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That is an excuse and it's also untrue. As someone who has been scratch cooking for years, I have a huge repertoire of meals that take very little time to prepare. Working full time? Ever hear of a crockpot?
It is a myth that processed food costs more than real food. There is no getting around that. I linked the blog b/c it proves that it can be done, but anecdotally, I also do it myself and have for years, even when I was working two jobs. I spend an average of $60/week for my family of two, and we eat very, very well. Though I have a yard, I grow veggies in pots, but it's not like I'm supplementing an entire produce stand. This year I have tomatoes, basil and hot peppers.
I am so with you on this . . . and it makes me very angry when folks say they cannot prepare healthy food because (fill in the blank) . . . 1. it takes too much time . . . 2. it is too expensive . . . 3. we can't find the right ingredients . . . and on and on.
One of my friends was horrified at how her son and his wife were feeding their kids - and wasting money. All they would buy were prepared food (such as frozen entrees/meals) and fast food. They used ALL of the above excuses. She and I decided to prove to them how wasteful they were and how much more nutritious home prepared food would be (and lower in sodium - a concern as they are black and have a family history of high blood pressure).
We did the following: got a large whole chicken, boiled it, siphoned off the chicken stock, and put the stock in quart jars. We de-boned the chicken. We divided it and made:
1. chicken soup, using rice, celery and carrots as additional ingredients
2. chicken casserole, using a simple recipe that included green peas and potatoes and cheddar cheese
3. chicken tetrazzini, using the chicken stock, spaghetti pasta, celery and a white gravy
We still had chicken stock left over, which we froze to use for other dishes later.
By adding nothing more than a simple salad (or any other variety of veggies) . . . there were 3 meals out of 1 chicken.
Anyone who says this can't be done is fulla bulla. If they can't do it, it is because they just don't want to bother to do it.
ETA: We gave them a recipe to make Egg Drop Soup, using the chicken stock. Of course, they never bothered to make it. I guess they probably poured the chicken stock down the drain. They went right back to their lousy eating habits, along with whining that they never had any money b/c they spent it all on food. SIGH.
How is that a leap in logic? You could be making good money and living well, fall on hard times, and be on welfare. The items of your previous wealth are still with you, they don't' necessarily disappear.
The only claim you can make that people on welfare are living too well, is if people that are on welfare for long periods of time, not just the "touch and go's" which make up the vast majority of recipients. Those that are on welfare for long periods of time, that are driving Cadillacs? You might have an argument, but long-term recipients are a small minority.
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But either way, how are you defining "welfare"? Do you include disability social security, Medicaid, Section 8, EITC, WIC, unemployment food stamps, in addition to state-level and local-level programs? I don't think all of those programs are temporary.
Disability, Social Security, and Medicaid are social insurance programs, not the same welfare programs that are the topic of this discussion. The subject of welfare for these discussions is centered around Section 8, AFDC (now defunct), TANF, and WIC. Tax credits aren't welfare.
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And when you say "abuse", are you including able-bodied people who are on disability? People who game the earned income tax credit? Things like that?
I don't have numbers for those rates. Most cases that come to mind for disability claimants are mentally or physically disabled.
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I get the impression that I define the terms "welfare" and "abuse" far more broadly than you do.
Likely, because you seem to view any kind of anti-poverty tool as welfare.
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these are some pretty poor excuses.
Sure, but that doesn't actually mean you have any power to determine who eats what. In fact, that seems to be the overwhelming problem with anti-welfare types: Poor people didn't make your choices, so they should be punished for it.
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Originally Posted by Katiana
I haven't read to the end of this thread. If someone has already addressed this, I apologize.
I would like to hear of some real-life examples of this. Most grad students have some means of support, e.g. Teaching Assistantships, Research Assistantships, student loans, part-time jobs, etc. Since both my kids are/have been grad students, and both have dated grad students, I actually KNOW a lot of grad students. Most get their health insurance through their university, or they are on their parents' plans. They're not on medicaid. I've "heard" of grad students on food stamps, but never known of any. When I worked in an immunization clinic at a county health dept. we did have grad students bringing their kids in for immunizations, but we also had people sending the kids in with the nanny.
I suspect you haven't seen grad-students on food stamps because of the type of grad-students you know. Birds of a feather flock together, not to mention, welfare caries a heavy stigma with it.
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Originally Posted by slackjaw
Hate to pile on as others have commented on this already, but sheesh what a load of bull****.
I work full time and prepare meals from raw ingredients all the time, it certainly doesn't take 1-2 hours and there very little difference in prep time from 2 people to 4 people to 6 people, maybe a bit more chopping and a bigger pot.
