Boy, how I know this!
I'm experiencing #1 and #4 right now. The pots and pans are in boxes somewhere- I have unpacked one skillet and a toaster - and I wouldn't have time to cook anything if I had the tools. I've put over 2000 miles on my truck driving back and forth between the old house and the new place. My diet is mostly cheeseburgers and crotch fries that I eat while driving. I'm eating poorly, but I'm losing weight!

I’m doing the keto diet to lose weight, so eating healthy has been a big focus of mine. Everybody, including poor people, has a smartphone, so we all have access to healthy recipes, apps for food tracking, etc. Eating healthy takes effort, but more importantly it takes intent. Eating junk food is the easy, lazy way out. Everybody gets to choose their own path, but there’s nothing stopping poor people from eating healthy.

Shaun listed 5 things that make eating healthy difficult, and I attested to the fact that you don't have to be poor to be unable to eat healthy foods. We are all victims and beneficiaries of circumstances we cannot control or imagine. Congratulations on your intentions to eat and enjoying the circumstances that make it possible.


There are many factors at play with poor people eating healthy.

1. Time
2. Knowing what to cook
3. Knowing how to cook
4. Having pots and pans and utensils to cook with (this one is actually very big)
5. Food deserts

I would also add that fresh veggies and fruit go bad much faster than a Twinkie, so you need to shop more often which means needing more time again and possibly having a harder time getting transportation. If you don’t own a car, you can take a bus, but if you’ve ever done bus routes, you know generally how much extra time it takes.

Side story, I worked for a City and the Police would do garbage searches on suspected drug houses and they told me that poor people have much nicer garbage because they don’t prepare food so therefore no smelly rotting ingredients, just mostly fast food wrappers.

strong points Rutager and there's a lot more I could add to the list, one among them is cycles. Breaking out of a cycle of learned poverty is one of the greatest challenges our country faces.

I've been putting a lot of thought into cycles recently having devoted 10 years of my earlier life to breaking the unconnected provider dad cycle with Modern Dad and FirstTime Dad magazines.

The problem with poverty is we just throw money into a learned cycle where it disappears with no results. Throwing money into creating a real life, real time learning infrastructure to break learned poverty is the only way to do it. IMHO.

You’re not a victim of what you eat. You eat what you choose. Not being willing to make a sacrifice doesn’t make you a victim. Would I rather eat a delicious Reese’s peanut butter cup than a salad, absolutely! But that would be contrary to my goal of losing weight. Conversely, my need to lose weight is because I made the poor choice of eating unhealthy food and enjoying beer way too much. Most restaurants price a salad similar to a burger and fries, what you eat is an intentional choice. Stop trying to portray people that lack willpower as “victims”, it’s enabling behavior that only perpetuates the cycle. Victim hood implies a lack of choice and someone else to blame, that is not the case here.

Mmmm, OK. It’s all about you and your circumstance. Got it.

All the Farmer's markets in Cali have the EBT option for payment.
I've seen homeless advocate folks helping with group food purchases.
They provide mentorship and have the transportation resources to make a difference.

I would give away surplus vegetables in summer. Sweet corn went like candy. Tomatoes were a little less in demand. Green beans and peppers went a little slower. Sometimes I got push back from farmers who sold produce, but how are people without money going to buy your food?

Is this some sort of BS white guilt projection? My wife took a 9.5 lb pork butt to my son’s football team meal, cost us all of $20. It took her five minutes to mix up a dry rub with common seasonings and it went in the oven to slow cook for about 9 hours. It’s a cheap, healthy meal that would feed a family for days and anybody can make. Nobody ever fixed a problem by feeling sorry for themselves or blaming someone else.

I’m not poor but I still manage to cook at least one meal every calendar season:

6. Anxiety attacks in grocery stores.

No. It has nothing to do with color. It's about a lack of empathy. "Everybody can do this, so they have no excuse." No. "Everybody" doesn't share your circumstance.

Good for her. She had an oven, presumably a pan, time, transportation, and most important - a partner to share the burdens of running a household. You seem unable to conceive of someone who doesn't have an oven, or time, transportation, or a helpmate. These people exist. I know some of them, and the ones I know are white.

You seem to be blaming everyone who doesn't eat a healthy diet for their own circumstance. I'm not blaming anyone for anything.

Define circumstance. Also define what you think you know about mine.

From this thread, you have an oven, a pan, time, transportation, and a partner to share the burdens of running a household.

This dish requires a disposable foil pan, 5 minutes of prep, and it sat in the oven for 9 hours.

I spent years working in a mobile home park, almost everybody was unemployed and on public assistance. They all had ovens. So short of homeless people there’s no excuse. Also there are entire websites dedicated to cooking easy healthy meals, not all of them require an oven. In your hypothetical scenario, this person can somehow get to McDonalds instead?

As the original poster of this thread, the purpose was to expose the 25-year expiration on this EBT card. I believe that there are times when people need assistance, but that assistance should be a temporary thing. It appears that the 25yr expiration is a convenience thing for the government agency as well as the recipient. My opinion would be to have a 1yr expiration with re-application required on the anniversary.

I'm not quite sure how this thread morphed into a recipe sharing discussion.

As the original poster of this thread, the purpose was to expose the 25-year expiration on this EBT card. I believe that there are times when people need assistance, but that assistance should be a temporary thing. It appears that the 25yr expiration is a convenience thing for the government agency as well as the recipient. My opinion would be to have a 1yr expiration with re-application required on the anniversary (no matter how inconvenient).

I'm not quite sure how this thread morphed into a recipe sharing discussion.

They can’t cook. If it’s not prepackaged or frozen, they aren’t buying it.

The epitome of unskilled labor

Allow me:

I am for absolute empathy and a hand to help...but the people, white, black, brown, in question need to prove to me they deserve my empathy and help.

That is how it works: They get some skin in the game, so will I, because I have over and over. I don't give money, I give my time so I can see what I am dealing with.

The "food dessert" canard is a joke...there would not be any if the people operating grocery stores at an extremely low profit margin were not be robbed and could be allowed to provide the, uh, food.

Help me help you.

There are some very well fed pets out there because they can't buy pet food, they give the pets people food.