Being Poor and Eating Healthy: It might not be as easy as it seems

Anybody here ever been poor? I mean really poor. I mean you got to figure out how to make $2 feed you for 7 days poor. Well even if you haven't been that poor, if you shop and are less than well to do you may have noticed something. Vegetables and fruit are expensive. Here's something else you may have noticed. Cheap food is relatively high in fat, simple carbohydrates, sodium, and high fructose corn syrup but low in vitamins. The thing is what do you do when faced with this food dilemna? Do you only eat beans, potatoes, and hot dogs to fill your belly or do you starve and get that bell pepper, spinach, and broccoli.?

Copyright K.L. Jones.

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Permalink Reply by kifaru on July 30, 2011 at 6:20am

Come on Ethan! Was the "fuck Muslims" comment really necessary? Muslims don't eat pork but we don't give a shit about whether or not you choose to eat pork. Next time try another religious group like Ethiopian Orthodox or Jews, or Hindus all of them also eschew eating pork.

Ethan Alvin Hill said:

...I made a budget, and limited myself to brown rice, olive oil, lentil beans (I knew more about lentil beans than most people know about strains of what's called "exotica"), fresh vegetables (to boil in the water for rice) and some meat (usually center cut pork chops - fuck Muslims)...

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Permalink Reply by kifaru on July 30, 2011 at 6:43am

Market forces, subsidies, and culture are some of the big reasons that why healthy food is expensive. People do not eat seasonally or regionally. Farms tend to farm mono-culturally nowadays.We have a very culture that highly regards animal protein as healthy and necessary. People are also naturally inclined to like sugar and fat and these things are subsidized by the government. Subsidies lead to surpluses so that sort of food can be sold cheaply or turned into so called value added products. We subsidize corn to the extent that it is profitable for corn producers to make high fructose corn syrup available cheaply in vast quantities. Corn also provides cheap feed for cows who would otherwise cost a lot more to raise. So in the end a consumer will have to choose between buying a pound of meat for $0.99 or a pound of cauliflower for $1.79.

silentchick18 said:

I discuss this alot with my family and friends. I do not understand why healthy food is so expensive and junk food is so cheap. Even after seeing Food INC I still do not get it.

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Permalink Reply by Mercy on January 20, 2012 at 6:56pm

and I don't think this is the same everywhere, but it's a bit cheaper to buy frozen vegetables, like spinach or broccoli, instead of the fresh stuff. it's just as healthy for you and it keeps for months