Poor or middle class food

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here: what a huge variety of responses!

I am asking this question because I grew up in the Midwest and recently relocated to an urban area and what the 'rich' ate in my hometown is what the 'poor' and 'middle class' eat here... We had no whole foods, trader joes etc. We had walmart and a handful Ma and Pop grocery stores/resteraunts l.

OP, there was an excellent thread a few months ago about poverty and food was a big part of it; sorry that I can't remember more about it to pull up the link for you. This thread has largely been what well-off people imagine poor and middle class people eat. I, too, grew up in the Midwest and think that people from all over the SE ladder tend to eat more similarly (with exceptions for the very poor and very rich, obviously) there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dear $500k poster: it can be a mob mentality around here once you out yourself as a 1%er. Regardless of what you can add to the discussion, you're dismissed as ignorant, out of touch, lacking empathy, etc. etc. As far as I can gather, other posters blame you for their (sadder) lot in life.

You know - there are people with lots of money who are jerks and those who are not. Clearly this poster felt that what poor people eat to stay alive is funny. This has nothing to do with HHI, it has to do with being a socially aware, empathetic human being. The fact that you feel the need to protect 500k makes me wonder about your humanity as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dear $500k poster: it can be a mob mentality around here once you out yourself as a 1%er. Regardless of what you can add to the discussion, you're dismissed as ignorant, out of touch, lacking empathy, etc. etc. As far as I can gather, other posters blame you for their (sadder) lot in life.

You know - there are people with lots of money who are jerks and those who are not. Clearly this poster felt that what poor people eat to stay alive is funny. This has nothing to do with HHI, it has to do with being a socially aware, empathetic human being. The fact that you feel the need to protect 500k makes me wonder about your humanity as well.

Thank you for proving my point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sunny D

Sunny D sounds so good right now

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dear $500k poster: it can be a mob mentality around here once you out yourself as a 1%er. Regardless of what you can add to the discussion, you're dismissed as ignorant, out of touch, lacking empathy, etc. etc. As far as I can gather, other posters blame you for their (sadder) lot in life.

You know - there are people with lots of money who are jerks and those who are not. Clearly this poster felt that what poor people eat to stay alive is funny. This has nothing to do with HHI, it has to do with being a socially aware, empathetic human being. The fact that you feel the need to protect 500k makes me wonder about your humanity as well.

But the fact is that there are lots of people who are not poor who eat beans and rice. The beans-and-rice-eating PP is correct. The point about beans and rice and the poor is that the poor eat ONLY beans and rice (or only rice, if they can't afford beans). Whereas non-poor people who eat beans and rice also eat other things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dear $500k poster: it can be a mob mentality around here once you out yourself as a 1%er. Regardless of what you can add to the discussion, you're dismissed as ignorant, out of touch, lacking empathy, etc. etc. As far as I can gather, other posters blame you for their (sadder) lot in life.

You know - there are people with lots of money who are jerks and those who are not. Clearly this poster felt that what poor people eat to stay alive is funny. This has nothing to do with HHI, it has to do with being a socially aware, empathetic human being. The fact that you feel the need to protect 500k makes me wonder about your humanity as well.

But the fact is that there are lots of people who are not poor who eat beans and rice. The beans-and-rice-eating PP is correct. The point about beans and rice and the poor is that the poor eat ONLY beans and rice (or only rice, if they can't afford beans). Whereas non-poor people who eat beans and rice also eat other things.

Sure - rice and beans are healthy and taste good. I don't think anyone is picking on her because she eats rice and beans. For me "who knew rice and beans were poor food, lol" was disingenuous at best.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Beans and rice

Hunh?

Our HHI is $500k, and this is one of my kids' favorite meals. Black beans and rice. Who knew it was poor food??

Are you a complete moron? What are the staples of indigenous people in Latin America? rice and beans. India? Lentils/ beans and rice.

Why do you think they are staples, cheap and together rice and beans form a complete protein.

Maybe you need to get out of your sheltered $500k HHI world and see how others live before you say stupid things.

I've actually lived in India. Have you?

And yet you still managed to make light of what millions (billions??) of poor people around the world are forced to eat to keep from starving? Bravo.

Oh STFU. She didn't make light and she didn't act like she was slumming it. Beans and rice is a meal that transcends SES boundaries. Tasty, healthy, simple and amazingly free of additives.

Oh and high-fives to 500k poster for not putting your kids on some shitty paleo diet.

[Anonymous]

Scrapple
Processed foods (frozen, canned or in a box) as staples
White bread

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dear $500k poster: it can be a mob mentality around here once you out yourself as a 1%er. Regardless of what you can add to the discussion, you're dismissed as ignorant, out of touch, lacking empathy, etc. etc. As far as I can gather, other posters blame you for their (sadder) lot in life.

You know - there are people with lots of money who are jerks and those who are not. Clearly this poster felt that what poor people eat to stay alive is funny. This has nothing to do with HHI, it has to do with being a socially aware, empathetic human being. The fact that you feel the need to protect 500k makes me wonder about your humanity as well.

I guess I didn't read that post like that. Or take near the offense some of you did.
I'm not a 1%er by any means. But, some of you need to chill out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Beans and rice

Hunh?

Our HHI is $500k, and this is one of my kids' favorite meals. Black beans and rice. Who knew it was poor food??

Are you a complete moron? What are the staples of indigenous people in Latin America? rice and beans. India? Lentils/ beans and rice.

Why do you think they are staples, cheap and together rice and beans form a complete protein.

Maybe you need to get out of your sheltered $500k HHI world and see how others live before you say stupid things.

