4 ms·

I shop at a local Hispanic grocery store, and I'm always surprised how many people will buy soda, sugary breakfast cereals, candy, essentially boxed fast food,

I shop at a local Hispanic grocery store, and I'm always surprised how many people will buy soda, sugary breakfast cereals, candy, essentially boxed fast food, and other garbage with their food stamps rather than the great fresh produce, meats, seafood, etc. that's available. It certainly isn't everyone, but it does seem to be the majority anecdotally. I agree that education is a far more important piece of resolving this issue

Wowfunhappy 7y ago
Worth noting that processed foods also provide far more calories per dollar. So in a way, they're maximizing their limited funds, albeit with long term consequences.
- ng12 7y ago
  Maximizing calorie per dollar almost certainly means boxes of pasta, jars of peanut butter, and bags of rice and beans. I think comfort, habit, and convenience have more to do with it than calories.
  - Wowfunhappy 7y ago
    I think it's both! I agree, it's unlikely many people have literally thought through "what single food will best maximize my calorie intake?" However, it's relatively intuitive that spending some amount of money on cereal will get you further than spending the same amount on Apples. And so they buy cereal.
  - belltaco 7y ago
    But all of those need time and effort to prepare. If you put a dollar cost on the effort involved McDonalds dollar menu might come ahead.
Sharlin 7y ago
One should not underestimate the extent to which stress, depression, and anxiety can make us crave comfort food, and rob the energy to do things like cook your own meals. Especially if you're a working poor and already tired when you get home.
- qwsxyh 7y ago
  Not to mention mental health issues can also make "healthy" meals just taste like shit making everything worse and driving people to get more unhealthy food.
  - Sharlin 7y ago
    Definitely! Depression has a habit of blunting sensory experiences, including taste.
- Reedx 7y ago
  True, but that's a self reinforcing feedback loop. Eat junk -> Feel like crap, low energy -> Eat more junk Not a good long term strategy. There are widely available low cost foods that can help break that loop. Rice, beans, eggs, frozen vegetables... In fact frozen vegetables are often more nutritious than non-frozen, unless you're eating close enough to picking time.
  - qwsxyh 7y ago
    Eat junk -> Feel like crap Put a bunch of effort into making good food -> Feel like crap Seems obvious what I pick.
  - yellowapple 7y ago
    > Not a good long term strategy. That's exactly the point. When you're poor, you don't have the luxury of considering a long term strategy.
  - Sharlin 7y ago
    > that's a self reinforcing feedback loop. That's exactly the point. You don't break out of those just by deciding one day to be rational.
    - loco5niner 7y ago
      People do it all the time. It's unfortunately the exception, not the rule.

Wowfunhappy 7y ago

Worth noting that processed foods also provide far more calories per dollar. So in a way, they're maximizing their limited funds, albeit with long term consequences.

ng12 7y ago
Maximizing calorie per dollar almost certainly means boxes of pasta, jars of peanut butter, and bags of rice and beans. I think comfort, habit, and convenience have more to do with it than calories.
- Wowfunhappy 7y ago
  I think it's both! I agree, it's unlikely many people have literally thought through "what single food will best maximize my calorie intake?" However, it's relatively intuitive that spending some amount of money on cereal will get you further than spending the same amount on Apples. And so they buy cereal.
- belltaco 7y ago
  But all of those need time and effort to prepare. If you put a dollar cost on the effort involved McDonalds dollar menu might come ahead.

Sharlin 7y ago

One should not underestimate the extent to which stress, depression, and anxiety can make us crave comfort food, and rob the energy to do things like cook your own meals. Especially if you're a working poor and already tired when you get home.

qwsxyh 7y ago
Not to mention mental health issues can also make "healthy" meals just taste like shit making everything worse and driving people to get more unhealthy food.
- Sharlin 7y ago
  Definitely! Depression has a habit of blunting sensory experiences, including taste.
Reedx 7y ago
True, but that's a self reinforcing feedback loop. Eat junk -> Feel like crap, low energy -> Eat more junk Not a good long term strategy. There are widely available low cost foods that can help break that loop. Rice, beans, eggs, frozen vegetables... In fact frozen vegetables are often more nutritious than non-frozen, unless you're eating close enough to picking time.
- qwsxyh 7y ago
  Eat junk -> Feel like crap Put a bunch of effort into making good food -> Feel like crap Seems obvious what I pick.
- yellowapple 7y ago
  > Not a good long term strategy. That's exactly the point. When you're poor, you don't have the luxury of considering a long term strategy.
- Sharlin 7y ago
  > that's a self reinforcing feedback loop. That's exactly the point. You don't break out of those just by deciding one day to be rational.
  - loco5niner 7y ago
    People do it all the time. It's unfortunately the exception, not the rule.