Poverty and Poor Nutrition

There are so many variables in these situations. It's completely ignorant for people to say "poverty is NO excuse". You're seriously saying...that EVERY. SINGLE. poor person in the world should be able to eat healthy?

You have no idea what every little aspect of every single impoverished person's life is like. Open your minds people...just a little.

Geesh. I think I'm done with this topic....too many "I am right because I'm right" going on for my tastes. We are put on this earth to expand eachother's minds just a little. Not the opposite.

I agree that most people living in poverty could eat in a healthy manner, however, we must acknowledge that there ARE situations where it just might be out of that person's control.

Enjoy the rest of your discussion...have a great weekend to all!

When it comes to grocery shopping I have to write a list. Once my list is complete I hightlight the most important items that I can't do without. Normally those highlighted items are ingredients that can be used to make a wide range of meals. When I get to the store it's all about the best price, not always the lowest, and sales sales sales.I might have chicken on my list but if pork is on sale for 99 cents a pound I'll buy the pork instead of the chicken. I also normally shop at Aldi's which tends to have food a lot cheaper than other places. If I have any money left over out of my grocery shopping budget I move on to the un-highlighted items. I end up getting a lot of nutritious ingredients that can be cooked into many different items and less, if any, of the pre-made items. That normally means I spend a good couple of hours in my kitchen on Sundays cooking/baking various things for the week but it's much easier on my budget to make everything from scratch then to buy things pre-made.

I have been on both sides of that coin. I was once a struggling single mom of two living at poverty level. We ate healthy. I clipped coupons and we ate a lot of homemade soup, pasta, peanut butter (LOTS of peanut butter), apples (always cheap in my area). Fish was canned tuna or frozen pollock. Cheap cuts of meat, lots of beans and frozen vegetables. Store bought desserts and fast food were treats because we couldn't afford them on a regular basis. Real restaurants were only for birthdays. Pizzas were homemade because we couldn't afford frozen or delivery.

Now, the kids are grown and gone, My husband and I both have well paying jobs. We still eat healthy We eat out more and order pizza out more, but most meals are still at home. We pretty much eat whatever we want now.

There are so many variables in these situations. It's completely ignorant for people to say "poverty is NO excuse". You're seriously saying...that EVERY. SINGLE. poor person in the world should be able to eat healthy?

You have no idea what every little aspect of every single impoverished person's life is like. Open your minds people...just a little.

Geesh. I think I'm done with this topic....too many "I am right because I'm right" going on for my tastes. We are put on this earth to expand eachother's minds just a little. Not the opposite.

I agree that most people living in poverty could eat in a healthy manner, however, we must acknowledge that there ARE situations where it just might be out of that person's control.

Enjoy the rest of your discussion...have a great weekend to all!

BS! If you can get to McDonalds you can get to a grocery store

I believe the kind of "poverty" that is being discussed here is a bit different then what you all are talking about. Sure there is "we can't afford Sarah's baby shower gift, so wish her our best, but we will be unable to attend brunch" and clipping coupons to feed the family, and then there is "looks like we can't eat today, but if I can find some change in the couch cushion, we can buy a package of Ramen noodles for $1.

A few months ago...I had to buy a package of Ramen noodles...and five double cheeseburgers from McDonalds...cut them into half, and split the food. For five dollars...I made over ten meals. You just can't do that with fresh produce. Thankfully, I am in a better position now...and while still technically "in poverty", I am eating very healthy. I think the studies are just talking about the extreme situations.

For those extreme situations...it IS hard to eat healthy. Mac and Cheese at Aldi's...35 cents. Ramen noodles...25 cents....cheeseburger....a dollar....

That's the congruency that I see...

But it's so much easier to just call people lazy.

People who have never been there don't realize that people choose to feed their families Ramen (12 packages for $1 in my area) because they can't afford the $1.50 head of lettuce because it won't go as far. In rural areas (I am in West Virginia) there aren't a lot of fresh veggies to choose from and what is available is expensive compared to the cheap frozen or packaged options. $3 will buy you three frozen dinners or one head of cabbage. It is expensive to feed my three person family healthy food. It's not like these are people living off the government either. These are people who work for a living, but the cost of living has gone up while their income hasn't and they are making the tough choices.

3 dollars will also buy you a 1lb bag of beans and some rice.....choices ppl better choices. BTW that will go ALOT further than 3 1 dollar tv dinners and is WAY more filling.

There are so many variables in these situations. It's completely ignorant for people to say "poverty is NO excuse". You're seriously saying...that EVERY. SINGLE. poor person in the world should be able to eat healthy?

