Poor People Can't Afford Healthy Food?

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GrillingFool

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On another forum I belong to, there is a bit of disagreement....

So what do you think?

Poorer people (in the US) are overweight because the cheaper foods they can afford are all unhealthy?

I strongly disagree, but am surprised that there are a fair number who agree....


(gosh I hope this isn't too polarizing of a subject.)
 
I can't help but think that fast food has to be part of an unhealthy life style...and fast food isn't that cheap, in comparison to healthy food you can get at your local store.
 
This discussion was pretty much revolving around at home made meals, as opposed to
eating out.

(Although the one person did admit that McDonalds was dinner or lunch for the family
at least 2x a week. )
 
Lazyness=Unhealthy=Expensive

You can easily buy foods in the raw at a decent price and be extremely healthy. Chicken, roasts, vegetables, rice and potatoes all can be cooked very easily with healthy results. Some people are just lazy and buy expensive and unhealthy processed foods all the time.
 
The fresh produce can get a little expensive for us sometimes, but where there's a will there's a way...
Figure out how to make what you have work... if it doesn't, change it, learn to make something else.
I won't be feeding my kids hamburger helper to save a buck, thats for sure.
 
I agree with you
One day in the grocery store there was a family ahead of me and they purchsed their grocerys with an adsistance card totaling 115.00 and it was all one dish frozen dinners. there wasn't a fresh veggies anywhere, they did have some frozen veggies, french fries instead of fresh potatoes frozen meat instead of fresh.

I had purchased a chuck roast , a whole chicken, hamburger, bacon, hotdogs, a couple of pork chops. carrots, lettuce and broccoli and a cabbage , potatoes and some other micell items like milk bread eggs , some condiments etc. and my bill came to 85.00 and change and we will have left overs.

She will go home and fix her one pot meal and that will be it. i will have items left over for lunches the next day.

I blame the the school systems as they thought that Home ecomonics was not important to teach. we learned how to plan a weeks worth of meals and the list for grocery shopping - how to budget our money- howto clean, wash clothes iron them. etc. I watch kids loose a button and then they have to throw the shirt away and buy new as know has shown them how to sew on a button or they just don't care.

When i was first married and husband and i starting a business and we had to watch our pennies and we did well and 30 years later still doing well.

I have let enough steam out - it is just a sore subject with me to see the waste and the poor health for no reason.

thanks for letting me bend your ear.
 
I agree with you
One day in the grocery store there was a family ahead of me and they purchsed their grocerys with an adsistance card totaling 115.00 and it was all one dish frozen dinners. there wasn't a fresh veggies anywhere, they did have some frozen veggies, french fries instead of fresh potatoes frozen meat instead of fresh.

I had purchased a chuck roast , a whole chicken, hamburger, bacon, hotdogs, a couple of pork chops. carrots, lettuce and broccoli and a cabbage , potatoes and some other micell items like milk bread eggs , some condiments etc. and my bill came to 85.00 and change and we will have left overs.

She will go home and fix her one pot meal and that will be it. i will have items left over for lunches the next day.

I blame the the school systems as they thought that Home ecomonics was not important to teach. we learned how to plan a weeks worth of meals and the list for grocery shopping - how to budget our money- howto clean, wash clothes iron them. etc. I watch kids loose a button and then they have to throw the shirt away and buy new as know has shown them how to sew on a button or they just don't care.

When i was first married and husband and i starting a business and we had to watch our pennies and we did well and 30 years later still doing well.

I have let enough steam out - it is just a soe subject with me to see the waste and the poor health for no reason.

thanks for letting me bend your ear.

I don't think it's the school systems issue. People have minds of thier own, you cannot teach a complete life in school. Even if they did it wouldn't change much. Food is one thing that is certainly and should always be an individual choice. If YOU want to learn something, teach YOURSELF, there are a myriad of ways to learn (for free) and no excuse not to in this day and age.
 
I wouldn't call fast food cheap, but I would say it's convenient. And convenient food fits into any economic bracket, so I'm of the opinion that heavy people get that way because of what they eat, genetics, and not their income. And I know for a fact that a person can eat half a bag of Chips Ahoy and drink a pop more cheaply than even going out for fast food. And feel full afterward.
Don't ask me how I know that :rolleyes:

Hey, where'd my favorite rolleyes smilie go?
 
hot dogs are less expensive than chicken, cookies cheaper than fruit, soda than milk or juice.

Some of this country's poor are elderly on a fixed income. They may not be likely to buy rice, potatoes, meats in bulk when on sale to plan a weeks/months menu.

I know plenty of well to do folks that seem to have grown quite large on their healthy foods.
 
I struggled as a student and worked two jobs and put myself through school. I took a simple meal from home (rice or bread with home cooked veggies or beans or chicken or whatever). Most people who worked in the retail establishment where I worked on the weekends would run to McDonalds or Hardees or Burger King. I preferred to stick to my home made meals because they were healthy and I could save my money to spend on books and other things I needed to put myself through college.

