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> I've lived in food deserts and I can tell you getting healthy food can be quite an arduous task, especially if you rely on public transportation. That's what

> I've lived in food deserts and I can tell you getting healthy food can be quite an arduous task, especially if you rely on public transportation. That's what food desert means. As in, no food. Therefore food must be imported. Therefore it's expensive. Sugar just happens to be a well-preserving food. The solution is quite simple: Don't live in a food desert.

BoxOfRain 5y ago
>The solution is quite simple: Don't live in a food desert. For the people on HN who tend to skew towards wealthy white-collar work this is fine advice, but it's absolutely not possible for a lot of people from lower incomes. Not only can they not afford to move, they can't afford to leave their entire social support structures and build them anew.
- hypertele-Xii 5y ago
  Excuses. History is rife with entire peoples migrating to greener pastures. If they wanted to move and eat better, they would.
  - BoxOfRain 5y ago
    I propose an experiment, find someone to look after your savings and belongings for a while and move to a new city with nothing more than US$500 or equivalent. You may not have friends or family within seventy miles of this location, nor a pre-arranged place to stay. You can come back for your money and possessions at any point, but if you don't last more than six months then you have to do a write-up on HN of your experiences and admit that poverty is more difficult to get out of than your naïve assumption.
- throwaway22032 5y ago
  They also can't afford to eat shit and have a shit life as a result.
  - BoxOfRain 5y ago
    Exactly, the notion that the poor are poor because they're inherently feckless and therefore deserve their poverty is an idea that's long past its sell-by date. These are the systemic issues of our day, and they won't be solved by sneering at the people affected.
bigtex88 5y ago
Yeah wow that is quite possibly the most tone-deaf thing I've ever read on here. Plenty of people don't have the option to simply "not live in a food desert". I hate calling out privilege but this just smacks of privilege.

BoxOfRain 5y ago

>The solution is quite simple: Don't live in a food desert. For the people on HN who tend to skew towards wealthy white-collar work this is fine advice, but it's absolutely not possible for a lot of people from lower incomes. Not only can they not afford to move, they can't afford to leave their entire social support structures and build them anew.

hypertele-Xii 5y ago
Excuses. History is rife with entire peoples migrating to greener pastures. If they wanted to move and eat better, they would.
- BoxOfRain 5y ago
  I propose an experiment, find someone to look after your savings and belongings for a while and move to a new city with nothing more than US$500 or equivalent. You may not have friends or family within seventy miles of this location, nor a pre-arranged place to stay. You can come back for your money and possessions at any point, but if you don't last more than six months then you have to do a write-up on HN of your experiences and admit that poverty is more difficult to get out of than your naïve assumption.
throwaway22032 5y ago
They also can't afford to eat shit and have a shit life as a result.
- BoxOfRain 5y ago
  Exactly, the notion that the poor are poor because they're inherently feckless and therefore deserve their poverty is an idea that's long past its sell-by date. These are the systemic issues of our day, and they won't be solved by sneering at the people affected.

bigtex88 5y ago

Yeah wow that is quite possibly the most tone-deaf thing I've ever read on here. Plenty of people don't have the option to simply "not live in a food desert". I hate calling out privilege but this just smacks of privilege.