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Cup of noodles / ramen are 10-25 cents each and more filling and cheaper than the apple.
Those are not good for you. The amount of sodium in those things is insane. The few cents more you'd be paying for an apple is worth it in terms of your health.
Those are not good for you. The amount of sodium in those things is insane. The few cents more you'd be paying for an apple is worth it in terms of your health.
Some people don't have the luxury of thinking about future health with day to day stresses. If you are hungry, you are going to get something filling. You might want an apple, but your budget might only allow you to focus on calorie per dollar. Not nutrient per dollar.
People who think fast food is cheaper might not be considering the full costs. A dollar menu does not satisfy most people. The average person will be buying 2 to 4 items from the dollar menu because those portions are so small people will buy at least 2 burgers. Some will add soda, french fries and desserts to their purchase. Multiply that by the family members and a family of 4 can be spending $10-16 per meal. Plus tax. Twice a day(lunch, dinner) would be $21-32 a day, and that doesn't even take into account the cost of breakfast and snacks.
Some people don't have the luxury of thinking about future health with day to day stresses. If you are hungry, you are going to get something filling. You might want an apple, but your budget might only allow you to focus on calorie per dollar. Not nutrient per dollar.
If you want to pretend like its impossible to eat healthy on a limited budget, then thats fine. I've quoted prices from my local grocery store as well as your local grocery store to show how that isn't the case.
People need to start thinking about their long term health, that is the whole point of eating healthy. Yeah that bag of Cheetos might be tasty, but is it really good to be eating nothing but Cheetos or other junk food with no nutritional value? Healthy food can be tasty too.
If a person's budget is that bad that all they can afford is ten cents worth of food when they go to the grocery store, then obviously they don't really have a food budget. I don't think the topic is about people that are that poor. Its more about those who are spending $20 at McDonalds to feed a family of four when that $20 can go a lot further at the grocery store and get them a number of healthy meals.
If you want to pretend like its impossible to eat healthy on a limited budget, then thats fine. I've quoted prices from my local grocery store as well as your local grocery store to show how that isn't the case.
People need to start thinking about their long term health, that is the whole point of eating healthy. Yeah that bag of Cheetos might be tasty, but is it really good to be eating nothing but Cheetos or other junk food with no nutritional value? Healthy food can be tasty too.
If a person's budget is that bad that all they can afford is ten cents worth of food when they go to the grocery store, then obviously they don't really have a food budget. I don't think the topic is about people that are that poor. Its more about those who are spending $20 at McDonalds to feed a family of four when that $20 can go a lot further at the grocery store and get them a number of healthy meals.
Where are you guys getting this idea that poor people are eating McDonalds every day?
I recommend you check out this Pulitzer prize-winning story about life on food stamps.
When I got pregnant the first time, I was living in a weekly motel. I had a minifridge with no freezer and a microwave. I was on WIC. I ate peanut butter from the jar and frozen burritos because they were 12/$2. Had I had a stove, I couldn't have made beef burritos that cheaply. And I needed the meat, I was pregnant. I might not have had any prenatal care, but I am intelligent enough to eat protein and iron whilst knocked up.
.....
You have to understand that we know that we will never not feel tired. We will never feel hopeful. We will never get a vacation. Ever. We know that the very act of being poor guarantees that we will never not be poor. It doesn't give us much reason to improve ourselves. We don't apply for jobs because we know we can't afford to look nice enough to hold them.
....
smoke. It's expensive. It's also the best option. You see, I am always, always exhausted. It's a stimulant. When I am too tired to walk one more step, I can smoke and go for another hour. When I am enraged and beaten down and incapable of accomplishing one more thing, I can smoke and I feel a little better, just for a minute. It is the only relaxation I am allowed. It is not a good decision, but it is the only one that I have access to. It is the only thing I have found that keeps me from collapsing or exploding.
...
Poverty is bleak and cuts off your long-term brain. It's why you see people with four different babydaddies instead of one. You grab a bit of connection wherever you can to survive.
Anyway the whole essay, and the addendum is worth a read.
