Walmart customers
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I don't think it's where we shop but the choices we make when we shop there. I gained a lot of my weight when I worked at a job downstate. Where did I shop every week? Trader Joe's, known for it's low(er) cost organic foods. Those pita chips and hummus weren't stuffed with chemicals, but they sure were just as caloric.
Where I live now, I shop at Meijer, which is a low-cost superstore that's similar to Wal-Mart, but quite a bit more organized. xD Lost 20 pounds. It's just that I shop more in the produce section (which is quite nice in Meijer) rather than buying too many snacks and junk at Trader Joe's, as organic as they were.
I still miss Trader Joe's. xD0 -
If there is any chance in saving this thread, I'd love to hear ideas from people on how to SOLVE the complaint that eating healthfully is more difficult with a lower income. How would YOU feed a family of 4 on $50-$70 a week?
I had a couple ideas:
- Plant a garden, use a topsy turvy, or use a community plot. Strawberries and tomatoes grown at home could help in a pinch.
- Buy in bulk, cook in bulk, and freeze - A LOT.
- Get creative with cheap staples like brown rice and beans. Puree to add to soups and stews, mash to make "meatballs", serve whole as a side.
- Purchase produce when it's marked down and on sale only. Use immediately or chop it up and freeze to use in casseroles, smoothies, soups, and more.
- Look for sales on lean meats like chicken. Buy only when on sale - portion and freeze.
- Resist the temptation to buy packaged sweets and quick snack foods. Make a large batch of a treat (oatmeal cookies, granola bars, etc) at home when ingredients are on sale.
- Outside of this budget, purchase a big0box-store membership (CostCo, Sam's Club). While the initial $50 investment may sting, you can buy staples SO much more cheaply the membership pays for itself within a visit or 3.
- As with any eating plan, add in exercise whevever possible.
I amy very sympathetic to folks who express this as a barrier to a healthy lifestyle. I honestly don't know how some manage to do it. I look at how much I spend for my small family, and I can't imagine doing it easily for less.
Who else has good ideas?0 -
If there is any chance in saving this thread, I'd love to hear ideas from people on how to SOLVE the complaint that eating healthfully is more difficult with a lower income. How would YOU feed a family of 4 on $50-$70 a week?
I had a couple ideas:
- Plant a garden, use a topsy turvy, or use a community plot. Strawberries and tomatoes grown at home could help in a pinch.
- Buy in bulk, cook in bulk, and freeze - A LOT.
- Get creative with cheap staples like brown rice and beans. Puree to add to soups and stews, mash to make "meatballs", serve whole as a side.
- Purchase produce when it's marked down and on sale only. Use immediately or chop it up and freeze to use in casseroles, smoothies, soups, and more.
- Look for sales on lean meats like chicken. Buy only when on sale - portion and freeze.
- Resist the temptation to buy packaged sweets and quick snack foods. Make a large batch of a treat (oatmeal cookies, granola bars, etc) at home when ingredients are on sale.
- Outside of this budget, purchase a big0box-store membership (CostCo, Sam's Club). While the initial $50 investment may sting, you can buy staples SO much more cheaply the membership pays for itself within a visit or 3.
- As with any eating plan, add in exercise whevever possible.
I amy very sympathetic to folks who express this as a barrier to a healthy lifestyle. I honestly don't know how some manage to do it. I look at how much I spend for my small family, and I can't imagine doing it easily for less.
Who else has good ideas?
Local Farmer's Markets on weekend mornings for great deals on fresh fruits and veggies. And you support local farmers too. That works for people who live in apartments and don't have easy access to community garden plots.
We shop at Wal-mart for groceries and you can get great deals on staple items. And their produce isn't bad either. Even organic spinach leaves are a decent price. PLUS since we are on MFP: running shorts and workout shirts are 5.99 a pop. 6 bucks. For workout clothes. I shop there and I wear nice pulled together clothes and I put healthy foods in my cart and I am NOT the odd one out. I think people choose not to see people like me because we don't fit the Wal-mart stereotype. If I had a dollar for every time I heard someone mention about a chick with a designer bag or iphone 5 paying with food stamps, I'd have enough money I could start shopping Whole Foods exclusively. You know how many people I have seen like that? All of none. You know why? I got my own stuff to attend to--I need to make sure I don't walk out of that store and forget toilet paper or something.
