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There are some good nutrients in a cheeseburger, believe it or not. The fries are very questionable. And I quit drinking soft drinks a long time ago and drink bottled water instead.
That said, you still could have deficiencies elsewhere such as in Vitamin D. I did at one point. And I used to be a suntan freak. So you need some dairy besides just the cheese in the cheeseburger. It's a good idea to take supplements just for getting to the RDA - not mega vitamins.
Also eating lots of servings of vegetables, not just a few scraps of iceberg lettuce or a slice of tomato - will take care of a bunch of nutrients. You get more nutrients per calorie of produce than anything else. My personal aim is bulking up and reducing body fat to where I get the 6 pack abs. So I'm watching my calories and nutrient content like a hawk - with myfitness pal. That is the key to me getting into my best shape in 55 years.
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Originally Posted by jerseygal4u
This thread is useless..
Why?
Different people have different ideas of "healthy".
Take me for instance.
If i eat once a day,and eat one cheeseburger and large fries,as my only meal.
I only drink calorie free soda and juice in addition to water.
After eating all of that,i am still under 1500 kcal for that day.
Some posters are saying potatoes are not healthy,others say red meat is not healthy,yet others are saying poor people should buy hamburger and freeze portions of it..you get the idea.
I don't really see the whole "not knowing how to cook" argument as a very good one. Maybe 10-20 years ago it was, but with the internet anyone can figure out how to cook anything.
That's great ... If you have an internet connection. And a computer. Or the time to go to the library and copy down recipes and instructions. I wonder how many families living paycheck to paycheck, with food insecurity looming over them every time a kid gets sick or the car breaks down, have any one of those three things.
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Originally Posted by jerseygal4u
Roadkill
Are you joking?
I know of no food pantry or food bank that will take road kill from a private citizen.
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Originally Posted by JrzDefector
Nobody ever said it was about "oppression." But nor are there easy solutions like "There's plenty of cheap food available! Poor people just need to plan better."
Exactly. If it were so easy, everyone would do it.
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Access is a huge issue. But it goes beyond access. Life experience is a huge issue. We no longer have home ec classes is another problem.
Another good point. Access - to both food and to food preparation utensils and appliacnes - life experience, time, cognitive ability ... all can limit a person's ability to prepare food inexpensively at home.
But pretty much anyone can boil up some dried noodles, melt butter on them, salt and pepper them, and toss them on the table.
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Originally Posted by Delahanty
I guess we all make the mistake of assuming that people know how to make choices or to cook (or even to budget). And I think it's true that people live what they learn--if they're not seeing people at home make good choices or move around the kitchen, they won't, either.
You see it every day if you volunteer in a food pantry or work at a food bank.
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Originally Posted by NWGirl74
I also wouldn't be surprised if some believe food deserts are a myth. Or that those people should just and move to somewhere with better access to food.
There are plenty of people - some in this very thread! - who believe both. People who believe food deserts are a myth need to get out more. People who believe that a family can simply up and move closer to a full-service grocery store are just ignorant.
I grew up in a small town, where the primary industry is farming. My dad worked about 12 hr days; my step-mom worked nights as a cocktail waitress. I grew up on free and reduced lunch and public assistance.
If we didn't qualify for school lunches, my typical meals for the day were: a bowl of cereal for breakfast-usually generic Cheerios with powdered milk. A peanut butter (or butter) and jelly sandwich or half sandwich made from the crust for lunch, and whatever could be made from whatever we had in the house for dinner-usually some sort of casserole (variations of pasta, ground beef and tomato sauce) and canned veggies. To this day, I cannot make a pot of spaghetti that lasts less than a week. People thought I was naturally thin growing up. The truth is I was malnourished. Frozen burritos or BBQ hamburgers on special occasions. I also ate a lot of hot dogs growing up.
My best friend asked me not too long ago why I always seem to have so much food in the house and why I go way overboard when I host parties. I told him "because I can." I grew up hungry and don't want people to leave my house hungry. (I also have Italian heritage so I think I'm genetically predisposed to feed people ).
