3 ms·

It's not hard arithmetic but they also have no real causation that I could think of. I can go to McDonald's and buy some combo for $5-8 and get a single meal,

by MSM 8y ago

It's not hard arithmetic but they also have no real causation that I could think of. I can go to McDonald's and buy some combo for $5-8 and get a single meal, or I could go get some chicken thighs, some black beans and some rice and boom, you've got like 5 much healthier meals for $15. People all over the world do this, but in the US we always parrot that eating healthy is "too expensive". I don't know if people are too strapped for time because of being overworked, having other priorities with the free time they do have to want to cook, or what the root problem is but I can't wrap my head about it being a financial issue.

olliej 8y ago
If you’re poor you don’t have time to cook, especially if you’ve got kids. If you are working two jobs to make ends meet, the extra hours required to buy food, and cook said food, may literally be more time than you have available. Couple that with the simple fact that fresh food expires quickly, and you have a recipe (ha)for fast food being the best available option. You say you could buy some chicken thighs, but you can guarantee you have a fridge available. The reality is that in spite of being unhealthy fast food has a lot of calories which you need, and is functionally cheap. I think also this kind of article ignores that the bottom of the poverty spectrum in America aren’t eating fast food, they literally can’t afford it - they live on canned food and rice. The elderly living on canned cat food is not uncommon, and is a response to that being the among cheapest sources of fat and protein you can get; it’s not by choice. The jokes about people in the Appalachia’s eating raccoon are based on fact - I have a friend who grew up there, and his parents still hunt and can literally anything they can. So they do have canned raccoon for the winter. My parents and I lived in a literal shed until I was 3 or 4. My dad actually shot rabbits from the bedroom window. I don’t think people on HN actually understand what real poverty is like.

by MSM 8y ago

olliej 8y ago

If you’re poor you don’t have time to cook, especially if you’ve got kids. If you are working two jobs to make ends meet, the extra hours required to buy food, and cook said food, may literally be more time than you have available. Couple that with the simple fact that fresh food expires quickly, and you have a recipe (ha)for fast food being the best available option. You say you could buy some chicken thighs, but you can guarantee you have a fridge available. The reality is that in spite of being unhealthy fast food has a lot of calories which you need, and is functionally cheap. I think also this kind of article ignores that the bottom of the poverty spectrum in America aren’t eating fast food, they literally can’t afford it - they live on canned food and rice. The elderly living on canned cat food is not uncommon, and is a response to that being the among cheapest sources of fat and protein you can get; it’s not by choice. The jokes about people in the Appalachia’s eating raccoon are based on fact - I have a friend who grew up there, and his parents still hunt and can literally anything they can. So they do have canned raccoon for the winter. My parents and I lived in a literal shed until I was 3 or 4. My dad actually shot rabbits from the bedroom window. I don’t think people on HN actually understand what real poverty is like.