Moral of the story: Stop making gross judgement generalizations and pass them off as insightful scientific observations. And remember the toilet paper. In both cases, you'll be much happier.
(edited to add, I mean those previous posters being unhelpful, not the poster with the positive ideas!)0 -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qr8MWBa2G60 (Rascal Tipping)
Pls watch to see the risks of walmart shopping.0 -
This is the biggest reason you see such different groups of people in WalMart is because normal department/clothing stores don't carry groceries.0
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I second this for BC, Canada... the Walmarts here just have more arrogant people,This must only be an American phenomena in Canada I have yet to see these "Walmart people"
I hate going to Walmart because of these rude people and try to pick early in the mornings on weekends to go
so that I don't have worry about coming out with broken hands/ankles/knees...0 -
This is why I don't often post on the message boards. People come completely unglued and get downright nasty and rude and usually over the little things!! I read your post and didn't get my panties all bunched up at all. It's your opinion and you are entitled to it.
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Everyone s a story and a reason why they have low income and it infuriates me:mad: in such a manner , when someone tries to group all people on welfare into one group.We are all not the same and our stories are not either. As child my family was on welfare till we had more money. My father divorced my mother while she was pregnant with me ,and left her with my brother and I to fend for ourselves. We had no child support in fact the only support I ever received is in fact was 75 dollars on my 18th birthday and then it stopped, I guess they finally caught up to him. She worked multiple hours , I spent a lot of my childhood with my brother and by myself as I got older,if were not for welfare and my mothers determination I would not be here today. I think welfare is truly helpful to those who really need it.
Please stop assuming its makes a n *kitten* out of u and me.
Sorry had to speak up
This is to the OP by the way and to anyone else who feels the same may be if you had to be on welfare may be you would see things a bit differently.0 -
I shop at walmart every week. And Ive never noticed a difference in products from a normal grocery store. They sell unhealthy foods, healthy foods, paper product and all the toiletries you could ask for. A store doesn't control what people eat anymore than a restaurant does. It is up the individual person to make the right choices. Shop the outer rim of the store.
^^This!
Also I agree with SakuraRose13.... there are many different reasons as to why people are on welfare or foodstamps or other public assistance programs. Yes there are people that take advantage of the system, but there are also a lot of people that wouldn't be able to feed their families with out the help, myself being one of them. I'm not going to tell my story because frankly it's no of anyone's business here, but I will speak up when I feel it needs to be done.0 -
Maybe setting a good example by purchasing healthy, wholesome choices is the example you should worry about setting for children. Kids pay attention to their parents decisions more than anyone else's, so don't worry about anyone but yourself and maybe other parents will catch on when they notice that parents who make healthy choices have healthy kids.
Concerning yourself with other people's deemed "questionable" lifestyles won't do anything except make you a food/store snob.
ETA: I just reread what I wrote, and I want to clarify that I wasn't aiming that directly at you OP. Just in general think that people should just worry about themselves. People will do what they do and we will do what we do.
Wow, I am kind of surprised because of what you say. I am not American and don't live there and maybe don't quite understand, but are you saying that people should only selfishly worry about themselves and maybe their close family and not show any concern for friends, neighbors, fellow citizens or the state of health of the country they live in ?
My opinion is just that people shouldn't concern themselves with other people's personal life decisions. What other people do with their lives is their business not ours.0 -
It is logical that you see more overweight people at Walmart than Abercrombie or other designer label stores. People don’t shop at stores that don’t carry their size. Also, Walmart offers a wider selection of merchandise rather than just clothing, so it stands to reason that when a store offers a larger diversity of merchandise you will see a larger diversity of consumers.
There actually is a positive correlation between poverty and obesity. The OP is correct in that statement. That is one of the devastating things about urbanized nations. Junk food is cheap. Processed and refined foods are cheap. GMO food is cheap. However, healthy, local, organic, nutritious food is often expensive. This is long standing knowledge in numerous fields of scholarly study, not really a debatable point.
By the same token, if people learn sustainability, they can grow food FOR FREE. We grow food both indoors and outside and we own less than 1/4 of an acre. We still have room for a chicken coop, rabbit hutches, bee hives, herb gardens, berry bushes, fruit trees and mushroom logs. I highly encourage people to learn and teach sustainability and self-sufficiency.