Further, is there an actual source that backs up the notion that people classified as poor have less free time available to cook than people who aren't poor? I'd be quite surprised if that was the case.
Don't have one. You win the argument.
New argument. Why is not making your own food from scratch "wrong?"
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Originally Posted by Roadking2003
You would be correct. In fact, the reverse is true. There is a direct correlation between family income and number of people working in the family. So generally, you would expect people at the bottom of the income ladder to have MORE time for cooking than those at the top.
This should go without saying. The more sources of income you have, the more likely you are to have more income. This is a non-sequitur to your next point.
I am so with you on this . . . and it makes me very angry when folks say they cannot prepare healthy food because (fill in the blank) . . . 1. it takes too much time . . . 2. it is too expensive . . . 3. we can't find the right ingredients . . . and on and on.
One of my friends was horrified at how her son and his wife were feeding their kids - and wasting money. All they would buy were prepared food (such as frozen entrees/meals) and fast food. They used ALL of the above excuses. She and I decided to prove to them how wasteful they were and how much more nutritious home prepared food would be (and lower in sodium - a concern as they are black and have a family history of high blood pressure).
We did the following: got a large whole chicken, boiled it, siphoned off the chicken stock, and put the stock in quart jars. We de-boned the chicken. We divided it and made:
1. chicken soup, using rice, celery and carrots as additional ingredients
2. chicken casserole, using a simple recipe that included green peas and potatoes and cheddar cheese
3. chicken tetrazzini, using the chicken stock, spaghetti pasta, celery and a white gravy
We still had chicken stock left over, which we froze to use for other dishes later.
By adding nothing more than a simple salad (or any other variety of veggies) . . . there were 3 meals out of 1 chicken.
Anyone who says this can't be done is fulla bulla. If they can't do it, it is because they just don't want to bother to do it.
ETA: We gave them a recipe to make Egg Drop Soup, using the chicken stock. Of course, they never bothered to make it. I guess they probably poured the chicken stock down the drain. They went right back to their lousy eating habits, along with whining that they never had any money b/c they spent it all on food. SIGH.
I guess you like your meals with very little chicken in em.
So, to sum up this incredibly ignorant and mean spirited thread:
1) As long as children are starving in Africa, there are no poor people in the US. By holding the United States of America to the same standard of living as that of third world countries, selfish Americans can refuse to contribute tax money to any sort of social safety net or help their fellow man in any way.
2) Since there are no poor people in the US, anyone on food stamps or subsidized housing, etc. is simply pulling a con on the government and law abiding tax payers. These scammers should simply go off and die quietly and leave everyone else alone.
3) People who use food stamps are given so much money for food that they can buy junk food, soda pop, steaks, and lobster every day for at least 10 people. Everyone has seen at least one welfare queen ahead of them in the grocery line buying imported caviar, filet mignon, and pate de faux gras. The person behind the welfare queen never buys anything except dried beans, cabbage, and salt pork.
4) Anyone who is over weight and receiving government assistance of any sort should be shot because they are cheating the system.
5) Since the poor in the US can not have a higher standard of living than the people who dwell in the favela's of Brazil, they should not be allowed:
a) Indoor plumbing
b) Housing that consists of anything more than a few boards of scrap
lumber and a tarp
c) Any form of entertainment what-so-ever including x-boxes and VCR's
that no longer have tapes manufactured that will run in them. However,
if they really insist on it, they may sing such songs as "Way down on the
Sewanee River," and "My old Kentucky Home."
d) Any way of keeping their clothes clean is forbidden. However, they can
go down to the river and beat their clothing on rocks.
e) Medical care. They are probably just making up their symptoms
anyway, and if they are not - well, good ridance.
f) Heating or air conditioning. ESPECIALLY air conditioning. AC should be
reserved for people who have already proved that they can live without
it and reside in gated communities. If an elderly person dies of heat
stroke on an especially hot summer day, too bad. They probably were
buying crab legs with their food stamp card and deserve what they get.
g) Any mode of transportation other than their own feet. The people of
Mongolia manage without private cars or public transit; the so
called "poor" of the US should do the same.
h) And many other things too numerous to mention.
Oh, and the so-called "poor" pull in the loot by establishing illegal baby formula cartels and advertising them on Craigslist. Columbian drug lords should have it so good.
Finally, the war on poverty should be just that - a war. Anyone who benefits from any government program should be shot on sight, because red blooded American tax payers (and Australian non-tax payers) should not have to pay a single penny for medical care for a toddler who is not covered by health insurance and gets run over by a car. The kid was probably the king pin in a similac baby formula operation, anyhow.
Last edited by Colorado Rambler; 07-22-2011 at 07:11 PM..
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