Total Spending: A 2016 USDA study found that SNAP households spent about 22.6% of their grocery bill on a combination of sweetened beverages, prepared desserts, salty snacks, candy, and sugar.
The reality is a horror show.
This is NOT in anyone’s best interest, and the trump administration would be right to make changes here, specifically:
“Total Spending: A 2016 USDA study found that SNAP households spent about 22.6% of their grocery bill on a combination of sweetened beverages, prepared desserts, salty snacks, candy, and sugar.”
Why are we micromanaging people’s diets? I am absolutely sure I could criticize your diet.
I'm not asking you to pay for my diet.
But we do pay for well-off people’s bad diets in our healthcare. Your crappy diet shows up as type-3 diabetes (Alzheimer’s) and your family can’t afford long term care so you go on Medicaid for your nursing memory care facility, which we all pay for!!
We all subsidize one another’s poor choices at any given point. You are not some independent lone island of self sufficiency, nimrod.
Total Spending: A 2016 USDA study found that SNAP households spent about 22.6% of their grocery bill on a combination of sweetened beverages, prepared desserts, salty snacks, candy, and sugar.
The reality is a horror show.
This is NOT in anyone’s best interest, and the trump administration would be right to make changes here, specifically:
“Total Spending: A 2016 USDA study found that SNAP households spent about 22.6% of their grocery bill on a combination of sweetened beverages, prepared desserts, salty snacks, candy, and sugar.”
Why are we micromanaging people’s diets? I am absolutely sure I could criticize your diet.
I'm not asking you to pay for my diet.
But we do pay for well-off people’s bad diets in our healthcare. Your crappy diet shows up as type-3 diabetes (Alzheimer’s) and your family can’t afford long term care so you go on Medicaid for your nursing memory care facility, which we all pay for!!
We all subsidize one another’s poor choices at any given point. You are not some independent lone island of self sufficiency, nimrod.
Anonymous wrote:We have an obesity epidemic, especially among lower income. There isn’t food scarcity, there is food over abundance.
Healthy food is expensive. Unhealthy, preservative-laden foods are cheaper. Plus poor people often lack access to good grocery stores, along with often suffering from stress, lack of sleep, lack of access to healthcare and many other issues that contribute to poor health which can also lead to obesity.
Basic heathy food is not expensive, nor is it elusive. Next excuse?
The only way to become obese is to consume an excess of calories, continuously, over a long period of time. Hard to buy the narrative we have so many starving people that are 50+ lbs overweight
Your assignment for today - drive to inner city and walk to closest corner store. Buy $20 worth of healthy food.
Drive to rural area and find small market and buy $20 worth of healthy food. Report back.
DP. What’s your point?
Food costs less in suburban and rural areas, but the wages are also lower in rural areas and urban areas have higher wages and more opportunities.
The same laws of supply and demand apply either way. The stores sell what people will buy.
The problem is 100% cultural.
Healthy diets can be easily based on rice, beans, tortillas, potatoes. Add in some veggies. Eggs, chicken, and ground beef provide a lot of nutritional bang for the buck. Apples, carrots, and cabbage keep well and do not cost that much.
Again, 100% cultural that people buy bags of cookies and chips instead of real food.
Don’t know how to cook? Learn.
If you’d done the assignment, you find few of those products in the stores I mentioned. It’s a loss to a small store owner, who would have to pay to purchase and power refrigerator and freezers.
I can’t believe the ignorance shown on this thread. Refusing to go and find out for yourself. You scared of the inner city? Scared of rural hick America?
I’ve been many places.
But why on earth would I want to go to the inner city? I don’t need to go there. I believe you that fresh produce is harder to find there, but it is 100% because of supply and demand and culture. Also, even the processed crap at those corner stores is not cheap!
When I lived in Korea, it was hard to find American peanut butter, and when I did find it (usually alongside a small selection of American and British foods) it was expensive. This does not mean there was a vast conspiracy to make it difficult for me to buy peanut butter. It simply means it was not a popular product and therefore more expensive to sell. There is also no vast conspiracy to suppress low income people here by denying them vegetables.
I do a lot of shopping at Aldi, Walmart, and international groceries. I’ve noticed many different immigrants who probably don’t have much money and yet fill their baskets with vegetables and fruit and meat. Go to the international market and you’ll see. Unfortunately, many of them eventually adopt American diets and then they suffer.