Most of us here aren't making decisions under constant never-ending stress. It seems really easy to be able to say "hey, I should make different food choices because it is better for my health." If you don't see a way to make it to the end of the month, why would what your health looks like 10 years be top priority. You are stressing about keeping the power on.
Now I guess you think most people aren't "that poor" but the reality is, we are losing our middle class. We have really rich and really poor people. This is reality for people. 1 in 4 Americans live in high-poverty neighborhoods.
Corpulence used to signify the prosperity of a few but has now become a marker of poverty. Obesity has risen as the income gap has widened: more than a third of U.S. adults and 17 percent of children are obese, and the problem is acute among the poor. While obesity is a complex problem—genetics, environment, and activity level all play a role—a 2008 study by the USDA found that children and women on food stamps were likelier to be overweight than those who were not. According to studies led by British epidemiologist Kate Pickett, obesity rates are highest in developed countries with the greatest income disparities. America is among the most obese of nations...
We have a broken food system that subsidizes farmers to grow more soy and corn to make easier (and cheaper) to create food-like stuff. And give the farmers who grow food no help, so they have to pass the true cost onto consumers.
This quote from the article above sums it up pretty well:
Quote:
Even the locavore hero Pollan agrees. “Essentially,” he says, “we have a system where wealthy farmers feed the poor crap and poor farmers feed the wealthy high-quality food.”
Wow. What an interesting thread. There are so many issues here.
As far as the OP and how can poor people afford to eat healthy food. It depends how poor you are.
When I first moved to Redding, my Social Security benefits were screwed up for about 4 months. There was money for rent and insurance and one tank of gas, but nothing left for food. BUT, there are food banks available to me.
So, I was at the mercy of what food I could get for free at the food banks. I would get a minimum of meat, rice (usually white, unfortunately) lots of bread (sometimes wheat would be available ) a TON of pastries, cookies, pies and the like. And some produce. Sometimes a lot of produce, but I got a bunch of it, and could only go there once a month.
So, with the miracle $500 I won from City Data (total miracle money) I bought a pressure canner and canning stuff. Then, I could can the produce I got, so it didn't just rot in the fridge. Like Jade, I have a fairly small freezer above my fridge, so couldn't freeze everything I got.
I'd usually get some eggs, too, and lots of canned stuff, and LOTS of pasta type stuff.
Basically, a food bank diet is not good for you. My last blood tests came back bad, and my doctor and I discussed that I was the result of a food bank diet. High cholesterol, overweight, anemic, and pre-diabetic.
Fortunately, my finances have improved to the point where I have maybe $100 - $150/month I can now spend on groceries.
So, basically, I am the person the OP is talking about.
But, my mission is to eat better, and I have added exercise to my life. I was also too sedentary.
So, this is what I do to eat healthy on this meager budget.
I go to the food bank and get what they will give me. If they offer me the choice of whole grain, I take it. I used to ask for sour dough bread - love it! But, am changing my evil ways. I am finding that they often do have brown rice, but people usually prefer the white, so I meekly ask if brown rice or whole grain is an option, because I'm pre-diabetic. They've been really nice and usually do have some.
I give away the garbage or tell them I dont' need it, if they ask. I bypass the pies and cookies, etc. Or, if it's already in the bag, on my way to my car, I ask people if they want the stuff I can't eat. Often they will give me something they don't want in exchange.
A friend of mine has me on her Costco account. When I use it, it helps her get her money back for her membership, so it's win-win. I also don't have space for lots of bulk stuff - I live in a micro apt of 247 square feet. But, I buy my eggs there, and I now buy avocado oil there to cook with. No more butter for me.
The Costco container of 5 dozen eggs worked out to around $1.33/dozen if I remember correctly. The avocado oil was amazingly affordable, though I dont' remember the cost.
At Costco, I tasted some tilapia filets that are frozen in a pesto sauce and they were great! A box of 12 filets for only $14.00. I splurged on these. I wanted to add fish to my diet if at all possible. One serving of tilapia that I just slowly cook frozen in a skillet that creates it's own basil sauce, $1.17 each. I put them over rice with some frozen veggies I buy cheap. Fresh produce can go bad, so frozen is more economical for me. The last bag of frozen veggies I bought was tonight at Walmart which are Thai veggies, were about $2.00 per pound. I bought a 3 pound bag. Not sure how much the portion would have cost for the veggies, but minimal. I cooked brown rice I got for free. Let's say $2.00 for that meal that I had tonight for dinner, as a matter of fact.
