Anonymous wrote:You seem to have little or no empathy OP. Why judge people so harshly? It sounds like your mom did what she could, but that food does not seem healthy. Have you been to a store lately? Fruits and vegetables are very expensive. The only thing that isn't is Trader Joes pasta and pasta sauce. It wouldn't be healthy to eat that for long. Also, since you're so judgey, why was your mom a single mom? Why no man in the picture? She could have afforded more for you with a man in the pic.

Seriously?

Organic black Lentils are $2.99. Carrots are $3.00. Celery $2.99. Make a soup in a pot that will feed you for a week. So many excuses.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

And where else is the money coming from? Do tell. Because there is rent and transportation and clothes and laundry and and and.

It’s coming from the budget those things are also coming out of? It’s coming from earned income?

It’s not the government’s job to make sure citizens have their priorities in order. If people would rather blow money on X rather than saving it for Y, that’s their problem.

Anonymous wrote:

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.

And where else is the money coming from? Do tell. Because there is rent and transportation and clothes and laundry and and and.

Anonymous wrote:Something no one has mentioned is that Americans don't want to eat stew or porridge or rice and beans or the same thing over and over again. It's a cultural difference. I think we think we are too good to eat things that are boring or not tasty or not freshly prepared by someone other than us. This is in all class levels. I've noticed that after a big holiday there will be tons of leftovers but some guests will door dash food to them just because they want to eat something different. Also, I work in a governement agency with a wide range of salaries. The lowest paid are the most likely to get delivery or takeout every day for lunch. It's the culture.

When I was on food stamps I ate oatmeal and a banana six days a week.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

I am poor and have no outdoor space and no direct sunlight in my tiny apartment. I can't grow my own food. Having land is for rich people!

County rents plots for $120/year, you can grow tons of produce from March to October. You can lookup the information on Fairfax County website.

I ... don't live in Fairfax?

OP, I’m not sure if it’s been mentioned here, but I don’t think it’s inconsequential that your mother was from a southern African background and had the tools to be able to cook many stews and the like with beans, rice, grains, and likely minimal meat.

While I’m fine when faced with a bag of dried lentils and a dried bag of random gains, many North Americans (and not them only) would not know what to do. Aside from that, the food they might make probably does not resemble what they have grown up culturally eating. Many of the foods you grew up with may have been standard fare for you regardless of your mother’s income. Aside from that, she had the skills, resources, and time to shop and make those dishes. If she used dried foods, she may not have had to ship so deeply as often.

And I’m sorry, but the grocery landscape is really changing - we are solidly middle class and I even find myself making more budget friendly meals more often. We never eat out, get take out, or order in. No meal kits. We’re not even one of those WF or organic only families.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Something no one has mentioned is that Americans don't want to eat stew or porridge or rice and beans or the same thing over and over again. It's a cultural difference. I think we think we are too good to eat things that are boring or not tasty or not freshly prepared by someone other than us. This is in all class levels. I've noticed that after a big holiday there will be tons of leftovers but some guests will door dash food to them just because they want to eat something different. Also, I work in a governement agency with a wide range of salaries. The lowest paid are the most likely to get delivery or takeout every day for lunch. It's the culture.

You are right. It’s also a garbage culture and it needs to change. Why is it never OK now to suggest existing are not good for their people? IMO this is a huge problem. No one feels like it is OK to say that actually, your culture is what is making it hard for you to get ahead and you need to do better.

Yes, they feel entitled to takeout and to throw away leftovers.

i recently became aware of the author, bell hooks. (i know, i know...)

am currently reading her book "class matters"

it is eye opening.

i think that some people here should read the book as well.

Anonymous wrote:Something no one has mentioned is that Americans don't want to eat stew or porridge or rice and beans or the same thing over and over again. It's a cultural difference. I think we think we are too good to eat things that are boring or not tasty or not freshly prepared by someone other than us. This is in all class levels. I've noticed that after a big holiday there will be tons of leftovers but some guests will door dash food to them just because they want to eat something different. Also, I work in a governement agency with a wide range of salaries. The lowest paid are the most likely to get delivery or takeout every day for lunch. It's the culture.

You are right. It’s also a garbage culture and it needs to change. Why is it never OK now to suggest existing are not good for their people? IMO this is a huge problem. No one feels like it is OK to say that actually, your culture is what is making it hard for you to get ahead and you need to do better.

Something no one has mentioned is that Americans don't want to eat stew or porridge or rice and beans or the same thing over and over again. It's a cultural difference. I think we think we are too good to eat things that are boring or not tasty or not freshly prepared by someone other than us. This is in all class levels. I've noticed that after a big holiday there will be tons of leftovers but some guests will door dash food to them just because they want to eat something different. Also, I work in a governement agency with a wide range of salaries. The lowest paid are the most likely to get delivery or takeout every day for lunch. It's the culture.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

I am poor and have no outdoor space and no direct sunlight in my tiny apartment. I can't grow my own food. Having land is for rich people!

County rents plots for $120/year, you can grow tons of produce from March to October. You can lookup the information on Fairfax County website.

Again with assumptions that 1. $120 a year is not an insignificant amount of money and 2. That the poster has the resources to plant said garden, plus the time resources and transportation to get to that plot to plant, care for, and harvest said plot. 3. That that person then has the storage ability for all this wonderful food. The riches on here complain about excess in their CSA box. What if you don’t have a fridge, or only a bar fridge and no freezer? You may not have anything other than a hot plate, so canning is also out of their question. 4. That that person also has the time and skills to use those items in their food in a meaningful way.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

I am poor and have no outdoor space and no direct sunlight in my tiny apartment. I can't grow my own food. Having land is for rich people!

County rents plots for $120/year, you can grow tons of produce from March to October. You can lookup the information on Fairfax County website.

Anonymous wrote: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.

I am poor and have no outdoor space and no direct sunlight in my tiny apartment. I can't grow my own food. Having land is for rich people!

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I took Home Ec, and learned nothing except that one formerly gross boy suddenly got my respect because he screamed at anyone who went to touch food without washing their hands first. Shoutout to Seth Norden, wherever you are. But cooking? No, I didn't learn how to cook anything in that class. I vaguely remember a story about stone soup and monkey bread having sugar and cinnamon on it.

Anonymous wrote:

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.

+1

Don't act all surprised, OP. You knew exactly what you were doing with your post.