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If you can’t afford to eat healthy now, soon you won’t be able to afford not to…
Many people on low income don’t choose the healthiest food to feed themselves and families, I’ve been there myself before, buying the cheaper processed food rather than the more expensive organic fresh fruit and veg.
So is the solution to make the healthy options cheaper…..or slam us all with higher tax on unhealthy food?
The choice is not soda, candy and ice cream or organic fresh fruit and veg. The poor and obese eat that shit in bulk, not because that’s all they can afford, but because they want to.
The choice is not soda, candy and ice cream or organic fresh fruit and veg. The poor and obese eat that shit in bulk, not because that’s all they can afford, but because they want to.
(Andrew): That’s an Old Wive’s Tale. It’s simple home economics. You get more bang for your buck when you eat pasta and potatoes (even ice cream) than when you eat carrots and rutabagas…you can feed more mouths with $10 at the Colonel than with $10 at the neighborhood grocery.
If your neighborhood even has a grocery.
The choice is not soda, candy and ice cream or organic fresh fruit and veg. The poor and obese eat that shit in bulk, not because that’s all they can afford, but because they want to.
(Andrew): That’s an Old Wive’s Tale. It’s simple home economics. You get more bang for your buck when you eat pasta and potatoes (even ice cream) than when you eat carrots and rutabagas…you can feed more mouths with $10 at the Colonel than with $10 at the neighborhood grocery.
If your neighborhood even has a grocery.
Bullshit. I lived on $10 a week and ate well with no soda, candy or ice cream. And BTW potatoes are very good when baked.
It’s possible to eat well on a low income, but you need access and information. A lot of people these days simply do not know how to cook. And in many areas both urban and rural, the options are limited.
A lot of poor nutrition is learned behavior, which then gets reinforced by limited access. Also, some obesity and overeating is related to underlying psychological factors, which combined with the convenience of a diet rich in fat, sugar, carbs, etc. leads to an unhealthy diet. For example, women who were molested as children are more likely to be obese and have eating disorders than women who were not.
The choice is not soda, candy and ice cream or organic fresh fruit and veg. The poor and obese eat that shit in bulk, not because that’s all they can afford, but because they want to.
(Andrew): That’s an Old Wive’s Tale. It’s simple home economics. You get more bang for your buck when you eat pasta and potatoes (even ice cream) than when you eat carrots and rutabagas…you can feed more mouths with $10 at the Colonel than with $10 at the neighborhood grocery.
If your neighborhood even has a grocery.
The media keeps pushing the claim that it’s cheaper to eat junk food, but that claim doesn’t hold up at the grocery store. I got into a debate with someone on another forum about this and I added up the cost of ingredients for my favorite dinner, which I probably eat about 10 days out of every month. I can’t find my old analysis, but it went something like this.
Honey Mustard Chicken (Makes 5 servings):
“Value-pack” of chicken (typically 6 chicken breasts): $10.00
Kidney beans (can) $1.00 (cheaper if you buy the dry beans in bulk)
rice, one cup ($0.10?)
condensed soup, can (supermarket brand): $1.25
other assorted spices and flavorings: $1.00? (Mustard, honey, Tapatio, Chechere’s—these are optional, for flavor)
Total cost: still less than $15.00 for 5 servings even if you include the cost of the propane to cook it. That’s $3.00 per serving. Add a cup of V8 ($4.00/2 qts) or a serving of broccoli ($2.00/pound) for another $0.50 and a glass of water from the tap and it’s still less than a meal at McDonalds. On the rare occasions I eat there, I usually spend about twice that much. You can even stretch it further by adding more beans and rice. I never eat at KFC so I don’t know what a meal costs there.
(The prices come from Safeway, not Whole Foods. In San Jose, CA.)
So I don’t buy the claim that people eat junk food because it’s cheaper. I think the real reason is exactly as GAD says: people would rather eat junk food because they think it tastes better (there’s no accounting for taste) and because it’s more convenient.
The choice is not soda, candy and ice cream or organic fresh fruit and veg. The poor and obese eat that shit in bulk, not because that’s all they can afford, but because they want to.
(Andrew): That’s an Old Wive’s Tale. It’s simple home economics. You get more bang for your buck when you eat pasta and potatoes (even ice cream) than when you eat carrots and rutabagas…you can feed more mouths with $10 at the Colonel than with $10 at the neighborhood grocery.