My main grocery store, though is Grocery Outlet. Last week they had salmon filets (whole, but scored so you could break them apart into 3 sections - small salmon) for buy one get one free for $2.99. Not kidding. And they're great! So, I'd say one filet is about 1 pound, which equals 3 servings. I bought about 5 of these filets and put them in my freezer. So, one serving at $1.50 per pound divided by 3 = $0.50 for a salmon filet. I also put this over free brown rice, add some frozen veggies, and some pesto.
The pesto I got at Grocery outlet for $1.99 in the frozen section. It has 4 separate blocks of pesto, so 4 servings at 50 cents each. But, this is just the ground basil and garlic, so I add avocado oil and parmesan cheese (also got for $3.00 for 6 ounces at Wal-Mart). I don't add nuts because I can't afford them.
So, a salmon filet dinner in a nut-less pesto sauce with frozen veggies and brown rice for about what? $1.00? $1.50?
These meals are made in a skillet on slow heat. No major cooking skills required. The salmon filets are scored and if they're still frozen, I can just break off a portion. Throw it all in the pan and cover it. Takes about 15 minutes maybe.
For breakfast, I love my eggs. I learned a Bisquick quiche recipe that is crustless. Basically, it comes out like a fritatta. I made it in muffin tins, to help me regulate my portion control. In these, I put in some cheese that I did buy at Grocery Outlet for $3.50/pound - grated colby. I put in some canned mushrooms (I ran out of home canned ones I canned from the foodbank when I got a bunch of mushrooms one time) but I got a jar of Jolly Green giant large sliced mushrooms for only $1.50. I also added some frozen spinach I had gotten free and blanched. Put them in tins and poured the egg mixture into the muffin tins - eggs, milk and Bisquick. 4 eggs in 12 muffins. The cost of these is so minimal, I can't even imagine how much they are each egg quiche muffin.
For lunch today, I had 3 of those crispy tostadas you can get in the tortilla section of the store. I got mine at the 99 cent store. 22 tostadas for 99 cents. On each tostada I put some refried beans (I was too lazy to cook beans and then blend them, so I bought a can today for about 80 cents of non-fat refried beans). Put maybe 1/4 of the can of beans on the 3 tortillas, added some cherry tomatoes from my indoor cherry tomato plants (I have 6 cherry tomatoes indoors on my dresser and a basil plant), some pureed mild peppers that I pureed and canned myself from free pepper i got at a food bank, and put some of the cheese on them. The tostadas are 160 calories for 3 tostadas.
So, breakfast I had one quiche muffin for what? maybe 25 cents?
Lunch - 3 tostadas for maybe 25 cents?
Dinner - tilapia filet coated in pesto sauce on brown rice with frozen Thai veggies for around $2.00?
Oh, and for dessert, I had about a cup and a half of plain yogurt I got at Wal-Mart - one of the big containers for $1.99. And I put in some canned peaches that I got for free at the foodbank, along with 2 packets of Splenda I bought at Costco a while back.
Dessert - maybe 50 cents.
So, very satisfying, pretty healthy day for about $3.00. Times 30 days = $90.00.
I did also have coffee with 2% milk and splenda. And I make decaf diet green tea that I buy at Walmart for about $2.50 for 40 bags, I think. I use 16 bags to make one gallon of iced tea, and I use Splenda in it.
Oh, and I do like my wine. I bought 2 of those boxes of wine today at Grocery Outlet for $6.00 each. They have 5 bottles of wine in them, so $1.20 per bottle there. I do normally pay full price for box wine, and it's usually around $12/box or $2.40 per bottle.
Now, I have enough fish to last me a long time.
Oh, and I forgot to tell you about my beef filet score at Grocery Outlet. They had 2 beef filets wrapped in bacon (8 oz each) so a 1 lb package for $4.99. I have been eating these the same way as the fish (I'm not a very inventive cook lol!) I eat them either with brown rice, or boiled potatoes and onions (also free at the food bank).
