Poor people can't afford healthy food

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like your mom already knew how to cook all of these dishes for cultural reasons. That isn't the case for everybody. It would have been much harder for her to learn how to make healthy dishes if with kids while working and commuting if she hadn't already grown up like that.

This is the Op. I agree completely. She comes from a place where cooking from scratch was the only option. Of course things have changed even in her village.

[Anonymous]

In my experience people who grew up poor and eating processed or quick foods don’t know how to cook or eat differently. Rather than buying large bags of potatoes and carrots that can be used in many ways for weeks, they tend to buy one meal at a time. Rather than baking dozens of muffins for cheap, they buy ready to eat foods. I think it is a lack of knowledge and experience. People eat what they know.

I grew up poor but rural poor. We had huge gardens in the summer and we ate almost my entirely home cooked food. Things that had to be bought (fruit) etc was limited. We were allowed a half a small glacé of orange juice a day for example. That way the can lasted 2-3 days for the family. Everything was measured out to be sure everyone had enough but there weren’t a lot of extras.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In my experience people who grew up poor and eating processed or quick foods don’t know how to cook or eat differently. Rather than buying large bags of potatoes and carrots that can be used in many ways for weeks, they tend to buy one meal at a time. Rather than baking dozens of muffins for cheap, they buy ready to eat foods. I think it is a lack of knowledge and experience. People eat what they know.

I grew up poor but rural poor. We had huge gardens in the summer and we ate almost my entirely home cooked food. Things that had to be bought (fruit) etc was limited. We were allowed a half a small glacé of orange juice a day for example. That way the can lasted 2-3 days for the family. Everything was measured out to be sure everyone had enough but there weren’t a lot of extras.

Op here. That sounds right. I grew up cooking and now I can cook from scratch very well. I have plenty of disposable income, but I still cook frugally and healthily.

[Anonymous]

When new grocery stores open in these food deserts, they typically cannot turn a profit and our frequent targets for theft. People don’t suddenly start buying and cooking vegetables from scratch just because there’s a grocery store nearby. Most poverty in America is a cultural issue rather than a simple lack of money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is the OP. I am sorry I wasn't clear. My point was that I keep hearing that poor people can't afford to eat healthy, but it can be done. It just involves planning, and cooking, and accepting that you may eat the same meals several days in a row.

Planning and cooking are luxuries when you’re working long, inconsistent hours.

And it’s still hard to justify the effort in a massive, overwhelming grocery store when the cheap, convenient food is just there.

It is much, much, much harder for poor people to eat real food on a regular basis.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When new grocery stores open in these food deserts, they typically cannot turn a profit and our frequent targets for theft. People don’t suddenly start buying and cooking vegetables from scratch just because there’s a grocery store nearby. Most poverty in America is a cultural issue rather than a simple lack of money.

The culture is influenced by rich manufacturers of processed food.

[Anonymous]

In fact, one might even say that a lot of the skills and traits that allow people to cook and eat healthy food also allow them to not be poor. (Which is not to say that they deserve either poverty or ill health, but dysfunctional, personal lives, poor executive function, and a high time preference make life hard in lots of different ways.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When new grocery stores open in these food deserts, they typically cannot turn a profit and our frequent targets for theft. People don’t suddenly start buying and cooking vegetables from scratch just because there’s a grocery store nearby. Most poverty in America is a cultural issue rather than a simple lack of money.

The culture is influenced by rich manufacturers of processed food.

Yes? Obviously? But demonstrably, people prefer those foods.

[Anonymous]

I grew up with a poor immigrant single mother as well and this was my upbringing too. She would buy a chicken and it would last several meals, integrated with cheap grains like rice or Homemade dumplings and then bones cooked for soup later.

I agree that most people could cook healthier on the cheap, but it is hard. Produce is crazy expensive and so is quality meat.

But rice, beans, oats, bananas are cheaper. It is possible. But hard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Poor people can become rich as well, so why didn't your mom do that?

The point is, OP, that of course some poor people can afford to eat healthy. Some overweight people can lose weight. Some dumb people can get smarter. All of these things are true.

But not ALL people who are X can do Y, for a variety of reasons. Your way of thinking is disgusting because it assumes that since your mom could do it (sample size of one), then all people in her situation can do it and therefore those who don't are lazy, stupid, unmotivated, fill in the blank with whatever you want.