If your neighborhood even has a grocery.
Bullshit. I lived on $10 a week and ate well with no soda, candy or ice cream.
(Andrew): How many other mouths did you feed on that $10? Do you think you could have done that if you had 4-5 more at the dining room table? I’m not saying it can’t be done—-there’re people who eat very well from dumpsters behind big grocery stores, and spend zero on food—I’m just saying that low income, fat people who consume poor diets aren’t doing it because they want to—and to say that they do is an incorrect stereotype.
There are any number of reasons why they eat crap:
-convenience—not everyone has a neighborhood grocery store and so must take a bus or a subway just to dumpster dive—but they do have a neighborhood Popeye’s or KFC
-lack of cooking facilities, tools and know-how. lots of people—in the inner city as well as the countryside—have no more than a microwave or a toaster oven or a hot plate in their apartment on which to “cook”—and may not have had parents who knew anything about cooking themselves to teach them how to do any more than put something in the microwave
-ignorance of nutrition—many people don’t have a clue what a healthy diet is all about, and so eat what is cheapest and tastes the best (a bag of Fritos is cheaper and tastes better than a bag of carrots).
-But bang for your buck is probably the biggest reason.
GAD - 16 May 2012 04:49 AM
...potatoes are very good when baked.
(Andrew): They’re also starch and carbs and not so good for your figure when you eat a lot of them. Particularly slathered in butter and salt and pepper…and bacon-bits. But damned good!
The choice is not soda, candy and ice cream or organic fresh fruit and veg. The poor and obese eat that shit in bulk, not because that’s all they can afford, but because they want to.
(Andrew): That’s an Old Wive’s Tale. It’s simple home economics. You get more bang for your buck when you eat pasta and potatoes (even ice cream) than when you eat carrots and rutabagas…you can feed more mouths with $10 at the Colonel than with $10 at the neighborhood grocery.
If your neighborhood even has a grocery.
The media keeps pushing the claim that it’s cheaper to eat junk food, but that claim doesn’t hold up at the grocery store. I got into a debate with someone on another forum about this and I added up the cost of ingredients for my favorite dinner, which I probably eat about 10 days out of every month. I can’t find my old analysis, but it went something like this.
Honey Mustard Chicken (Makes 5 servings):
“Value-pack” of chicken (typically 6 chicken breasts): $10.00
Kidney beans (can) $1.00 (cheaper if you buy the dry beans in bulk)
rice, one cup ($0.10?)
condensed soup, can (supermarket brand): $1.25
other assorted spices and flavorings: $1.00? (Mustard, honey, Tapatio, Chechere’s—these are optional, for flavor)
Total cost: still less than $15.00 for 5 servings even if you include the cost of the propane to cook it. That’s $3.00 per serving. Add a cup of V8 ($4.00/2 qts) or a serving of broccoli ($2.00/pound) for another $0.50 and a glass of water from the tap and it’s still less than a meal at McDonalds. On the rare occasions I eat there, I usually spend about twice that much. You can even stretch it further by adding more beans and rice. I never eat at KFC so I don’t know what a meal costs there.
(The prices come from Safeway, not Whole Foods. In San Jose, CA.)
So I don’t buy the claim that people eat junk food because it’s cheaper. I think the real reason is exactly as GAD says: people would rather eat junk food because they think it tastes better (there’s no accounting for taste) and because it’s more convenient.
Well, “more convenient” means “You don’t have to have to cook” which is a big part of it.
(The prices come from Safeway, not Whole Foods. In San Jose, CA.)
(Andrew): Suppose there’s no Safeway in your neighborhood? Suppose there’s only a Mom & Pop that jacks up the price of what they sell to cover theft and only stock what sells to their clientelle. Cheap, bulk food (I think we need a working definition of “junk food” for this conversation to go much further) that requires little preparation…with a long shelf life. White flour products, canned and frozen goods, for the most part. Wonder Bread, beans and TeeVee dinners. A place like that—-found in most inner-city neighborhoods—can’t get/keep/sell fresh produce and healthy foods because they lack the space and the neighborhood can’t/won’t support it.
So the consumer has to choose between taking the bus or subway to the Safeway across town and shlepping a couple of bags of groceries back…or walking around the corner to the Mom & Pop. Or the KFC.