So, if you can only eat what the foodbank gives you, it's definitely a challenge to eat well. In particular to get whole grains and produce.
But, if you are thrifty, you can find deals.
And to Jade: Anyone can sit around and say whoa is me, I'm poor, I have to eat cat food because I can't get myself farther than the corner store. OR, they can get creative, and shop smarter.
I shop at the beginning of the month when I get paid. I do have a car now, but I haven't always had a car. And you don't have to buy in bulk. In West Oakland, I found a Grocery Outlet on Broadway:
And Safeway will deliver groceries in Oakland. So, a person could shop the sales online, or read their flyer, and order food delivered for less than the price of the bus fare:
Anyone has choices, and priorities. Sit on your butt and whine about it, or get off your butt and do something differently.
And I am proof you don't have to be a gourmet cook. My stuff goes in the skillet or the microwave. I boil stuff on the stove. I bought a rice cooker at the Goodwill for $8.00 last week, and I throw in 1 cup rice 3 cups water and it cooks it for me.
The quiche muffins are the fanciest thing I have cooked in ages. I spray the tins with Pam, put a little of the ingredients in each cup. Mix up eggs, bisquick and milk in a bowl, pour it into the muffin tins, and put in the oven.
So, if someone has ANY money available (as opposed to only having the foodbank available to someone) that they are spending at the corner grocery, then there is no excuse - that I will buy - that they can't do any better with their money.
They can have Safeway deliver, they can take the bus once a month to Grocery Outlet and fill up a foldable basket with wheels that they can manage on the bus, and for necessaries in-between, then maybe go to the corner grocery.
Any reason you come up with that this can't be done, I just don't buy.
Last edited by NoMoreSnowForMe; 07-10-2014 at 11:44 PM..
Reason: farther not further...
Wow. What an interesting thread. There are so many issues here.
As far as the OP and how can poor people afford to eat healthy food. It depends how poor you are.
When I first moved to Redding, my Social Security benefits were screwed up for about 4 months. There was money for rent and insurance and one tank of gas, but nothing left for food. BUT, there are food banks available to me.
So, I was at the mercy of what food I could get for free at the food banks. I would get a minimum of meat, rice (usually white, unfortunately) lots of bread (sometimes wheat would be available ) a TON of pastries, cookies, pies and the like. And some produce. Sometimes a lot of produce, but I got a bunch of it, and could only go there once a month.
So, with the miracle $500 I won from City Data (total miracle money) I bought a pressure canner and canning stuff. Then, I could can the produce I got, so it didn't just rot in the fridge. Like Jade, I have a fairly small freezer above my fridge, so couldn't freeze everything I got.
I'd usually get some eggs, too, and lots of canned stuff, and LOTS of pasta type stuff.
Basically, a food bank diet is not good for you. My last blood tests came back bad, and my doctor and I discussed that I was the result of a food bank diet. High cholesterol, overweight, and pre-diabetic.
Fortunately, my finances have improved to the point where I have maybe $100 - $150/month I can now spend on groceries.
So, basically, I am the person the OP is talking about.
But, my mission is to eat better, and I have added exercise to my life. I was also too sedentary.
So, this is what I do to eat healthy on this meager budget.
I go to the food bank and get what they will give me. If they offer me the choice of whole grain, I take it. I used to ask for sour dough bread - love it! But, am changing my evil ways. I am finding that they often do have brown rice, but people usually prefer the white, so I meekly ask if brown rice or whole grain is an option, because I'm pre-diabetic. They've been really nice and usually do have some.
I give away the garbage or tell them I dont' need it, if they ask. I bypass the pies and cookies, etc. Or, if it's already in the bag, on my way to my car, I ask people if they want the stuff I can't eat. Often they will give me something they don't want in exchange.
A friend of mine has me on her Costco account. When I use it, it helps her get her money back for her membership, so it's win-win. I also don't have space for lots of bulk stuff - I live in a micro apt of 247 square feet. But, I buy my eggs there, and I now buy avocado oil there to cook with. No more butter for me.
The Costco container of 5 dozen eggs worked out to around $1.33/dozen if I remember correctly. The avocado oil was amazingly affordable, though I dont' remember the cost.