You have no idea what every little aspect of every single impoverished person's life is like. Open your minds people...just a little.

Geesh. I think I'm done with this topic....too many "I am right because I'm right" going on for my tastes. We are put on this earth to expand eachother's minds just a little. Not the opposite.

I agree that most people living in poverty could eat in a healthy manner, however, we must acknowledge that there ARE situations where it just might be out of that person's control.

Enjoy the rest of your discussion...have a great weekend to all!

Someone help me with my grocery bills please then. I get $20 MAX a week to spend on a family of 3, that includes a gallon of milk every week and diapers if I need them. I "make too much" by my gross income to get state aid of any sort yet I'm below poverty level after you take out my health and dental insurance. My $20 will soon be going lower as they are about to raise the rates of my insurance yet again. It's not a matter of convenience (although when you leave at 6 am and don't get home until 7pm the last thing you want to do is cook all night), it's a matter of I can buy a box of mac and cheese and feed 3 of us 1 meal for $1. Oh, and food trucks and food banks are usually only open during the day, not later at night when I could get to one.

How about getting rid of an extra phone or cable or internet so you can properly feed you and your family?

When it comes to grocery shopping I have to write a list. Once my list is complete I hightlight the most important items that I can't do without. Normally those highlighted items are ingredients that can be used to make a wide range of meals. When I get to the store it's all about the best price, not always the lowest, and sales sales sales.I might have chicken on my list but if pork is on sale for 99 cents a pound I'll buy the pork instead of the chicken. I also normally shop at Aldi's which tends to have food a lot cheaper than other places. If I have any money left over out of my grocery shopping budget I move on to the un-highlighted items. I end up getting a lot of nutritious ingredients that can be cooked into many different items and less, if any, of the pre-made items. That normally means I spend a good couple of hours in my kitchen on Sundays cooking/baking various things for the week but it's much easier on my budget to make everything from scratch then to buy things pre-made.

I do the prioritized list thing too. I also try to add everything up as I put it in the cart, but I generally end up making two rounds of the grocery store - one to get the things on my list and then one to put back the items I don't absolutely have to have in order to get my total where it needs to be. I also can't eat as many fruits/vegetables as I'd like and it makes me sad. Losing weight was easy when we had money because I could could have fruit for breakfast, salads for lunch, and veggies with my dinner. I was full and happy and satisfied. This time it's considerably more difficult.

And, Acg67, I don't understand why you're trying to argue this. There are numerous studies that show a correlation between poverty and poor nutrition and/or obesity. It isn't an opinion. It simply IS.

Phew a correlation? That answers it then, case closed

Same with global warming

I do believe a lot of it boils down to education and knowledge about healthy foods. But I also believe it has a lot to do with the lazy attitude that is prevalent in our society.

I always shop like I am poor alloting only a certain amount of money every trip, clipping coupons, and making sure to get the paper on wednesdays and sundays for ads and coupons. It is just as cheap to eat healthy. You can get a 1 lb bag of beans for under 2 dollars. Same for rice. Frozen veggies are cheap. Dairy is not out of control I can get a doz eggs for under 2 dollars shredded cheese or blocked cheese for under 2 dollars. Yogurt is 50 cents for the reg one and 1 buck for greek unless I buy in packs then they are cheaper.

Being poor is no excuse to be fat or make bad choices when shopping. Being stupid is a whole different topic. I see plenty of MF'ers pulling out foodstamp cards with their nicely done 30 dollar nail job, while they talk on thier 200 dollar IPhone, fumbling with all the "bling" they have on. Then when they get to the parking lot and load all those groceries I just paid for into their Cadillac and drive off as I look at my cart of enough to get me to next payday after all my hard work of clipping and finding coupons as I get into my 2003 Toyota Tundra and look at the gas light to make sure I have enough to get home.

Being what America considers poor doesnt make ppl fat. Greedy,disgusting ppl that do not do a damn thing to contribute to soceity and live off it and make bad choices are whats ppl fat. They dont give a damn how disgusting they are you think they care what they put in their body. IT"S FREE! They aint paying for it.

This pisses me off just as bad as it does you. Im a single mom, hard working....fukin struggling my *kitten* off and I dont qualify for any programs because I make too much. Leave it to the mothers that keep having baby after baby and like you say, rollin up to the store in their dam mercedes collecting a welfare check and buying groceries with food stamps. THAT seriously erks my nerves man. Ugh.

Granted not everyone on assistance takes advantage of the system and some people really do need it....but when I see *kitten* like this, I can help but wanna shake a motha fker! (and take their food card and use it!)