No excuse going hungry in the US

[LivingAlmostLarge]

SV2007 have you lived in the not nice inner cities? I have and it's shameful the grocery stores. Most people don't have cars and many can't get to a grocery store. So like Disneysteve says they shop at the corner bodega. yes they could shop cheaper but how to carry groceries and go?

Plus to be really honest it's disgusting those grocery stores in those areas. When we lived there we used our car (a luxury) to go outside the area and buy food much cheaper.

Being poor has so many challenges and it is compounded and not so easy to get out of the cycle. It's really hard actually.

I can say it's easier to be poor in the country after seeing the poor in the city. I'd hate to have to live like that long term and growing up in the country, yes you can live in a shack without much but it's easier to have healthy food. Raise your own livestock and veggies.

Walk a mile in their shoes and see what would happen. it's hard.

[DaveInPgh]

SV2007 have you lived in the not nice inner cities? I have and it's shameful the grocery stores. Most people don't have cars and many can't get to a grocery store. So like Disneysteve says they shop at the corner bodega. yes they could shop cheaper but how to carry groceries and go?

Plus to be really honest it's disgusting those grocery stores in those areas. When we lived there we used our car (a luxury) to go outside the area and buy food much cheaper.

Being poor has so many challenges and it is compounded and not so easy to get out of the cycle. It's really hard actually.

I can say it's easier to be poor in the country after seeing the poor in the city. I'd hate to have to live like that long term and growing up in the country, yes you can live in a shack without much but it's easier to have healthy food. Raise your own livestock and veggies.

Walk a mile in their shoes and see what would happen. it's hard.

The answer to your first question is obvious based on all of his posts. His reality is far from actual reality, so I don't think he is capable of walking a mile in the shoes of someone "without success."

[Outdoorsygal]

Luckily though for a time we were very poor, we always had a vehicle. We use to exclusively shop at Grocery Outlet which is almost the only way to survive and eat organic, whole healthy food which also tastes good. We now spend more $ on food but that will change soon after I turn over a new leaf. This plan takes effect when we move.

Here are a few of our most popular meals back in the day


Chili Rellenos, Rice, & Salad- makes 6 large dinner servings @ $3.50 a piece
1 can of Ortega 27 ounce Roasted Whole Green Chilis ($2.50)
2 bags of shredded cheese- Pepper Jack & Cheddar, or Taco Blend Cheese ($3.50)
Refried Beans (home made in slow cooking crockpot-3 onions+ 4 garlic cloves, bag of pinto beans & olive oil) $1+$1+.75=$2.50
6tbsp flour- .25
6 Eggs-$1
1/2 C. Milk- $.75
Brown Rice-.$1
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$12.50
Leafy Green Lettuce-$3 (1.5 bunches)
Nikon Season Rice Vinegar & Chunks of blue cheese as Salad Dressing-$5
Shredded Carrots in salad-.$50
————————————————
$8.50

$21 or $3.50 a piece for the meal above



Split Pea Soup- 7 Large Bowls of Soup. $1.50 each bowl. Slow cooked in Crockpot

bag of split peas- $1
Ham Hock (grass fed, pasture raised by local butcher)- $4
Sea Salt-.25
Pepper-.25
1 C. Chopped Onions-.75
1 C. chopped Carrots-$1
Sour Cream-$5
————————
$12.50 for 7 large bowls of soup/ $1.75 a bowl


Falafels

1 Pkg Casbah Falafel Mix (add water and let set)-$4
Shredded Cheese- $2
2 Tomatos-$1
Pita Bread-$5
Mayo-$1
Lettuce-$1
———————————
$14 for 8 servings= 2 servings each=$1.75 each



Spaghetti-
Clásico Organic Spaghetti Sauce- $2.75 bottle (decent portions, not large)
Spaghetti-$1
Steamed Zucchini & Asparagus w/butter & Spike-$5
———————————
$9- serves 3 people @ $3 a piece

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[Outdoorsygal]

I read an article once that did a study on why kids are starving in a particular 3rd world country but the mothers are fat. They thought the kids were being abused by not being allowed to eat much. However, what they found out is that the diet for a poor area is super high carb. Flour, rice, etc. Due to this both the mother and the children are actually malnourished. The child burns the carbs off, but isn't getting much from them for nutrition. The mothers metabolisms are dropping so they don't burn as much of the food, making them become fat.

Great point. They didn't have a chance because they weren't even eating real food.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

What, not real food? I imagine the high carb food the people GoodSteward was writing about were eating foods just as real as the also high carb foods you just gave recipes for: refried beans, tortillas, rice, carrots, split peas, onions, falafels, pita bread, spaghetti. You just said these were healthy.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Fresh veggies and fruits are very pricey if you eat as much as recommended.

[disneysteve]

Fresh veggies and fruits are very pricey if you eat as much as recommended.

They aren't nearly as expensive as the garbage that most people buy, especially if you can get them in bulk at a place like Produce Junction.

[Captain Save]

I agree with the title of the thread.. but as someone with some health conditions I can tell you the mass production is the reason why a lot of these foods are cheap... and they cause health issues... you're better off paying more for healthy products and eating less..

we over eat and we don't eat the right foods

the reason we over eat is because we don't eat the right foods

EDIT: as far as fresh veggies go.. make sure you buy organic as they are not exposed to the poison being sprayed in the big farms.. or better yet. .buy local from farmers you trust. .. fruits and produce with thick skin don't necessarily need to be organic .. that's where you can try to save a little bit of money..