I looked up some basic data on the town I grew up in. It's in Eastern WA, 2012 population was 1,705. The median age is 40, the median household income is $39,616. The primary grocery store is Safeway. I looked up their weekly flyer and the one for the town I currently live in in Western WA, which has a median HH income of $45,718, which works out to be $508.50 more per month and median age of 36.6. The prices were the same. Here's a random sampling of some things I'd likely buy and things mentioned throughout this thread.
Extra Large Russet potatoes: .89/lb
Haas avocados: $1.50/ea
Green bell peppers: $1.00/ea
O Organics grape tomatoes: $3.99/pint
On the vine tomatoes: $2.99/lb
Gala apples: $.99/lb
Large red grapes: $1.99/lb
Organic red grapes: $2.50/lb
Sweet corn: .34/ea-if you have a club card
80% ground beef: $3.69/lb
Safeway brand bread: $1.79/loaf
Lean cuisine: $2.00/ea
Pasta (12-16 oz): $1.00/ea
Value pack chicken: $2.99/ea
I know of no food pantry or food bank that will take road kill from a private citizen.
I volunteer for the local food bank on a regular basis. It's the main distribution center for the food pantries in Oregon and SW WA. We can't accept anything that is homemade or doesn't have ingredients listed.
I tried couponing but i dont need 12 cans of soup or 24 bars of ivory. Now if there were coupons for real things, i might take it up again, but really i dont believe that argument of people on FS couponing would solve the issue either.
I'm sure this has been discussed in the thread, but many poor people, especially in NYC by me and in other low-income towns, have food deserts. For many, going down the road to a bodega or convenience store, is much easier, then hopping on a bus for 20 minutes just to get fresh vegetables. I was surprised to learn the number of food deserts: USDA ERS - Go to the Atlas
Yeah... its easier to just go to the convenience store, but its not impossible to get healthier foods from the grocery store.
The OP asked "Is healthy food too expensive for poor people to buy" and the answer is no. Healthy food is not too expensive. It might take a little bit of extra work to get the food, and it might take a little bit of extra work to figure out how to prepare the food, but it isn't impossible. If someone wants to eat healthy, they can. They'll just have to make that a priority.
If they live in a food desert and have to take the bus to get to a grocery store, then they're probably also taking the bus to work. Is their entire commute to work also a food desert? Probably not, so stop by the grocery store on the way home from work instead of taking a separate trip at a later time.
It might not be the most convenient option, but life is not always easy.
It's basically the same as when people in cities like New York City get all angry about the amount of food that is thrown out of stores or restaurants. And, by the way, that food is also fine for consumption. (That always sets up an amusing battle of activists, by the way. On the one side are the anti-corporate activists who say that stores should donate the food to the poor. On the other side are the poor activists who are offended that the poor should have to eat the food that remains after people who paid are gone. I lol.)
I have about 100+ cans/jars of food that I cannot use and won't be moving to my new place. I would run it down to the local food bank where they are clamoring about the need for donations.
However, I am sure that some if out of date and they will probably throw most of it out. Therefore, my college aged nephew and some of my foodie friends will take it instead ... and be glad to get it.
I tried couponing but i dont need 12 cans of soup or 24 bars of ivory. Now if there were coupons for real things, i might take it up again, but really i dont believe that argument of people on FS couponing would solve the issue either.
I coupon. I don't buy cans of soup because I don't really like canned soup. Never thought of buying 24 bars of ivory either. I actually buy a lot of the same foods that I bought before I started using coupons. There are coupons for fresh foods, and for other everyday staples like rice, pasta, bread, canned/frozen vegetables, etc. I don't buy junk food. There are plenty of other foods out there where you don't need to.
Even if you don't use coupons on food, there are still coupons to be used on toilet paper, paper towels, shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, tooth brushes, lotion, household cleaners, etc. that would free up more money for a food budget.
I think it was mentioned but not really talked about. I also wouldn't be surprised if some believe food deserts are a myth.
You know what's hilarious? That there are food deserts that are all over the place and yet nobody dies. And by "nobody dies," I don't mean, "they're living but they're dragging themselves about the street by their fingers like in the movies."
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