Antisocialdarwinist - 16 May 2012 07:26 AM
So I don’t buy the claim that people eat junk food because it’s cheaper. I think the real reason is exactly as GAD says: people would rather eat junk food because they think it tastes better (there’s no accounting for taste) and because it’s more convenient.
(Andrew): Again, I think we need a definition of “junk food”. If you’re talking ice cream and soda, to some extent I agree—-it’s not even cheaper and, if it were taxed as the OP suggests, we’d be more healthy. Or at least the poor people would be.
If you’re talking TeeVee dinners and Kentucky Fried, we also agree somewhat…it tastes good and it’s convenient. But it’s also cheaper than eating “good”, and when you’re on a budget with other mouths to fill, that matters.
It’s possible to eat well on a low income, but you need access and information. A lot of people these days simply do not know how to cook. And in many areas both urban and rural, the options are limited.
A lot of poor nutrition is learned behavior, which then gets reinforced by limited access. Also, some obesity and overeating is related to underlying psychological factors, which combined with the convenience of a diet rich in fat, sugar, carbs, etc. leads to an unhealthy diet. For example, women who were molested as children are more likely to be obese and have eating disorders than women who were not.
(Andrew): Our posts crossed. You said much the same thing that I did, but did it in fewer words. I wish I had that talent.
For example, women who were molested as children are more likely to be obese and have eating disorders than women who were not.
In the interests of full disclosure—I’m not sure where I’ve read this, and I don’t have a source to back it up. Not saying it isn’t true (and I’m quite sure that there are root causes to many eating disorders—depression, lonliness, etc.); just conceding that it’s an assertion with little more than vague memory to back it up.
It’s possible to eat well on a low income, but you need access and information. A lot of people these days simply do not know how to cook. And in many areas both urban and rural, the options are limited.
A lot of poor nutrition is learned behavior, which then gets reinforced by limited access. Also, some obesity and overeating is related to underlying psychological factors, which combined with the convenience of a diet rich in fat, sugar, carbs, etc. leads to an unhealthy diet. For example, women who were molested as children are more likely to be obese and have eating disorders than women who were not.
(Andrew): Our posts crossed. You said much the same thing that I did, but did it in fewer words. I wish I had that talent.
Don’t we all wish you had that talent
Do note that “psychological factors” have nothing to do with affordable food, healthy or otherwise.
Do note that “psychological factors” have nothing to do with affordable food, healthy or otherwise.
(Andrew): Urm…yeah? No one has disputed that psychological problems are a factor when “some” people eat an unhealthy diet. Ignorance and poverty are factors, too.
You need to stop the self-righteous whining and just admit that you hate poor people. And fat people.
It’s possible to eat well on a low income, but you need access and information. A lot of people these days simply do not know how to cook. And in many areas both urban and rural, the options are limited.
A lot of poor nutrition is learned behavior, which then gets reinforced by limited access. Also, some obesity and overeating is related to underlying psychological factors, which combined with the convenience of a diet rich in fat, sugar, carbs, etc. leads to an unhealthy diet. For example, women who were molested as children are more likely to be obese and have eating disorders than women who were not.
(Andrew): Our posts crossed. You said much the same thing that I did, but did it in fewer words. I wish I had that talent.
I agree there are many factors involved and influences in the choices we can make concerning our diets as stated above.
But what bugged me more was the thought of paying over the odds for some things that I might choose to buy, just because government wants me to eat less of it.
Extra taxes are never popular with me, especially this sugar fizz and fat tax, may as well bring back window tax and be done with it…
Do note that “psychological factors” have nothing to do with affordable food, healthy or otherwise.
(Andrew): Urm…yeah? No one has disputed that psychological problems are a factor when “some” people eat an unhealthy diet. Ignorance and poverty are factors, too.
You need to stop the self-righteous whining and just admit that you hate poor people. And fat people.
And the only poor and fat people I hate are those who blame everyone else for being poor and fat.
Puffed rice or wheat cereal is like a buck or two for 32ozs and pretty healthy. I hated eating that shit when I was a kid and wanted Captain Crunch, Trix, Lucky Charms etc but puffed rice or wheat is what we got cause it’s cheap. Now go to your local poor&fat; market and watch how many buy fucking Captain Crunch, Trix, Lucky Charms etc at 5 bucks for 14oz and tell me how they were forced to buy and eat that shit.
BTW the way the only cereal we buy and my kids eat is Go Lean low-carb hi-pro, 3 bucks for 14oz.