If you add up those fast food bills you soon see that you can get a lot more for your buck if you went to the grocery store and picked up veggies (frozen ones are just as good as fresh ones if money is an issue) and meats. Now fruit is more expensive but even if you skipped it and only added a little bit to your diet if you had other good stuff you would still be fine.

I agree that it's all about the lifestyle people choose to follow. Some people are lazy period (nothing to do with being rich or poor). I have seen people who have upscale kitchens but a meal never comes out of that kitchen in their case they may opt for a restaurant or gourmet meal in place of fast food but the problem remains the same - you still pile on the pounds since to me nothing beats home food where you have control over the ingredients.
 
look at legumes. 'bout $1- &1.50, & very nuritious.

though other healthy foods, like lean chix, produce, dairyproducts, aren't too cheap.

on another note, there's plenty of pepole who cannot cook, so cheap, processed junk is food.
 
santacruz-V8-juice.jpg
 
hot dogs are less expensive than chicken, cookies cheaper than fruit, soda than milk or juice.

Some of this country's poor are elderly on a fixed income. They may not be likely to buy rice, potatoes, meats in bulk when on sale to plan a weeks/months menu.

I know plenty of well to do folks that seem to have grown quite large on their healthy foods.

My thoughts are first that soda is an option. Don't buy it. Chicken would just have to be stretched, as other proteins. There are always beans/legumes as luvs said. It just wouldn't be growing up with out a few cookies around the house - maybe homemade is cheaper? I don't know 'cause I don't bake. Juice can VERY easily be cut almost in half with water and still taste good and actually be much lower in sugar in the process. I do that myself because I don't want the sugar. I truly believe most of the issue comes from time management/working moms and dads that just can't manage all the activities AND cook meals too. That's where I think the problem stems from. There just aren't enough hours in the day to take kids to school, pick kids up, do activities, full day at work yourself, AND cook a meal.
 
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I find that unprocessesed food is now percieved as "premium" food, and fetches premium prices at stores all around my home town. I can purchace pre-packaged food much more cheaply, if I choose carefully. But I don't like pre-processed foods and don't by them so much. I like fresh veggies, fruits, and good meats, poultry, fish, etc.

I don't blame lack of home-ec, or the fast food joints. I blame the work place. It is my belief that our "industrious" way of life, and work ethic cause us to place too much emphasis on work. In my job, I work from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. with a 1 hour, unpaid lunch break. In an hour, I can hardly find time to get any daytime chores out of the way, and still get food. Sometimes, due to the job, I have to skip lunch altogether. And because I'm away from home a minimum of 9 hours a day, not including travel time, this leaves me little time for household chores. And as I am the head cook, I can't start supper until I get home, so we often don't get to eat until 7:00 p.m. or later. Then, there are dishes to do, and possible a few other things before settling in for the night. Teh weekend comes and Saturday is spent getting done around the house what wasn't completed during the week. Sunday is set aside for religeous reasons.

In European Countries, the work-day is shorter; there is more vacation time, and personal days. Luch hours are often two hours long, giving the worker time to walk to a bistro, or roadside eatery to enjoy a meal, and then walk back to work.

There is a movement called "Slow Food" that is strong and growing. Its precept is that we need to slow down a little, and take time to cook, to enjoy life around us, and not be so constantly worried about maximum production, at all costs. Though I am not a member of this movement, I do appreciate it and agree that too much emphasis is placed on production, especially when that production usually serves only to fatten the wallets and purses of business owners, and stock holders. I'm kinda tired of busting my backside to make others rich, and seeing precious little back for my efforts. But that's the world I live in and am, like most everyone else, a slave to the wage.

We do make choices about who we are, who we want to be, our health, and well being. But often times, the choices are taken away from us by others who control our time. Sure, we let them. It's the American way.

I at one time went to the gym three to 5 times a week, using an hour and one/half for lunch. This was allowed by our department manager, and allowed me time to incorporate both weight training, and a shower. I didn't abuse it, and used only the time alloted. The extra half hour was made up by comming to work a half hour early on those days I worked out. But my direct supervisor complained so often about me taking this time to work out, stating that my working hours were from 8 to 5, and shouldn't be deviated from, in spite of department policy. I finally got sick of listening and quit working out. And due to familial obligations, it's very hard to get to the gym other than that noon time workout. Thus, I am not as active, or in good shape as I was when I was working out. And yes, I do blame my imediate supervisor.

The job, for most of us, makes unfair demands on our lives. And don't even get me started on "on-call" time.

Seeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North
 
my next door neighbors are a case study against fast food. about five days a week i see them with take out from one place or another. for their family of four , that is at least 20 dollars a day. that can really add up in a week. i have watched the young boy get fatter and fatter. he is not obese but certainly headed in that direction.

i shudder to think of the salt , and fat they consume. it is easier to cook healthy for a family of four than one person, as i do.

i still eat very healthy most of the time. with me it is more cooking it than price. so frozen vegs. for me. once in a while delivered pizza. the rest is mostly chicken from a bulk bag of thighs or breasts. a lot of rice and frozen veg.

it can be done less expensively for most people.

babe:chef:
 
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