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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Just for some perspective, OP.  When I was little, both my parents worked part-time and went to school part-time.  We owned our house, and my mom cooked from scratch.

People simply cannot do that today.  The cost of living is too high, so many parents have to work two jobs.  Your mother was lucky that she was able to make-do, but many people today cannot do that anymore.  It’s just a fact.[/quote]

People absolutely can cook from scratch today. So many posts ignoring other posts from current single moms and other non rich people about cooking from scratch.

I am a single mom with full custody. I work about 50 hours a week. I cook almost all our food from scratch including bread and desserts. I do ok but I am not wealthy enough where I can pay for a cleaning service or meal kits or order instacart for all my groceries . I shop sales and lean a lot on batch cooking and freezing things. I try to multi task as much as possible, so for many meal I make part of it I make enough to freeze for another time.

Honestly I think the answer here is that some people find a way if this is something important to them and other throw their arms up and say “oh well, there is no way to do this, my only option is McDonald’s dollar menu”. [/quote]

What’s your job? Is it minimum wage? Regular office hours or swing shifts, evenings, weekends? Do you have a car? What’s your level of education? Where do you live in relation to a full grocery store? How many children do you have?  Do you get child support? What is your neighborhood like in general? Did you grow up with a parent that made meals from scratch?

I mean, you have a freezer big enough to store things so you’re already ahead of many people.

These things matter in this context. Can it be done? Sure can, but here’s your trophy and your home made, low sugar, organic spelt cookie. For other people, it is a struggle. They don’t have the job, time, tools, resources, skills, whatever to be as awesome as you are.

I say this as someone who cooks from scratch more of less every day. I’m fortunate - I WAH and although I grew up poor, I also had a mother who cooked from scratch and showed me how. I’ve been precariously housed and was thankful I knew that to do. But I also had the skills, resources, education, and a whole bunch of things that afforded me that ability. I don’t judge. I’m grateful and I try to pay it forward. [/quote]

This is the OP. My mom was a minimum wage earning personal support worker and single mother. She worked as many shifts as she could get because she only earned minimum wage and had to support two children. We lived in substandard housing in the inner city. We did not have a car. We did not have extra freezers or a large fridge. We lived in one-bedroom apartments because that was what she could afford. My mom had a grade 6 education and she was educated in apartheid South Africa (which means almost no education at all). Still she cooked from scratch.

Once again, I am not saying that poor people who don't cook from scratch are lazy, deficient, or any other insult you would like to attribute to me.

I think some of the previous posters put it more eloquently that I did. People who know how to cook can make it work. And they know how to cook for cultural reasons.[/quote]

OP, I get it. But how old are you? What your mom did 20/30 years ago doesn’t necessarily apply to the landscape NOW. Heck, I find what we ate pre-COVID is very different than what we do now, and groceries are not a huge concern for us. That’s only a 4 year difference.

You’ve also said that your mom didn’t like typical American food. It’s fair to say that that can go both ways. Many Westerners too, have their own ideas about cultural foods. Your mother was able to easily cook and make delicious grains, legumes, stews, etc. and help teach you that food landscape. For you to eat that way doesn’t feel like sacrifice - it is comfort and happiness and not in any way a negative. This is YOUR FOOD. The food of your mother, your ansectors, your childhood, and hers. She rejected other food, by your own report. Why do you think that people can easily flip the other way, only based on budget?

My DH is from a European, but “western” country and upbringing. He will take when I make “his” food, preferentially, every time, than when I make food from my culture, or anything else. It’s not conscious. Food is so social, so important to being who we are.

Respecting that there is more than money and ignorance at play can go a long way to finding empathy. Sure, you can solely to exist, or you can enjoy life. Part of the issue is that there is no education through life on how to enjoy different foods, because so much of it is unattainable for some families. This is where the education system could help, but no one wants to think about “home ec” as equally valuable as STEM.

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