4 ms·

Poor people become obese because cost of food does not depend on calories, or rather is inversely related to calories. The cheapest foods tend to be the most pr

by lutorm 17y ago

Poor people become obese because cost of food does not depend on calories, or rather is inversely related to calories. The cheapest foods tend to be the most processed, less nutricious, but very calorie laden. So it's not exactly that they "still earn enough money" to become obese, it's that somehow the food supply has been inverted so everyone can afford calories but not so many can afford healthy food. Besides that, as a counter argument to your hypothesis, wouldn't inner city neighborhoods be old and walkable? In that case, your argument that they are more healthy because they are inhabited by richer people doesn't seem to fly.

njm 17y ago
While this is true in general, it is still possible to eat a balanced, healthy diet for very little money. That said, it requires a lot of discipline and a somewhat sophisticated understanding of nutrition. Still, my wife and I managed to get by on $20-30/week for combined groceries for about a year (we're in AZ, and being vegetarian helps keep costs down), but still managed to eat well.
- 9oliYQjP 17y ago
  Holy crap. Do you mind giving us a rundown of what you ate in a typical week? I'm really curious.
  - eru 17y ago
    Some cheap and healthy things: Oat meal, beans, tea / water, fruits of the season, yoghurt, rice, pasta, potatoes, sweet potatoes, cabbage. I can easily imagine eating for around 2 Euro a day or even less. It just would not be as much fun. So I get around with 5 to 7 Euro, that allows me to add delicious ham and some other meat to my diet in small portions.
  - njm 17y ago
    eru nailed it. We lived off bulk everything -- oatmeal, rice, beans. For fresh food, we got cheap veggies with lots of nutrition; greens tend to be the best bang for the buck, but also bags of carrots, beets, and such. For protein, it was all about tofu, eggs, milk, yogurt and nuts (mostly peanuts, soy nuts or pepitas, which are much cheaper than tree nuts). For beverages, bulk tea is absolutely the way to go, at just a few cents per cup. Food prices have really shot up since 2006 though; in particular, bulk beans have almost doubled. Still, I think it would be possible to eat the same diet today for around $35/week for a couple.
jonknee 17y ago
It's just laziness, rice and beans are still cheap and work fine for huge parts of the world. Being poor in America is no excuse to be fat.
- whacked_new 17y ago
  Laziness? Is that based on opinion or data? This is an unbiased question. I am further interested in how widespread this sentiment is. I heard a story about a McDonald's closing in a poor area. There are at least two effects of this, the second of which was quite surprising: 1. McD, a source of high-fat food, leaves the area, and subsequently people need to find alternative food; 2. McD, a source of cheap food, leaves the area, and subsequently people have trouble affording food. Apparently McD's distribution chain is so efficient, that their presence resulted in wider access to food. I say nothing about nutrition, jobs, or anything else. Just food that fills your stomach. It seems like nothing is that simple enough to summarize in a single sentence. Doing so is likely overestimating of your grasp of the situation. But perhaps it is indeed just laziness. Also see: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=643999 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=643999
  - jonknee 17y ago
    I don't know of a study that makes the claim, but I can go to the grocery store and buy really cheap food that's not bad for me. It takes more work to prepare than hitting a preset on the microwave or going to a drive-thru, but it's cheap and will keep you healthy. (I say this as I'm about to re-heat some left over spanish rice that I made last night. It cost almost nothing to make.)
    - graywh 17y ago
      Perhaps you should read "Why it's expensive to be poor." http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=619110 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=619110
- whacked_new 17y ago
  I recently learned the great utility of beans and I asked why they aren't pouring over the streets. Apparently: culture, agriculture, and subsidies. A culmination of broken links.

by lutorm 17y ago

njm 17y ago

While this is true in general, it is still possible to eat a balanced, healthy diet for very little money. That said, it requires a lot of discipline and a somewhat sophisticated understanding of nutrition. Still, my wife and I managed to get by on $20-30/week for combined groceries for about a year (we're in AZ, and being vegetarian helps keep costs down), but still managed to eat well.

9oliYQjP 17y ago
Holy crap. Do you mind giving us a rundown of what you ate in a typical week? I'm really curious.
- eru 17y ago
  Some cheap and healthy things: Oat meal, beans, tea / water, fruits of the season, yoghurt, rice, pasta, potatoes, sweet potatoes, cabbage. I can easily imagine eating for around 2 Euro a day or even less. It just would not be as much fun. So I get around with 5 to 7 Euro, that allows me to add delicious ham and some other meat to my diet in small portions.
- njm 17y ago
  eru nailed it. We lived off bulk everything -- oatmeal, rice, beans. For fresh food, we got cheap veggies with lots of nutrition; greens tend to be the best bang for the buck, but also bags of carrots, beets, and such. For protein, it was all about tofu, eggs, milk, yogurt and nuts (mostly peanuts, soy nuts or pepitas, which are much cheaper than tree nuts). For beverages, bulk tea is absolutely the way to go, at just a few cents per cup. Food prices have really shot up since 2006 though; in particular, bulk beans have almost doubled. Still, I think it would be possible to eat the same diet today for around $35/week for a couple.

jonknee 17y ago

It's just laziness, rice and beans are still cheap and work fine for huge parts of the world. Being poor in America is no excuse to be fat.

whacked_new 17y ago
Laziness? Is that based on opinion or data? This is an unbiased question. I am further interested in how widespread this sentiment is. I heard a story about a McDonald's closing in a poor area. There are at least two effects of this, the second of which was quite surprising: 1. McD, a source of high-fat food, leaves the area, and subsequently people need to find alternative food; 2. McD, a source of cheap food, leaves the area, and subsequently people have trouble affording food. Apparently McD's distribution chain is so efficient, that their presence resulted in wider access to food. I say nothing about nutrition, jobs, or anything else. Just food that fills your stomach. It seems like nothing is that simple enough to summarize in a single sentence. Doing so is likely overestimating of your grasp of the situation. But perhaps it is indeed just laziness. Also see: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=643999 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=643999
- jonknee 17y ago
  I don't know of a study that makes the claim, but I can go to the grocery store and buy really cheap food that's not bad for me. It takes more work to prepare than hitting a preset on the microwave or going to a drive-thru, but it's cheap and will keep you healthy. (I say this as I'm about to re-heat some left over spanish rice that I made last night. It cost almost nothing to make.)
  - graywh 17y ago
    Perhaps you should read "Why it's expensive to be poor." http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=619110 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=619110
whacked_new 17y ago
I recently learned the great utility of beans and I asked why they aren't pouring over the streets. Apparently: culture, agriculture, and subsidies. A culmination of broken links.