New York Times Regurgitates Myths About Poverty and Food

[Old Viking]

Little Known Food Facts:

* Many people living in our southern states consider hominy edible.

* It is a myth that people eat broccoli.  Its only practical use is frightening children into thinking they will be forced to eat some.

* It has never been scientifically substantiated that a person can pea soup.

[kefkaownsall]

This reminds me of that South Park episode where Rob Reiner yells at a sawmill worker for smoking in a bar, asking him why he doesn't just go relax in an expensive vacation house.

I would point out smoke free laws are good but this does raise the issue of privilege.  Also temperature since where I live walking 3 miles is impossible in the winter.

[N. De Plume]

Very few communities in the US are walkable, and not too many more are bikable.  You are forced to drive or take the bus pretty much everywhere.  When the nearest grocery store is 10 miles away, that's a minor inconvenience for a middle-class car owner, and a major hurdle for someone barely making ends meet, who uses a bus for transport.

I really fuckin’ hate this aspect of life in the US.

Of course, I personally have managed to land an apartment within a 15 minute walk of an Aldi (grocery store), Target (department store), Menards (home improvement/hardware), McDonald's, and Fazoli's (fast food Italian). Plus a few other notable places. So I got some options. Unfortunately, the damn highways make it too dangerous to walk to the mall and really open up the possibilities.

But I just lucked out on those options.

For $4 each, every person can have a large tea and 3 dollar menu items. That means a family of 4 can have a comfortably filling meal at McDonald's for about $16. I know, because it's something my own family has had to do pretty regularly.

And if you want to put a reasonable price on the time to prepare those other dishes, I think that winds up being outright cheaper.

If you got really low standards, Taco Bell is even cheaper than McDonald’s.

[Cerim Treascair]

I can speak to personal experience on this problem.  My closest actual grocery store? 3 miles, one way.  When you're packing 4 pounds of chicken, at least 5 pounds of beef, a gallon of milk, about two pounds of cheese, a dozen and a half eggs, a pound of butter, never mind everything else... it's just not walkable.  Especially in the 90+ heat and 65+% humidity like we're dealing with this week.

Did I mention we live right off a 45 mile per hour highway? because there's that, too.

[kefkaownsall]

Very few communities in the US are walkable, and not too many more are bikable.  You are forced to drive or take the bus pretty much everywhere.  When the nearest grocery store is 10 miles away, that's a minor inconvenience for a middle-class car owner, and a major hurdle for someone barely making ends meet, who uses a bus for transport.

I really fuckin’ hate this aspect of life in the US.

Of course, I personally have managed to land an apartment within a 15 minute walk of an Aldi (grocery store), Target (department store), Menards (home improvement/hardware), McDonald's, and Fazoli's (fast food Italian). Plus a few other notable places. So I got some options. Unfortunately, the damn highways make it too dangerous to walk to the mall and really open up the possibilities.

But I just lucked out on those options.

For $4 each, every person can have a large tea and 3 dollar menu items. That means a family of 4 can have a comfortably filling meal at McDonald's for about $16. I know, because it's something my own family has had to do pretty regularly.

And if you want to put a reasonable price on the time to prepare those other dishes, I think that winds up being outright cheaper.

If you got really low standards, Taco Bell is even cheaper than McDonald’s.

That is true but I would rather eat actual cow in my beef.  In addition to all that there is the other issue of nearby stores charging more for less compare the price of instant noodles at a gas station to the price at grocery store.

[Stormwarden]

I have no sidewalk. I'm one of those rural types who lives seven miles+ from the nearest town (and the nearest Wal-Mart). I live in that part of the country where if you don't drive, you don't count. That also means Fast Food isn't optional. The price of beef is high, and I can't very well walk to the nearest store to load up.

 I need to get the fuck out of WV eventually.

[Nightangel8212]

I would love to see this guy try to pay for decent, healthy food with an income of $714 a month... after having to pay $500 rent off of it, as well as other expenses. How much healthy food can you buy and make last for like $100 or less a month? Unless you're buying nothing but ichiban noodles or rice (which is not classified as being healthy), good luck.

[starseeker]

I would love to see this guy try to pay for decent, healthy food with an income of $714 a month... after having to pay $500 rent off of it, as well as other expenses. How much healthy food can you buy and make last for like $100 or less a month? Unless you're buying nothing but ichiban noodles or rice (which is not classified as being healthy), good luck.

Potatoes are fairly well rounded on nutriets, but they're not quite as cheap as rice.

[Nightangel8212]

I would love to see this guy try to pay for decent, healthy food with an income of $714 a month... after having to pay $500 rent off of it, as well as other expenses. How much healthy food can you buy and make last for like $100 or less a month? Unless you're buying nothing but ichiban noodles or rice (which is not classified as being healthy), good luck.

Potatoes are fairly well rounded on nutriets, but they're not quite as cheap as rice.

True, but you get sick of them when your boyfriend works for a freakin' potato factory... plus I'm not a fan of them. When I was about six or seven and in the garden with my dad, I bit into one fresh out of the ground and it was full of worms. It took two years before I could even look at a potato again without gagging. The thought of having to live off of them makes me very... uneasy.

[N. De Plume]

You can only get so far on having the exact same meal over and over again.

[Auri-El]

You can only get so far on having the exact same meal over and over again.

This, too. You have to have variety, not just so you don't get sick of the rice or potatoes or whatever, but you can't get all the nutrients you need in one kind of vegetable or grain.

Not to mention people who can't cook. If my girlfriend and I tried to live on our own cooking we would starve. Microwavable stuff is much less hassle.

[Nightangel8212]

Yeah, my family calls me the 'Queen of Microwave Dinners.' Whenever they wanted something cooked in the microwave, they would look at me and say, "I don't know how you do it, but for some reason it always tastes better when YOU cook it!"

I can cook a few minor things but overall, I'd probably go insane if I didn't have a microwave. I'm so happy my old roommate gave me his... and his George Foreman Grill.