Poor people can't afford healthy food

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

Op here. Your story is amazing and I believe you.

[Anonymous]

It's all about class. Eating habits, hygiene, it all boils down to the class you grew up in. Of course you can escape your class, which is what I did, but it's not easy.

[Anonymous]

I immigrated from Europe, one thing I have noticed that derails healthy eating in America, lots of people can't cook and don't have any inclination to learn. Yes, it's possible to eat healthy on a low budget but you need to know how to cook from scratch or be willing to learn. I think it will really help poor communities if they are given some lessons in basic cooking, although these days everyone is on internet and recipes/information is so readily available.

[Anonymous]

The excerpt below is from George Orwell, The Road to Wigan Pier, written in the 1930s. He's talking about the poor working classes of England.

"Would it not be better if they spent more money on wholesome things like oranges and wholemeal bread or if they even, like the writer of the letter to the New Statesman, saved on fuel and ate their carrots raw? Yes, it would, but the point is that no ordinary human being is ever going to do such a thing. The ordinary human being would sooner starve than live on brown bread and raw carrots. And the peculiar evil is this, that the less money you have, the less inclined you feel to spent it on wholesome food. A millionaire may enjoy breakfasting off orange juice and Ryvita biscuits; an unemployed man doesn't. Here the tendency of which I spoke of at the end of the last chapter comes into play. When you are unemployed, which is to say when you ae underfed, harassed, bored and miserable, you don't want to eat dull wholesome food. You want something a little bit 'tasty.' There is always some cheaply pleasant thing to tempt you. Let's have three pennyworth of chips! Run out and buy us a twopenny ice cream!"

This was written almost 100 years ago. How much more junk food is available to us now? Thus, we have high obesity rates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I immigrated from Europe, one thing I have noticed that derails healthy eating in America, lots of people can't cook and don't have any inclination to learn. Yes, it's possible to eat healthy on a low budget but you need to know how to cook from scratch or be willing to learn. I think it will really help poor communities if they are given some lessons in basic cooking, although these days everyone is on internet and recipes/information is so readily available.

This is the Op. Someone else mentioned that in the comments. My mother grew up cooking very simple cheap food. She grew up very poor. I learned to cook from her as a child. That is why I know that a lot (not all) of poor people could eat healthier on a small budget. My mother was not well educated, she was low income, she worked full time in a demanding job, she did not have much free time, and she did not have a car. The key was that she could cook and she was willing to eat the same meals several times a week. She also had a cultural aversion to "American food."

[Anonymous]

Um thanks. I'm poor and also don't have a car. I also don't have space for a large stockpot. I have no problem eating the same thing 3 or 4 days in a row and often do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I immigrated from Europe, one thing I have noticed that derails healthy eating in America, lots of people can't cook and don't have any inclination to learn. Yes, it's possible to eat healthy on a low budget but you need to know how to cook from scratch or be willing to learn. I think it will really help poor communities if they are given some lessons in basic cooking, although these days everyone is on internet and recipes/information is so readily available.

+1. What happened to Home Economics as a class? That's how I learned to cook because my parents were too busy working to teach me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The excerpt below is from George Orwell, The Road to Wigan Pier, written in the 1930s. He's talking about the poor working classes of England.

"Would it not be better if they spent more money on wholesome things like oranges and wholemeal bread or if they even, like the writer of the letter to the New Statesman, saved on fuel and ate their carrots raw? Yes, it would, but the point is that no ordinary human being is ever going to do such a thing. The ordinary human being would sooner starve than live on brown bread and raw carrots. And the peculiar evil is this, that the less money you have, the less inclined you feel to spent it on wholesome food. A millionaire may enjoy breakfasting off orange juice and Ryvita biscuits; an unemployed man doesn't. Here the tendency of which I spoke of at the end of the last chapter comes into play. When you are unemployed, which is to say when you ae underfed, harassed, bored and miserable, you don't want to eat dull wholesome food. You want something a little bit 'tasty.' There is always some cheaply pleasant thing to tempt you. Let's have three pennyworth of chips! Run out and buy us a twopenny ice cream!"

This was written almost 100 years ago. How much more junk food is available to us now? Thus, we have high obesity rates.

Only a person who has never been poor would write such a thing. When you're poor you quickly realize that you need some kind of food that will sustain you until you get enough money to buy your next meal. In Orwell's time, most people would dream of ice cream, but rarely get it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The excerpt below is from George Orwell, The Road to Wigan Pier, written in the 1930s. He's talking about the poor working classes of England.

"Would it not be better if they spent more money on wholesome things like oranges and wholemeal bread or if they even, like the writer of the letter to the New Statesman, saved on fuel and ate their carrots raw? Yes, it would, but the point is that no ordinary human being is ever going to do such a thing. The ordinary human being would sooner starve than live on brown bread and raw carrots. And the peculiar evil is this, that the less money you have, the less inclined you feel to spent it on wholesome food. A millionaire may enjoy breakfasting off orange juice and Ryvita biscuits; an unemployed man doesn't. Here the tendency of which I spoke of at the end of the last chapter comes into play. When you are unemployed, which is to say when you ae underfed, harassed, bored and miserable, you don't want to eat dull wholesome food. You want something a little bit 'tasty.' There is always some cheaply pleasant thing to tempt you. Let's have three pennyworth of chips! Run out and buy us a twopenny ice cream!"