Also, there is nothing wrong with frozen vegetables. Aldi literally has them for a dollar a bag. I am not poor anymore but I have been poor, and have relatives who subsist on very little money, but don’t eat processed garbage. Unless you are truly in the bottom 1% and living under a bridge I am sorry but no excuses.
At least in DC, just about every neighborhood as weekly farmers markets with fresh produce
Huh? And they're like a gazillion dollars. I have a HHI of $300k and I can't afford to buy produce at the DC farmers' markets.
the GOP would tell you you need to pull yourself up by your bootstraps because it isn't like they are doing anything to help make food more affordable.
These people live in lala land. They truly believe the only reason someone is poor is because they are lazy, stupid, and/or immoral, and that if they were poor, they'd have no problems and would soon not be poor because they're so smart and awesome. They refuse to see that poverty is a cycle, with lots of outside factors leading to what appear to be maladaptive choices FROM THE OUTSIDE, but that actually make plenty of sense when you understand their life and the choices available to them. You cannot fix systemic problems with bootstraps.
Why they are poor is irrelevant. Someone poor can boil a potato and scramble an egg, just the same as anyone else. Poor people all over the world cook food. The inability (or unwillingness) to cook and having the preference for processed foods is an American cultural problem- particularly with increased prevalence in lower income households.
Let's be honest though. It's a developed world problem. The US is just the most developed country. The same pattern is increasingly happening in other countries. The issue comes down to status. Cooking for yourself is often seen as low status.
And let's be even more honest. Processed food tastes good because it's loaded with salt, sugar and fats. It's easy and addicting. For some it's a simple luxury that makes them feel better in a world where the poor don't get many opportunities to do so. TV and the social media function in much the same way.
That also explains why recent immigrant families don't fall into the trap of convenience foods. They know they are sacrificing from the start.
That being said. There is no greater bang for the buck than a baked potato. Put some beans and cheese on it and it fulfills almost all our intake needs. It can even be made in a microwave. However it's very boring.
The issue is that people use food as an escape from the drudgery. A baked potato with a can of beans costs less than $2 and is enough calories/protein to sustain at least an entire day but eating that is depressing and reminds people how crappy their life is. That's the problem. If sacrifice doesn't produce results then why should someone sacrifice.
I have used the example before of my childhood best friend. Her single mother was going to college 30 miles away- trying so hard to build a better life for them, which she did. But this meant that my friend and her little brother were on their own to fix most meals. Processed food was easy for a 10 and 12 year old. The mom spent all her time at school, studying, or working. No time for teaching them to cook. Sometimes those convenience meals are necessary, even if not ideal.
No they aren’t. A 10 and 12 yr old are perfectly capable of making a BP sandwich, milk, yogurt, scrambled eggs, oatmeal, boiled potatoes, grilled cheese, and many simple things. Stop acting like humans are incapable of eating foods that are not frozen pizza and Mac and cheese cups. Mom could have made big batches of foods weekends to reheat as well (simple stews, rice and beans, etc). My husband’s mother was also as you describe your friend’s mom. She cooked simple things, woke up early, made lunches. They were immigrants. Lunch was often a pita bread, some yogurt smeared on it and a couple pieces of tomato. Could a kid not handle making this? It’s just that people in the U.S. that are poor grew up eating crap, that is all they know, and so they continue to feed their kids that same junk. It isn’t an issue of money or time.
Yep. I’m a single mom, better off than what you describe above. But I am still busy and tired. I refuse to serve a bunch of processed food so batch cooking is a big part of my strategy. A giant pot of homemade pasta sauce (meat, lots of added veggies) that I can then freeze in single serve portions. Chili. I make a big batch of rice and freeze it in one cup portions. Boom, that two easy meals right there. If you batch cook one thing per week soon you can have a good rotation going.
I think republicans want to try to incite poorer people to riot or commit crimes, so they can get some free / cheap prison labor to replace immigrant labor.
Anonymous wrote:I think republicans want to try to incite poorer people to riot or commit crimes, so they can get some free / cheap prison labor to replace immigrant labor.
Anonymous wrote:I think republicans want to try to incite poorer people to riot or commit crimes, so they can get some free / cheap prison labor to replace immigrant labor.
