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For all the people arguing that healthy food can be cheap. Not really... My cousins on my mom's side grew up in a house hold of 3 generations, the house had one

by dhoman 7y ago

For all the people arguing that healthy food can be cheap. Not really... My cousins on my mom's side grew up in a house hold of 3 generations, the house had one car, which was used for getting to and from work. Breakfast was walking to the corner store and buying a thing of donuts. None of them knew or could afford to cook. Things like cooking are more difficult if you are constantly having utilities turned off on you, don't have a car, etc.

drak0n1c 7y ago
Cost isn't the issue, but you're right that ignorance is. At the very same corner store a week's worth of eggs, peanut butter, and bread costs the same as a morning's worth of donuts for the family.
UglyToad 7y ago
Not sure why you're being down-voted for this, as shared elsewhere in the thread [0] you're right. There's also this [1][2] from a UK think-tank which annoyingly I couldn't find any more information on, which says to meet UK government healthy eating guidelines, the lowest income decile would have to spend 74% of their disposable income after housing on food. The 'healthy food is cheap' group seem to ignore the existence of food deserts, outcomes of research and living situations where kitchens are poorly equipped, running off a meter or other factors which mean spending up to half an hour preparing an (absolutely delicious /s) plate of boiled vegetables and rice isn't realistic. Not to mention rates of in-work poverty resulting in people with lower incomes working multiple jobs. Expending time and energy cooking a bland meal from scratch vs. buying chicken and chips with a fizzy drink for (max) £2.50? No contest in my view. I live in a city center without a car and even being within maybe the top 20% by income here I still find it far easier to get by on junk food and have to consciously expend energy or money to avoid that. If I go to the Tesco Express (3 minutes walk) vs the Tesco Extra (30-40 minutes walk) then the offers on junk food make it much cheaper than the vegetables (Express are corner stores and carry a very limited selection with larger markups). [0]: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/healthy-vs-unhealthy-diet-costs-1-50-more/ https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/healthy-vs-... [1]: https://www.hsj.co.uk/comment/the-bedpan-the-poor-cant-afford-to-follow-public-health-advice/7025532.article https://www.hsj.co.uk/comment/the-bedpan-the-poor-cant-affor... [2]: https://foodfoundation.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/The-Broken-Plate.pdf https://foodfoundation.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/The...

by dhoman 7y ago

drak0n1c 7y ago

Cost isn't the issue, but you're right that ignorance is. At the very same corner store a week's worth of eggs, peanut butter, and bread costs the same as a morning's worth of donuts for the family.

UglyToad 7y ago

Not sure why you're being down-voted for this, as shared elsewhere in the thread [0] you're right. There's also this [1][2] from a UK think-tank which annoyingly I couldn't find any more information on, which says to meet UK government healthy eating guidelines, the lowest income decile would have to spend 74% of their disposable income after housing on food. The 'healthy food is cheap' group seem to ignore the existence of food deserts, outcomes of research and living situations where kitchens are poorly equipped, running off a meter or other factors which mean spending up to half an hour preparing an (absolutely delicious /s) plate of boiled vegetables and rice isn't realistic. Not to mention rates of in-work poverty resulting in people with lower incomes working multiple jobs. Expending time and energy cooking a bland meal from scratch vs. buying chicken and chips with a fizzy drink for (max) £2.50? No contest in my view. I live in a city center without a car and even being within maybe the top 20% by income here I still find it far easier to get by on junk food and have to consciously expend energy or money to avoid that. If I go to the Tesco Express (3 minutes walk) vs the Tesco Extra (30-40 minutes walk) then the offers on junk food make it much cheaper than the vegetables (Express are corner stores and carry a very limited selection with larger markups). [0]: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/healthy-vs-unhealthy-diet-costs-1-50-more/ https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/healthy-vs-... [1]: https://www.hsj.co.uk/comment/the-bedpan-the-poor-cant-afford-to-follow-public-health-advice/7025532.article https://www.hsj.co.uk/comment/the-bedpan-the-poor-cant-affor... [2]: https://foodfoundation.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/The-Broken-Plate.pdf https://foodfoundation.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/The...