[sv2007]

A lot of attention on single moms with many kids per mom given in this thread. Frankly, I think that's another problem: why do the divorce? anyway, I won't get into my marriage views as it seems highly controversial to many here.

As for inner city folks not being able to shop at better grocery stores because of no car... well I have actually lived that life. I went to college in a fairly large city and didn't have a car; guess what? Friends have cars. just hop along for the shopping trips. And I'm not the only one who's figured that out.

People cannot blame themselves; they must strive and aim for the the top. Solve the problems instead of worrying about them. Oh heck, I should run for office.

Anyway, I can even say sometimes my meals cost < $1 (and sometimes I'd eat such meals for days). Sure, price of meals varies (and I'm grateful to be able to pick what and where to eat), but it just goes to show you just how cheap food is in the US compared to salaries.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Sv2007, you told us elsewhere that you make a very good living coming up with solutions that are not solutions. Is that what you are doing here? Is that why you think maybe you should run for office?

Just "hop along" to the grocery store with friends. Just don't "do the divorce divorce" if you have kids.

[Outdoorsygal]

What, not real food? I imagine the high carb food the people GoodSteward was writing about were eating foods just as real as the also high carb foods you just gave recipes for: refried beans, tortillas, rice, carrots, split peas, onions, falafels, pita bread, spaghetti. You just said these were healthy.

I am not sure what you are confused about. All the ingredients are cheap, 90% healthy (Yes the split pea soup has 1 small container of organic sour cream). All of the ingredients is whole, organic food. Organic veges. I didn't keep writing organic in the ingredients because the point was eating healthy at a low cost. I've frequently stated we shop at just one health food store. Grocery Outlet has A TON of organic, whole food. They specialize in organic whole food and junk food imho. The little amount of meat we eat is from local growers, the animals are pasture raised and fed grass instead of corn.

I'm not sure how you'd do much better cost wise or health wise regarding the recipes I've included but if anyone knows, I'd be very interested!

I plan on turning over a new leaf and NOT spending much in the way of food while keeping healthy

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[sv2007]

Sv2007, you told us elsewhere that you make a very good living coming up with solutions that are not solutions. Is that what you are doing here? Is that why you think maybe you should run for office?

Just "hop along" to the grocery store with friends. Just don't "do the divorce divorce" if you have kids.

I think you miss read my post. I'm good at coming up with good solutions when there are no correct solutions. There are very, very few problems in this world that actually have an exact or even a best solution.

Food is really cheap in the US even compared to the rest of the world where income is relatively tiny, tiny, little bit of ours. We are an awesome exporter of food because we produce so much; and it's great that this is reflected in our food prices.

To be hungry in the US without a good amount of disability is (on the face of it) very difficult unless the person wants to be hungry or wants his/her kids to be hungry.

[sv2007]

Sv2007, you told us elsewhere that you make a very good living coming up with solutions that are not solutions. Is that what you are doing here? Is that why you think maybe you should run for office?

Just "hop along" to the grocery store with friends. Just don't "do the divorce divorce" if you have kids.

Oh, one more thing, the "run for office" is a joke, which you seem to have missed too.

But, yes, friends do count on each other. Esp for people with less resources, I'd think they'd count on each other more to pool their resources.

I'm not sure where you are getting that I'm making a "very good living". I don't think I cared enough to bring up what I make or don't make. Money is not all that important to me; it is how a person live and seek out achievement that makes a difference for me.

I was going thru my son's certificates, and I asked him if I should save a certificate from his basketball camp. His answer was "No, I don't like that certificate because it was easily earned. You just need to pass the class." I was impressed, and I think we can all learn a thing or two here.

[FLA]

To be hungry in the US without a good amount of disability is (on the face of it) very difficult unless the person wants to be hungry or wants his/her kids to be hungry.

this is the stupidest sentence yet besides comparing a college kid living on little for a temporary time period to a family with generations of poverty living in the ghetto with no access to hop into friends' cars because their friends are in the same situation.

I don't think you really want answers to your questions. I recommend you read Nickel and Dimed, a book on what it is really like to live on minimum wage. Quite eye opening.

[Outdoorsygal]

I wanted to add a few things...

falaffels were so simple! Just add water to the mix and let it sit 30 min or so. http://www.vitacost.com/casbah-falafel-all-natural-mix And....well we'd NOT buy the organic whole wheat Pita Bread just because it affected the taste but it is available. We used organic yogurt or hane mayo inside then added cheese, lettuce and tomato. The Hane mayo is VERY Expensive so is half of the cost of this meal. Right now the cost is $7.25 a jar so yogurt is probably a better alternative.

https://www.google.com/search?q=hanes+mayo&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjPoZek8YzQAhUHLyYKHbU7CHkQ_AUICSgC&biw=1440&bih=771#imgrc=TlmvGI4yb7kByM%3A

I wanted to add that the split pea soup, aside from 1 cup of organic carrots, 1 cup organic onions, along with the dry split peas, also has a cup of organic celery (chopped). A grass fed, pasture raised pig provides the small ham-hock for flavor, a little sea salt and pepper, + the smallest container of sour cream.
We'd sometimes add organic brown rice to have a complete protein. Any oil used is generally extra virgin olive oil


We eat healthier now than these recipes above^^ even ....but as I said, if you want it to taste half way good, gotta throw in something not as good for you into the mix. But it is still organic, whole foods and pretty darn healthy.