I've actually lived in India. Have you?

And yet you still managed to make light of what millions (billions??) of poor people around the world are forced to eat to keep from starving? Bravo.

Oh STFU. She didn't make light and she didn't act like she was slumming it. Beans and rice is a meal that transcends SES boundaries. Tasty, healthy, simple and amazingly free of additives.

Oh and high-fives to 500k poster for not putting your kids on some shitty paleo diet.

This is what I took away from her post, as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up a poor and ate way better than most poors now. My mom could not afford the sodas, mac-n-cheese boxes, and hamburger helper.

We ate baked chicken, baked potato, and steamed broccoli all.the.time for dinner. Next of course came the chicken noodle soup made from the carcass.

Lots of PB&J for lunch, popcorn for snacks, and oatmeal for breakfast. We ate much healthier as a poor than as a rich now.

Nothing's stopping you from eating that way again.

And I do remember when junk like Hamburger Helper was relatively expensive - now if you live near a Big Lots, it's marked down to 1.29. Of course, you still have to buy the hamburger.

Eating healthy/poor is soo tremendously boring. When I think of food and my childhood all can think of is BORING-special was banana and peanut butter. We lived in an apartment and my mom had pots out on the balcony in the summer with herbs and it got a little more exciting then.

Oh and red meat? practically never. The only good thing that came out of it is us kids grew us so stunningly skinny and none of us kids have a sweet tooth. We are all still so skinny, I feel like our bodies were shaped thin due to low calories and completely from scratch foods. If we had cookies, they were baked. Milk was rationed and "poor greens" such as collards, mustard, and kale were plentiful. I actually used to be envious of kids who got green beans out of a can....they tasted so salty and good to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Beans and rice

Hunh?

Our HHI is $500k, and this is one of my kids' favorite meals. Black beans and rice. Who knew it was poor food??

Are you a complete moron? What are the staples of indigenous people in Latin America? rice and beans. India? Lentils/ beans and rice.

Why do you think they are staples, cheap and together rice and beans form a complete protein.

Maybe you need to get out of your sheltered $500k HHI world and see how others live before you say stupid things.

I've actually lived in India. Have you?

And yet you still managed to make light of what millions (billions??) of poor people around the world are forced to eat to keep from starving? Bravo.

Oh STFU. She didn't make light and she didn't act like she was slumming it. Beans and rice is a meal that transcends SES boundaries. Tasty, healthy, simple and amazingly free of additives.

Oh and high-fives to 500k poster for not putting your kids on some shitty paleo diet.

This is what I took away from her post, as well.

NP here and I agree. I don't know why the other posters bashing 500k poster are getting so sensitive and butthurt for. This was definitely a staple in our low income home but I know that many people who can afford to eat a wide variety of foods like to eat beans and rice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Beans and rice

Hunh?

Our HHI is $500k, and this is one of my kids' favorite meals. Black beans and rice. Who knew it was poor food??

Are you a complete moron? What are the staples of indigenous people in Latin America? rice and beans. India? Lentils/ beans and rice.

Why do you think they are staples, cheap and together rice and beans form a complete protein.

Maybe you need to get out of your sheltered $500k HHI world and see how others live before you say stupid things.

I've actually lived in India. Have you?

And yet you still managed to make light of what millions (billions??) of poor people around the world are forced to eat to keep from starving? Bravo.

Oh STFU. She didn't make light and she didn't act like she was slumming it. Beans and rice is a meal that transcends SES boundaries. Tasty, healthy, simple and amazingly free of additives.

Oh and high-fives to 500k poster for not putting your kids on some shitty paleo diet.

Me too.

I was surprised someone threw rice and beans out there as poor food. We eat beans just about daily, if you count lentils. I had lentil soup 4 out of the 5 lunches this week. Mainly because I make delicious lentil soup and it is so easy to bring to work I make a big pot on sunday and it seems to get better with each day it sits in the fridge.

For me, beans are a healthy way to eat, plus I'm not a big meat eater. Beans are a staple.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Boxed macaroni and cheese, frozen chicken, frozen meals for lunch, canned fruit and veg, most boxed cereal, bagged salad, fast food, Applebee's, tgi Fridays and the like...

Poor people go to sit-down restaurants to pay $10-12 per person for dinner? Your idea of poor must be different from mine.

+1
It's telling that poor=middle class for a lot of these posters.

+1
Really sickening thread and proves how removed from real poverty most of these people are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Boxed macaroni and cheese, frozen chicken, frozen meals for lunch, canned fruit and veg, most boxed cereal, bagged salad, fast food, Applebee's, tgi Fridays and the like...

Poor people go to sit-down restaurants to pay $10-12 per person for dinner? Your idea of poor must be different from mine.

+1
It's telling that poor=middle class for a lot of these posters.

Right? I grew up solidly lower-middle class, and we were not eating at restaurants except for special occasions (like, once or twice a year at most). They were too expensive. We also almost never ate fast food except that my dad had a weakness for the fish and chips at a local fast-food restaurant, so we got that every great once in a while. We did not eat frozen meals or any other frozen convenience food--also too expensive. We ate chicken--my mom would roast a whole chicken one night, make a casserole with any leftovers, and make soup from the bones. We ate home-grown and home-canned fruits and veggies.

We did get the ice cream in the five-gallon bucket from the Schwann man. Man, I miss that stuff.

So, IME, poor people eat a lot of spaghetti, casseroles, peanut butter-and-jelly or bologna sandwiches, and meatloaf. Also, many potatoes. So many potatoes.