Prison labor is growing in the U.S. But prisons are full. This idea that they build prisons and they need to fill is a left wing conspiracy theory.
Total Spending: A 2016 USDA study found that SNAP households spent about 22.6% of their grocery bill on a combination of sweetened beverages, prepared desserts, salty snacks, candy, and sugar.
The reality is a horror show.
This is NOT in anyone’s best interest, and the trump administration would be right to make changes here, specifically:
“Total Spending: A 2016 USDA study found that SNAP households spent about 22.6% of their grocery bill on a combination of sweetened beverages, prepared desserts, salty snacks, candy, and sugar.”
Why are we micromanaging people’s diets? I am absolutely sure I could criticize your diet.
I'm not asking you to pay for my diet.
But we do pay for well-off people’s bad diets in our healthcare. Your crappy diet shows up as type-3 diabetes (Alzheimer’s) and your family can’t afford long term care so you go on Medicaid for your nursing memory care facility, which we all pay for!!
We all subsidize one another’s poor choices at any given point. You are not some independent lone island of self sufficiency, nimrod.
Applause!
No, “we all” don’t pay.
🙄 we get it. You’re completely self sufficient and an island of virtue. Thanks for posting, Ayn.
Anonymous wrote:The sad part of MAGA chining in here saying people should not get SNAP benefits is that…. SNAP is more needed in Red states. Go figure.
12 states have placed some restrictions on snap purchases, starting in 2026. Mainly restricting the purchase of soda and candy. Of those 12 states, 11 are Republican led. Hopefully many more follow suit across all party lines- with even more restrictions. This shouldn’t be partisan issue. There are low income people consuming mass amounts of processed food in every state, in both parties, with their snap benefits which are designated to help them buy nutritious foods.
Anonymous wrote:We have an obesity epidemic, especially among lower income. There isn’t food scarcity, there is food over abundance.
Healthy food is expensive. Unhealthy, preservative-laden foods are cheaper. Plus poor people often lack access to good grocery stores, along with often suffering from stress, lack of sleep, lack of access to healthcare and many other issues that contribute to poor health which can also lead to obesity.
Basic heathy food is not expensive, nor is it elusive. Next excuse?
The only way to become obese is to consume an excess of calories, continuously, over a long period of time. Hard to buy the narrative we have so many starving people that are 50+ lbs overweight
Your assignment for today - drive to inner city and walk to closest corner store. Buy $20 worth of healthy food.
Drive to rural area and find small market and buy $20 worth of healthy food. Report back.
DP. What’s your point?
Food costs less in suburban and rural areas, but the wages are also lower in rural areas and urban areas have higher wages and more opportunities.
The same laws of supply and demand apply either way. The stores sell what people will buy.
The problem is 100% cultural.
Healthy diets can be easily based on rice, beans, tortillas, potatoes. Add in some veggies. Eggs, chicken, and ground beef provide a lot of nutritional bang for the buck. Apples, carrots, and cabbage keep well and do not cost that much.
Again, 100% cultural that people buy bags of cookies and chips instead of real food.
Don’t know how to cook? Learn.
If you’d done the assignment, you find few of those products in the stores I mentioned. It’s a loss to a small store owner, who would have to pay to purchase and power refrigerator and freezers.
I can’t believe the ignorance shown on this thread. Refusing to go and find out for yourself. You scared of the inner city? Scared of rural hick America?
I’ve been many places.
But why on earth would I want to go to the inner city? I don’t need to go there. I believe you that fresh produce is harder to find there, but it is 100% because of supply and demand and culture. Also, even the processed crap at those corner stores is not cheap!
When I lived in Korea, it was hard to find American peanut butter, and when I did find it (usually alongside a small selection of American and British foods) it was expensive. This does not mean there was a vast conspiracy to make it difficult for me to buy peanut butter. It simply means it was not a popular product and therefore more expensive to sell. There is also no vast conspiracy to suppress low income people here by denying them vegetables.
I do a lot of shopping at Aldi, Walmart, and international groceries. I’ve noticed many different immigrants who probably don’t have much money and yet fill their baskets with vegetables and fruit and meat. Go to the international market and you’ll see. Unfortunately, many of them eventually adopt American diets and then they suffer.