For the record, I'm not poor nor have I ever been, but I don't judge people who aren't like me. Just because I managed to do X doesn't mean everyone can. I acknowledge that other people have barriers in their lives that prevent them from doing the "right" thing, such as eating healthy, and it's not my place to condemn them for not being "better" people. (I also acknowledge that such barriers did not exist or were removed for me and that is part of what has made my life easier).

It's interesting to me to see such judgment from people who had it hard - I know someone who came to the US at age six from Russia speaking no English and instead of empathizing with other immigrants she has zero tolerance for anyone who doesn't speak perfect English and hasn't assimilated into local culture. I would have expected an understanding of how hard it is to come from another country but instead she thinks everyone should do it the way she did.

Anyway, maybe check your judgment because it's not a good look.

You sound like a miserable b*tvh.

Anything but non-judgmental.

The reason she judges is the same as why my parents - and sometimes I - judge. There are a lot of communities in the U.S. where for a generation or two immigrants don’t assimilate and don’t learn the language and continue working menial jobs. My parents came in their 40s with no English and worked their way up and still work into their 70s. When they see illegals coming or certain ethnic communities not assimilating it peeves them off. They know it can be done because they did it. I am not saying it’s right or wrong, but that’s the thinking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up poor. My single mom made minimum wage her entire life as a personal support worker. She is from southern Africa and only has a 6th grade education. We ate very healthy food. What made it work was that she cooked from scratch and we ate the same food several days in a row.

She managed the cost of food by preparing simple healthy dishes (stews and cornmeal porridge, or stews and rice).

She managed the time it takes to shop and cook by cooking one or two big pots of stew per week, so there was not so much variety in what we ate. We didn't have a car, so we took the bus to the grocery store once a week.

She got paid every Thursday and on payday we would have a treat (maybe a pizza or burgers).

Anyway, she came from a different place and a different time, but that is how you can be poor and eat healthy.

So why don't you go to a store today, armed only with $300 in food stamps for one month for 4 people and see how you do. Feel free to come back and show us how you did it.

Food stamps are not intended to fully fund a family’s food needs for the month. They are SUPPLEMENTAL assistance for food.

[Anonymous]

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 implied that everyone who did differently from your mother is dumb.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When new grocery stores open in these food deserts, they typically cannot turn a profit and our frequent targets for theft. People don’t suddenly start buying and cooking vegetables from scratch just because there’s a grocery store nearby. Most poverty in America is a cultural issue rather than a simple lack of money.

I think the lack of healthy cooking is also sometimes cultural too. Of course, there are sometimes obstacles that cannot be overcome.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up poor. My single mom made minimum wage her entire life as a personal support worker. She is from southern Africa and only has a 6th grade education. We ate very healthy food. What made it work was that she cooked from scratch and we ate the same food several days in a row.

She managed the cost of food by preparing simple healthy dishes (stews and cornmeal porridge, or stews and rice).

She managed the time it takes to shop and cook by cooking one or two big pots of stew per week, so there was not so much variety in what we ate. We didn't have a car, so we took the bus to the grocery store once a week.

She got paid every Thursday and on payday we would have a treat (maybe a pizza or burgers).

Anyway, she came from a different place and a different time, but that is how you can be poor and eat healthy.

So why don't you go to a store today, armed only with $300 in food stamps for one month for 4 people and see how you do. Feel free to come back and show us how you did it.

You do realize that food stamps are meant to be supplemental assistance, don’t you? In other words, you are allowed to spend MORE than the $300 you get in food stamps on food.

[Anonymous]

OP, ofcourse it can be done. We need to look into why it is not done more often and what the barriers are.
I never made more than minimum wage. In fact, most of the time I made less than minimum.
I had several employers who never paid me money required by law.
I had several job where going to work cost me more than staying home.
I was so poor that I never dreamed of having kids or did I remember eating during those times.
The money I brought home, was taken from me quite often. I was beaten when I protested and finally thrown out to the street.
I'm a millionaire now never having made over $40k. Not making this up. I have written down how much I made for years and my SS report supports all that.
I can go on and on that most poor should become rich because I did. I am the only person I know who made it from such low wage. I know exactly why it happened to me. I could do it again by the way. It's not going to happen to others that easily.
Me telling others how I did it, and helping them, and holding hand all for free has not been working. Think about it.
Us telling the poor to cook from scratch has also not worked.
It takes a book for me to explain why I made it and most others don't and won't. The book about the reasons why poor eat junk, would be much longer.