty good about public services.

Not sure how this makes anyone look bad. I really hate the idea that people on public assistance should be living off of dried beans and rice. It’s not like we were eating steak every night - once a month is not that unreasonable. And, I wasn’t bragging, you’re projecting your own beliefs about people in poverty onto me.

I left an abusive marriage, got a minimum wage job after years out of the workforce, needed some help, and now years later support myself with my own business that employs others. The system worked.

Overall it’s better for everyone if families get the help they need, so they don’t have to spend hours trying to find food when that time can be put towards work. WIC was frustrating because I had to go multiple times and wait around for hours just to get a gallon of milk and some cans of beans. That’s time I could have spent job hunting or working. Making people jump through hoops for a few bucks keeps them in poverty.

What do you mean you “waited around for hours” for a gallon of milk? You go to the store and take it off the shelf.

Poor people depending on the work of others should have access to government life-enabling necessities only. If people want to start a charity to provide steak and soda to poor people, they should knock themselves out. Buying steak with welfare that lots of working taxpayers can’t afford is too much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow PP…

In what state/city were you allocated $750 per month in food stamps??! 😲

That is a very large amount for only two people.

Bragging about having enough left over to purchase steaks + shrimp though makes it look bad for those depending on food stamps because this is rarely the case for most families who receive assistance.

Most people get enough food stamps to purchase food for their families for about 1/2 the month…..then the rest of the month they may have to scrimp or visit food banks, churches, etc. in order to eat.

This was in a blue state that’s pretty good about public services.

Not sure how this makes anyone look bad. I really hate the idea that people on public assistance should be living off of dried beans and rice. It’s not like we were eating steak every night - once a month is not that unreasonable. And, I wasn’t bragging, you’re projecting your own beliefs about people in poverty onto me.

I left an abusive marriage, got a minimum wage job after years out of the workforce, needed some help, and now years later support myself with my own business that employs others. The system worked.

Overall it’s better for everyone if families get the help they need, so they don’t have to spend hours trying to find food when that time can be put towards work. WIC was frustrating because I had to go multiple times and wait around for hours just to get a gallon of milk and some cans of beans. That’s time I could have spent job hunting or working. Making people jump through hoops for a few bucks keeps them in poverty.

What do you mean you “waited around for hours” for a gallon of milk? You go to the store and take it off the shelf.

Poor people depending on the work of others should have access to government life-enabling necessities only. If people want to start a charity to provide steak and soda to poor people, they should knock themselves out. Buying steak with welfare that lots of working taxpayers can’t afford is too much.

PP was referring to the time it takes to enroll in WIC.

Way to channel Reagan with the steak thing, too. 🙄

[Anonymous]

OP I agree. Dried beans with rice and inexpensive meat forms the base. Eggs, cheese, bread and veggies finish it off. Fruit should be the treat.
Liberals brainwash the poor. I’m a liberal but from a background like yours. Americans are spoiled to the point of unhappiness. I sometimes think that liberals want poor people to FEEL unhappy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can grow your own food. It's really not that expensive to buy starter plants. I never use fertilizer or pesticides either. I spent maybe $30 of plants that has provided us with veg from late June-now and probably through the end of Sept. You can can via boil water method too.

I am poor and have no outdoor space and no direct sunlight in my tiny apartment. I can't grow my own food. Having land is for rich people!

County rents plots for $120/year, you can grow tons of produce from March to October. You can lookup the information on Fairfax County website.

DP. This is BS. I have had many vegetable gardens in my life, and I love growing my own produce, but in no way would this be cost and time effective.

[Anonymous]

My DC worked as a cashier at a grocery store for the summer and it was the best experience. He learned how expensive food is in general, but he also saw what people would buy. He came away with some prejudices, but mostly against poor Americans and in favor of immigrants. It was striking to see people buying small bags of expensive processed food and then someone who didn't speak English coming through with a cart full of beans, tortillas and fresh vegetables for the same amount of money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You seem to have little or no empathy OP. Why judge people so harshly? It sounds like your mom did what she could, but that food does not seem healthy. Have you been to a store lately? Fruits and vegetables are very expensive. The only thing that isn't is Trader Joes pasta and pasta sauce. It wouldn't be healthy to eat that for long. Also, since you're so judgey, why was your mom a single mom? Why no man in the picture? She could have afforded more for you with a man in the pic.

If you had ever experienced true financial hardship then you wouldn't have used Trader Joe's as an example of what is affordable. Try food lion or Aldi.

Or the dumpsters behind them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is the OP. Wow. This has gone off the rails way faster than I thought it would. I absolutely do not think poor people are lazy, unmotivated, etc. I grew up poor. My family in Africa is poor. My family has the hardest working people I have ever met.

I think that it possible for the many of the working poor (of course not everyone in every circumstance) to eat healthier. If they don't, of course it doesn't mean they are lazy, unmotivated, or whatever judgment you would like to attribute to me. People have lots of things going on in their lives that they may not be able to control.

I am not poor anymore, but I can absolutely feed my family of 5 on $100 per week if we don't eat out.

You new here?

I call bull, what are you buying and cooking that can feed a family of four on only $100 a week? DH and I, plus our baby is a family of 3 and it costs us $200 a week to eat. This is without buying fast food.

2-3 meals per day and snack items with current grocery prices are not inexpensive.

The OP's initial post is incredibly non-American. I don't want to hear about your rag story and fake morality about barely scraping by, it's disgusting.

Cut out the unnecessary snacks and it will reduce your grocery bill.

[Anonymous]

And now the MAGAS are cutting people’s food benefits too! AND KENNEDY IS HELPING THEM

https://www.wvva.com/2025/08/04/federal-waiver-officially-removes-soda-snap-benefits-wva/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DC worked as a cashier at a grocery store for the summer and it was the best experience. He learned how expensive food is in general, but he also saw what people would buy. He came away with some prejudices, but mostly against poor Americans and in favor of immigrants. It was striking to see people buying small bags of expensive processed food and then someone who didn't speak English coming through with a cart full of beans, tortillas and fresh vegetables for the same amount of money.

Yeah I cook my own oatmeal and pay $3 for a giant box. My rich colleague pays $3/scoop of fiber supplement.

[Anonymous]

Your diet doesn’t sound healthy.

Stew is not healthy.

Fruits and veggies are healthy.

[Anonymous]

I think OP's example is probably quite common in immigrant communities, where scratch cooking, eating meals rather than snacks is the norm/expectation, etc. I think the biggest hurdle in the US is cultural. We couldn't serve school lunches like the high quality ones they serve in France - because kids wouldn't eat them.

This goes hand in hand with the obesity epidemic. I think it is condescending to say people aren't educated on healthy food. People know their fast food and processed snacks are not healthy. But there is something larger going on in our society than "personal responsibility" - there is some combination of our individuated society, deliberately addictive snack foods, snack culture, advertising, lack of multigenerational living, who knows - creating poor eating habits beyond just lack of financial means. Add in financial barriers (lack of time, money, ability to get to the store, etc.) - and it just compounds the problem.