At Costco, I tasted some tilapia filets that are frozen in a pesto sauce and they were great! A box of 12 filets for only $14.00. I splurged on these. I wanted to add fish to my diet if at all possible. One serving of tilapia that I just slowly cook frozen in a skillet that creates it's own basil sauce, $1.17 each. I put them over rice with some frozen veggies I buy cheap. Fresh produce can go bad, so frozen is more economical for me. The last bag of frozen veggies I bought was tonight at Walmart which are Thai veggies, were about $2.00 per pound. I bought a 3 pound bag. Not sure how much the portion would have cost for the veggies, but minimal. I cooked brown rice I got for free. Let's say $2.00 for that meal that I had tonight for dinner, as a matter of fact.
My main grocery store, though is Grocery Outlet. Last week they had salmon filets (whole, but scored so you could break them apart into 3 sections - small salmon) for buy one get one free for $2.99. Not kidding. And they're great! So, I'd say one filet is about 1 pound, which equals 3 servings. I bought about 5 of these filets and put them in my freezer. So, one serving at $1.50 per pound divided by 3 = $0.50 for a salmon filet. I also put this over free brown rice, add some frozen veggies, and some pesto.
The pesto I got at Grocery outlet for $1.99 in the frozen section. It has 4 separate blocks of pesto, so 4 servings at 50 cents each. But, this is just the ground basil and garlic, so I add avocado oil and parmesan cheese (also got for $3.00 for 6 ounces at Wal-Mart). I don't add nuts because I can't afford them.
So, a salmon filet dinner in a nut-less pesto sauce with frozen veggies and brown rice for about what? $1.00? $1.50?
These meals are made in a skillet on slow heat. No major cooking skills required. The salmon filets are scored and if they're still frozen, I can just break off a portion. Throw it all in the pan and cover it. Takes about 15 minutes maybe.
For breakfast, I love my eggs. I learned a Bisquick quiche recipe that is crustless. Basically, it comes out like a fritatta. I made it in muffin tins, to help me regulate my portion control. In these, I put in some cheese that I did buy at Grocery Outlet for $3.50/pound - grated colby. I put in some canned mushrooms (I ran out of home canned ones I canned from the foodbank when I got a bunch of mushrooms one time) but I got a jar of Jolly Green giant large sliced mushrooms for only $1.50. I also added some frozen spinach I had gotten free and blanched. Put them in tins and poured the egg mixture into the muffin tins - eggs, milk and Bisquick. 4 eggs in 12 muffins. The cost of these is so minimal, I can't even imagine how much they are each egg quiche muffin.
For lunch today, I had 3 of those crispy tostadas you can get in the tortilla section of the store. I got mine at the 99 cent store. 22 tostadas for 99 cents. On each tostada I put some refried beans (I was too lazy to cook beans and then blend them, so I bought a can today for about 80 cents of non-fat refried beans). Put maybe 1/4 of the can of beans on the 3 tortillas, added some cherry tomatoes from my indoor cherry tomato plants (I have 6 cherry tomatoes indoors on my dresser and a basil plant), some pureed mild peppers that I pureed and canned myself from free pepper i got at a food bank, and put some of the cheese on them. The tostadas are 160 calories for 3 tostadas.
So, breakfast I had one quiche muffin for what? maybe 25 cents?
Lunch - 3 tostadas for maybe 25 cents?
Dinner - tilapia filet coated in pesto sauce on brown rice with frozen Thai veggies for around $2.00?
Oh, and for dessert, I had about a cup and a half of plain yogurt I got at Wal-Mart - one of the big containers for $1.99. And I put in some canned peaches that I got for free at the foodbank, along with 2 packets of Splenda I bought at Costco a while back.
Dessert - maybe 50 cents.
So, very satisfying, pretty healthy day for about $3.00. Times 30 days = $90.00.
I did also have coffee with 2% milk and splenda. And I make decaf diet green tea that I buy at Walmart for about $2.50 for 40 bags, I think. I use 16 bags to make one gallon of iced tea, and I use Splenda in it.