Equally as important, there is a negative correlation between education and obesity. Those who are more informed or educated about nutrition, multi-national corporation practices, fitness, sustainability, population, finances, etc. are statistically more likely to understand their options and make healthier choices. In addition, as education increases, so does income.
I personally don’t give a rat’s *kitten* what people are wearing in public and I find it odd when people even think about it. I wouldn’t care if all of society wandered around in togas (and I think bras are an absurd invention). I don’t believe people should be judged by their clothing, weight, or income. Some of the most socially aware and positively impactful people I know, and throughout history, are unkempt hippies, nudists, vagabonds, and bohemians.
Walmart provides our society with a place where people can go dressed however they please without ridicule or refusal. Our schools, work-places, parks, libraries, universities, and other public areas should be so accepting. Persecuting people based on those things seems superficial and pointless to me.
All of that being said, I don’t patronize Walmart at all because I disagree with their ethics on numerous levels. I also try to only purchase used merchandise and grow my own food as much as possible so that my footprint on the Earth is minimized.
Regardless, statistics don’t determine who and what we are. I don’t shop at Walmart. I’m highly educated. I’m of middle-income. I’m still fat and wear used clothes and often pajamas outside the bedroom. I also don’t shop at Abercrombie or Whole Foods or GNC either. I buy my clothing at thrift stores and my food from neighbors, local farmers or at the farmer’s market. I don’t wear jewelry or make-up often. I don’t paint my nails. Not because I’m lazy or don’t care about myself, but because my life is dictated by my moral compass, not the fashion industry.
I’ve enjoyed reading the diverse points of view in this thread even though I’m not sure at this point what the argument even is or on which side of it I stand. I think we need to be having these types of conversations as a society because it leads into more important topics. We need to understand what we see in society, the causes behind those trends, the impacts on ourselves, others, and our Earth. We can only do that by opening a few cans of worms. It’s a shame some people got mean and some got butt-hurt.0 -
If there is any chance in saving this thread, I'd love to hear ideas from people on how to SOLVE the complaint that eating healthfully is more difficult with a lower income. How would YOU feed a family of 4 on $50-$70 a week?
I had a couple ideas:
- Plant a garden, use a topsy turvy, or use a community plot. Strawberries and tomatoes grown at home could help in a pinch.
- Buy in bulk, cook in bulk, and freeze - A LOT.
- Get creative with cheap staples like brown rice and beans. Puree to add to soups and stews, mash to make "meatballs", serve whole as a side.
- Purchase produce when it's marked down and on sale only. Use immediately or chop it up and freeze to use in casseroles, smoothies, soups, and more.
- Look for sales on lean meats like chicken. Buy only when on sale - portion and freeze.
- Resist the temptation to buy packaged sweets and quick snack foods. Make a large batch of a treat (oatmeal cookies, granola bars, etc) at home when ingredients are on sale.
- Outside of this budget, purchase a big0box-store membership (CostCo, Sam's Club). While the initial $50 investment may sting, you can buy staples SO much more cheaply the membership pays for itself within a visit or 3.
- As with any eating plan, add in exercise whevever possible.
I amy very sympathetic to folks who express this as a barrier to a healthy lifestyle. I honestly don't know how some manage to do it. I look at how much I spend for my small family, and I can't imagine doing it easily for less.
Who else has good ideas?
I fed a family of five on $50-$60 a week and it was doable with a bit of planning.
I shopped a lot at Aldi (which is cheaper than Walmart), cooked and baked a lot from scratch-right down to the cream of soup I needed for recipes, and cut out things that weren't truly necessary like paper towel etc. Also, during the summer I shopped a lot at farmers markets and also U Pick farms and then flash froze produce for the winter months. Also did things like batch applesauce and jam when prices were low/fruit in season, and then froze it (plastic canning jars are the best invention ever!).
Today family of five and we have $90 a week for groceries. I also pack two lunches a day for my girls at school because it's cheaper than the school lunches. This fall I'll be packing three lunches when my youngest heads off to kindergarten 0 -
Because there is a direct correlation between poverty and overweight. Not only in the US, but in many other places.[
Think of it as inspiration.