Also, there is nothing wrong with frozen vegetables. Aldi literally has them for a dollar a bag. I am not poor anymore but I have been poor, and have relatives who subsist on very little money, but don’t eat processed garbage. Unless you are truly in the bottom 1% and living under a bridge I am sorry but no excuses.
At least in DC, just about every neighborhood as weekly farmers markets with fresh produce
Huh? And they're like a gazillion dollars. I have a HHI of $300k and I can't afford to buy produce at the DC farmers' markets.
the GOP would tell you you need to pull yourself up by your bootstraps because it isn't like they are doing anything to help make food more affordable.
These people live in lala land. They truly believe the only reason someone is poor is because they are lazy, stupid, and/or immoral, and that if they were poor, they'd have no problems and would soon not be poor because they're so smart and awesome. They refuse to see that poverty is a cycle, with lots of outside factors leading to what appear to be maladaptive choices FROM THE OUTSIDE, but that actually make plenty of sense when you understand their life and the choices available to them. You cannot fix systemic problems with bootstraps.
Why they are poor is irrelevant. Someone poor can boil a potato and scramble an egg, just the same as anyone else. Poor people all over the world cook food. The inability (or unwillingness) to cook and having the preference for processed foods is an American cultural problem- particularly with increased prevalence in lower income households.
Let's be honest though. It's a developed world problem. The US is just the most developed country. The same pattern is increasingly happening in other countries. The issue comes down to status. Cooking for yourself is often seen as low status.
And let's be even more honest. Processed food tastes good because it's loaded with salt, sugar and fats. It's easy and addicting. For some it's a simple luxury that makes them feel better in a world where the poor don't get many opportunities to do so. TV and the social media function in much the same way.
That also explains why recent immigrant families don't fall into the trap of convenience foods. They know they are sacrificing from the start.
That being said. There is no greater bang for the buck than a baked potato. Put some beans and cheese on it and it fulfills almost all our intake needs. It can even be made in a microwave. However it's very boring.
The issue is that people use food as an escape from the drudgery. A baked potato with a can of beans costs less than $2 and is enough calories/protein to sustain at least an entire day but eating that is depressing and reminds people how crappy their life is. That's the problem. If sacrifice doesn't produce results then why should someone sacrifice.
I have used the example before of my childhood best friend. Her single mother was going to college 30 miles away- trying so hard to build a better life for them, which she did. But this meant that my friend and her little brother were on their own to fix most meals. Processed food was easy for a 10 and 12 year old. The mom spent all her time at school, studying, or working. No time for teaching them to cook. Sometimes those convenience meals are necessary, even if not ideal.
No they aren’t. A 10 and 12 yr old are perfectly capable of making a BP sandwich, milk, yogurt, scrambled eggs, oatmeal, boiled potatoes, grilled cheese, and many simple things. Stop acting like humans are incapable of eating foods that are not frozen pizza and Mac and cheese cups. Mom could have made big batches of foods weekends to reheat as well (simple stews, rice and beans, etc). My husband’s mother was also as you describe your friend’s mom. She cooked simple things, woke up early, made lunches. They were immigrants. Lunch was often a pita bread, some yogurt smeared on it and a couple pieces of tomato. Could a kid not handle making this? It’s just that people in the U.S. that are poor grew up eating crap, that is all they know, and so they continue to feed their kids that same junk. It isn’t an issue of money or time.
YOU try telling trailer park MAGAs that they need to scale back to beans and rice, some yogurt on a pita. They went absolutely ballistic when Michelle Obama tried getting them off of 64 ounce Big Gulps full of high fructose corn syrup. Dems tried. It's MAGA's turn.
She attempted to ban all sales. Which id support, but that isn’t the same as people using their snap dollars for junk food. People, maga or otherwise, can buy what they want with money they earn. But if you are receiving tax payer funded money where the purpose is for you to by nutritious foods for yourself and family (under the guise that you cannot to afford to do this with what you earn), but you go out and buy crap instead- then no, that can be stopped and I would support it.
This is untrue and yet another of the all too numerous MAGA myths out there. Michelle Obama did not propose any kind of federal ban on sugary drinks. I think you are thinking of what Michael Bloomberg wanted to do in NYC, which was not a ban, but a cap of 16 ounces on sugary drinks.
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