Oh, and I do like my wine. I bought 2 of those boxes of wine today at Grocery Outlet for $6.00 each. They have 5 bottles of wine in them, so $1.20 per bottle there. I do normally pay full price for box wine, and it's usually around $12/box or $2.40 per bottle.
Now, I have enough fish to last me a long time.
Oh, and I forgot to tell you about my beef filet score at Grocery Outlet. They had 2 beef filets wrapped in bacon (8 oz each) so a 1 lb package for $4.99. I have been eating these the same way as the fish (I'm not a very inventive cook lol!) I eat them either with brown rice, or boiled potatoes and onions (also free at the food bank).
So, if you can only eat what the foodbank gives you, it's definitely a challenge to eat well. In particular to get whole grains and produce.
But, if you are thrifty, you can find deals.
And to Jade: Anyone can sit around and say whoa is me, I'm poor, I have to eat cat food because I can't get myself further than the corner store. OR, they can get creative, and shop smarter.
I shop at the beginning of the month when I get paid. I do have a car now, but I haven't always had a car. And you don't have to buy in bulk. In West Oakland, I found a Grocery Outlet on Broadway:
And Safeway will deliver groceries in Oakland. So, a person could shop the sales online, or read their flyer, and order food delivered for less than the price of the bus fare:
Anyone has choices, and priorities. Sit on your butt and whine about it, or get off your butt and do something differently.
And I am proof you don't have to be a gourmet cook. My stuff goes in the skillet or the microwave. I boil stuff on the stove. I bought a rice cooker at the Goodwill for $8.00 last week, and I throw in 1 cup rice 3 cups water and it cooks it for me.
The quiche muffins are the fanciest thing I have cooked in ages. I spray the tins with Pam, put a little of the ingredients in each cup. Mix up eggs, bisquick and milk in a bowl, pour it into the muffin tins, and put in the oven.
So, if someone has ANY money available (as opposed to only having the foodbank available to someone) that they are spending at the corner grocery, then there is no excuse - that I will buy - that they can't do any better with their money.
They can have Safeway deliver, they can take the bus once a month to Grocery Outlet and fill up a foldable basket with wheels that they can manage on the bus, and for necessaries in-between, then maybe go to the corner grocery.
Any reason you come up with that this can't be done, I just don't buy.
You are retired if I recall! So much more available time then! Especially compared to working a lot. My parents are retired and on a fixed income. My mom has time to garden (which provides half her produce, and she freezes stuff a lot) and time to scour the sales papers for deals and so on.
I actually live close to the grocery outlet. It is about a 10-15 minute walk for me (and faster on a bike). But if you are over in the lower bottoms of West Oakland? It is 2 or 3 buses and an hour on transit, and about 4-5 miles in total away. Not so close, but deals could be had if you can get there.
Everyone has stories of how they have made healthy eating work, it took lots of time, energy and effort. Not everyone has the resources (mental or otherwise) to do all of those things. In each example of "making it work" you had to have every duck in a row, there was no room for error.*
Our philosophy on this is very American. We think that everyone has free will and choice to make rings happen, as long as you "pick yourself up by your bootstraps." This makes it really easy to scapegoat the individual instead of looking at the bigger picture on how our society is setup to make things much harder.
If we really wanted people to eat healthier, we cold easily subsidize farmers growing spinach, broccoli and berries instead of corn and soy. But those people aren't running big corporations, so we don't particularly care.
If we really wanted to elimate food insecurity, we'd stop letting WIC fall under the umbrella of agriculture, and put it in the health department. Our society makes choices for us, and then tells us we have choice, but we are actually bound by circumstance.
Thank you! I wonder if it would work with whole wheat flour...I'll have to give it a whirl. And maybe with margarine instead of butter or shortening...
Quote:
Originally Posted by jade408
You are retired if I recall! So much more available time then! Especially compared to working a lot. My parents are retired and on a fixed income. My mom has time to garden (which provides half her produce, and she freezes stuff a lot) and time to scour the sales papers for deals and so on.
I actually live close to the grocery outlet. It is about a 10-15 minute walk for me (and faster on a bike). But if you are over in the lower bottoms of West Oakland? It is 2 or 3 buses and an hour on transit, and about 4-5 miles in total away. Not so close, but deals could be had if you can get there.