So why would these women only be shopping at wal-mart? Why would we not expect to see them in a Nordstroms, LL Bean, Abercrombie and Fitch, Williams & Sonoma, or a Whole Foods? Sorry my argument is not quite fully formed, but I see a class/racial thing developing.
Poor people are forced to buy the cheapest items as far as food and consumer goods are concerned and maybe in the US ( I don't know for sure ) that is WalMart. People who do not make a living wage or live of government assistance just cannot shop at l.L.Bean or Whole Foods.
True enough, but frankly, the distribution of people shopping at Wal-Mart depends almost solely on the population that lives in easy driving distance.
In my area, which has a good mix of poor/middle class/wealthy, there are just as many people who are not poor as there are poor shopping at Wal-Mart. Part of the reason people have money is that they don't spend it foolishly (or at least try not to). The Wal-Marts around here are clean and well-kept, frequently have the best price for the exact same goods you'd buy elsewhere, and have a wide variety of products so you only need to go to one place to get your shopping done. You WOULD find lots of women who shop at Wal-Mart at Nordstroms, LL Bean, Abercrombie and Fitch, Williams & Sonoma, or a Whole Foods.
On the flip side of the coin, I often see people in my local Whole Foods buying with food stamps. So, yes, those on government assistance can certainly afford to buy there.0 -
Oh yeah forgot to add, I'm going to Walmart when my husband gets home, I shop there 90% of the time because yeah it's cheaper and a big plus is they price match so I don't have t go to a million stores because we only have 1 car and the gas we use every week is for WORK not driving around to random stores.... and right now yes I am a fatty but I DARE you to judge me for it! I TRIPLE DOG DARE YOU!!!
On that note... Have a great day!0 -
I think that people set out to look for these "Walmart People" subconsciously, and then when they see someone at Walmart who fits this bill they immediately recognize it and remember it.
It's like people who say ...ummm idk of what a good example would be...they hate how immigrants to America don't know English. When in fact, they have this stereotype in their head so every time they see an immigrant who doesn't speak English they immediately remember it and it strengthens the correlation in their head and further promotes the stereotype in their own head, where as when they see an immigrant who does speak English it doesn't make as big of impact on them.
I remember reading something along these lines in a psych class...may be off but could also be part of it.
I have to agree my Wal-Mart is nothing like these 'walmart people' I mean honestly it's almost always a bunch of teenagers causing a ruckus or older ladies. I can't imagine going anywhere without brushed hair and you know...looking decent. The only place in Walmart I see the rugged looking people are at the pharmacy and I don't blame them, I go everywhere in my star wars jammies if I don't feel good!0 -
Exactly!!This must only be an American phenomena in Canada I have yet to see these "Walmart people"
I've seen the website "People of Walmart" .. what a riot.
I've been in A LOT of Walmart stores from Nova Scotia, Ontario and Alberta and I've never seen the stereotypical American version of shoppers in any of them. Not saying they don't exist but just not in the same ratio as the States reports (thankfully).
The quality of the Walmart clothing is terrible though, IMO.0 -
People on low incomes need to work hard to stretch their money every month. Foods with lots of carbs but little of any other nutrients are cheap and filling. If you were a parent of 4 young children, and you had only $25 for groceries, I bet you would be buying a lot of bread, macaroni, and other starchy foods to fill those little tummies. I agree with the poster who said that the OP knew this would be inflammatory. If the OP is too "depressed" when going to WalMart and seeing these people, I'm sure he is free to go elsewhere.
I have no sympathy for a woman who had four kids she knew she couldn't afford.
And no compassion or empathy for the children, apparently.0 -
wow, things got ugly in this thread, name calling and everything.0
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I don't have that issue here at the Walmart that I go too. It just looks like the UN and I am the minority.0
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lots of people in pajamas
I HATE this. This is one of my peeves- people going out of their house in pjs. They are officially saying, "I give up on life. I just don't give a damn about myself or anyone anymore!" It's the epitome of lazy. It's one of the signs of the downfall of society when people can't even get dressed when they go out of the house.
I am being overly dramatic, but I HATE THAT.
I have no problem with people doing this. I don't know their situation. Do they have a sick kid at home and needed medication? Have they been studying long and hard for an exam or writing paper after paper for school?0
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