This was written almost 100 years ago. How much more junk food is available to us now? Thus, we have high obesity rates.

Only a person who has never been poor would write such a thing. When you're poor you quickly realize that you need some kind of food that will sustain you until you get enough money to buy your next meal. In Orwell's time, most people would dream of ice cream, but rarely get it.

So you think Orwell made up his observations?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The excerpt below is from George Orwell, The Road to Wigan Pier, written in the 1930s. He's talking about the poor working classes of England.

"Would it not be better if they spent more money on wholesome things like oranges and wholemeal bread or if they even, like the writer of the letter to the New Statesman, saved on fuel and ate their carrots raw? Yes, it would, but the point is that no ordinary human being is ever going to do such a thing. The ordinary human being would sooner starve than live on brown bread and raw carrots. And the peculiar evil is this, that the less money you have, the less inclined you feel to spent it on wholesome food. A millionaire may enjoy breakfasting off orange juice and Ryvita biscuits; an unemployed man doesn't. Here the tendency of which I spoke of at the end of the last chapter comes into play. When you are unemployed, which is to say when you ae underfed, harassed, bored and miserable, you don't want to eat dull wholesome food. You want something a little bit 'tasty.' There is always some cheaply pleasant thing to tempt you. Let's have three pennyworth of chips! Run out and buy us a twopenny ice cream!"

This was written almost 100 years ago. How much more junk food is available to us now? Thus, we have high obesity rates.

I'm obese, poor, never get fast food, and eat raw carrots all the time. Maybe twice a year I cut them into sticks and roast them with EVOO and salt so they taste like sweet potato fries.

[Anonymous]

I eat all meals at home and cook much of
It from scratch but it would be hard for me to feed my whole family for $100. Groceries are expensive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The excerpt below is from George Orwell, The Road to Wigan Pier, written in the 1930s. He's talking about the poor working classes of England.

"Would it not be better if they spent more money on wholesome things like oranges and wholemeal bread or if they even, like the writer of the letter to the New Statesman, saved on fuel and ate their carrots raw? Yes, it would, but the point is that no ordinary human being is ever going to do such a thing. The ordinary human being would sooner starve than live on brown bread and raw carrots. And the peculiar evil is this, that the less money you have, the less inclined you feel to spent it on wholesome food. A millionaire may enjoy breakfasting off orange juice and Ryvita biscuits; an unemployed man doesn't. Here the tendency of which I spoke of at the end of the last chapter comes into play. When you are unemployed, which is to say when you ae underfed, harassed, bored and miserable, you don't want to eat dull wholesome food. You want something a little bit 'tasty.' There is always some cheaply pleasant thing to tempt you. Let's have three pennyworth of chips! Run out and buy us a twopenny ice cream!"

This was written almost 100 years ago. How much more junk food is available to us now? Thus, we have high obesity rates.

Only a person who has never been poor would write such a thing. When you're poor you quickly realize that you need some kind of food that will sustain you until you get enough money to buy your next meal. In Orwell's time, most people would dream of ice cream, but rarely get it.

Many UK boys age 15 and 16 lied about their age and enlisted in the Army in WWI to get regular meals. At age 15 and age 16 they were working in factories and not getting much food. The boys thought Army life and food would be better than factory work and not getting much food.

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The excerpt below is from George Orwell, The Road to Wigan Pier, written in the 1930s. He's talking about the poor working classes of England.

"Would it not be better if they spent more money on wholesome things like oranges and wholemeal bread or if they even, like the writer of the letter to the New Statesman, saved on fuel and ate their carrots raw? Yes, it would, but the point is that no ordinary human being is ever going to do such a thing. The ordinary human being would sooner starve than live on brown bread and raw carrots. And the peculiar evil is this, that the less money you have, the less inclined you feel to spent it on wholesome food. A millionaire may enjoy breakfasting off orange juice and Ryvita biscuits; an unemployed man doesn't. Here the tendency of which I spoke of at the end of the last chapter comes into play. When you are unemployed, which is to say when you ae underfed, harassed, bored and miserable, you don't want to eat dull wholesome food. You want something a little bit 'tasty.' There is always some cheaply pleasant thing to tempt you. Let's have three pennyworth of chips! Run out and buy us a twopenny ice cream!"

This was written almost 100 years ago. How much more junk food is available to us now? Thus, we have high obesity rates.

Only a person who has never been poor would write such a thing. When you're poor you quickly realize that you need some kind of food that will sustain you until you get enough money to buy your next meal. In Orwell's time, most people would dream of ice cream, but rarely get it.

Ice cream is a nightmare to me. Gross. I'll take the fresh raspberries and my home made raspberry jam on my home made sourdough bread ANY day. And yes, I have made plenty of organic, grass-fed-cow cream ice cream for my family. It's not my jam.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Get back to me when you can run 100 meters in under 10 seconds. After all, we know it can be done because Usain Bolt did it.