Everyone has stories of how they have made healthy eating work, it took lots of time, energy and effort. Not everyone has the resources (mental or otherwise) to do all of those things. In each example of "making it work" you had to have every duck in a row, there was no room for error.*
Our philosophy on this is very American. We think that everyone has free will and choice to make rings happen, as long as you "pick yourself up by your bootstraps." This makes it really easy to scapegoat the individual instead of looking at the bigger picture on how our society is setup to make things much harder.
If we really wanted people to eat healthier, we cold easily subsidize farmers growing spinach, broccoli and berries instead of corn and soy. But those people aren't running big corporations, so we don't particularly care.
If we really wanted to elimate food insecurity, we'd stop letting WIC fall under the umbrella of agriculture, and put it in the health department. Our society makes choices for us, and then tells us we have choice, but we are actually bound by circumstance.
When you refer to someone mentally unable to figure out shopping/cooking - there are places where people can get free hot meals. In Redding there is a mission that will serve people 3 hot meals a day. The senior center offers free hot lunches to seniors. There are meals on wheels, brown bag lunches. You'll never convince me this isn't available in Oakland. They will bring the meals to someone's door, who qualifies, too.
But, you go on about how far (4 miles, really?) it is to the Grocery Outlet. And you're also dismissing the option of Safeway delivering groceries to your doorstep. Last time I did it, the first delivery was free, then was something like $9.00 per delivery after that. So, don't take 3 buses. Get it delivered to your doorstep.
And a once a month trip to Grocery Outlet is not impossible. No matter how many buses have to be taken. it's a matter of choice. Suffer through 3 buses once a month and eat like a relative king the rest of the month. OR, say it's too haaaaard to take 3 buses, and live on ramen from the corner grocery.
Everyone DOES have free will in this situation. Nobody you're talking about is chained inside some prison. They are free to take buses once a month, to have Safeway deliver, or to walk to the corner store.
Oh, and the evil food conglomerates...forcing us all to eat corn ( a natural vegetable) or the evil high fructose corn syrup ( a natural sugar) and soy ( a very healthy protein source). How did corn become an evil plant? Ridiculous. If you don't want to eat corn, or high fructose corn syrup - don't buy it. Duh. There are no corn or soy terrorists forcing it down your throat.
How is society set up to make things hard? That's bull crap. That's such a victim, defeatist excuse for sitting on one's butt. It's also a very entitled attitude. What? The cheap groceries are supposed to find their way to your doorstep? Like employers are supposed to show up as well?
You think it's easier in another country? This is an American only situation, where people have to get off their butts if they want things to be different? What country shall we choose? Which country is it out there that lets people sit in their apartments and healthy, cheap food miraculously shows up on their doorstep? Which country is it where working people have easy, cheap food sources at the corner store?
Give me a fricking break. You have choices. You don't like them. Oh well. But, you can't blame the evil corn growers of America, or the American philosophy of picking yourself up by your bootstraps and carrying on, because you choose to buy expensive garbage because it's easier when you're tired, than drive a few more miles to the Grocery Outlet. Or in the case of whomever you are referring to, taking a few buses once a month.
I wasn't always retired, and I've always been able to grocery shop on a budget. With and without a car. I was a working single mom for many years, too. I learned how to make a mean and cheap stirfry.
If you just really don't want to shop somewhere cheaper than your corner store, just own up to it. But, don't give me this America makes things hard for people, so you have no choice.
You're smarter than that.
Last edited by NoMoreSnowForMe; 07-11-2014 at 12:21 AM..
Then Aldi is always a cheap option
grapes 84 cents lb
avocados 49 cents each
bone in chicken thighs 84 cents lb
Not in the ad but prices from when I was at Aldi the other day:
Blueberries 98 cents
strawberries 98 cents
Pineapple $1.99
Broccoli 1.49 lb
They often have bananas at 29 cents a lb
Then there is rice, beans, and pasta that you can always get for a cheap price.
I believe you but, gosh, I can't match this, even at the cheaper stores in our area. Just like WalMart, same stores set prices by regions. We must be a high dollar area from where you are. Those are good prices.
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