People are fat because they're poor

[LuxLiving]

No frugalfish not off topic- I run into FAT & SKINNY people I know all the time at the grocery who are on food stamps. I look at their baskets and compare them to mine. It downright peeves me to no end, because of trying to live below our means I have a scant amount of those little generic yellow boxes and bags way in the near empty cavernous bottom of our basket and they're throwing snackpack puddings on top steaks and name brand chips and colas, etc. which is threatening to topple out the top of their carts.

You know you are a real frugalista when you even buy generic rice and brown beans! YES, we have the $$'s that we COULD buy those name brand products, yet, I can't say that I can AFFORD them. Not and PAY TAXES and buy health insurance coverage and life insurance and make sure that my house doesn't become a blight on the neighborhood, nor our cars fall to pieces on the roadway home and we won't be standing in line to receive a handout UNNECESSARILY nor asking for help to buy my grandkids school-clothes, etc.

If I did buy those things at the grocery I might be fatter or skinnier but I doubt that I'd be any richer! But, still, a snack-pack pudding for my kids ocassionally might have been nice.

[SnoopyCool]

I used to cashier at a grocery store (a few, actually) in my college days and I would get peeved, too, when the food stamp people came in and bought all their fabulous groceries. One time, a lady tried to purchase cat food with food stamps and when she found out that she couldn't, she turned around and bought cans of tuna for the cat.

Over time, I've realized there is no prize in that life what-so-ever. It doesn't make me mad anymore because I don't want any of that. I'll continue to be free and depend on myself and my husband for our needs and not the nanny government. Excluding those that may truly need that help, I don't want any association with those that abuse the system because they are deserving of what they perceive everyone else having without trying to work for it (again, I exclude those who have truly fallen on hard times).

[Thrif-t]

I've been reading a lot about High Fructose Corn Syrup and how it is in everything because its a cheap alternative to sugar for the food companies. And one of the bad things about it is it doesn't tell your brain that you are full so you keep eating. I'm on a mission to cut that out of our diets. So if people are eating all this crap food that has HFCS in it then maybe they can't help overeating if they never feel full and have cravings. Of course this is just one of the reasons studies are suggesting.

[BPASWA]

Bingo we have a winner...

trex

Explain all those skinny people Africa.

I think americans are getting fat because they sit at a computer and argue about why people are fat.

I have to agree with you on that.

[cicy33]

I think that people need to stop blaming everything else and take responsibility for themselves! I am not skinny, I am not hugely fat, but I am overweight and I am middle to lower class. I could whine and say that all the hours I work and all the extra work I do at home just does not leave me the energy to cook but that is crap and I know it. I just need to cook better more often, work out more and then I would lose weight! I know this but it is not easy. I hate beans so that is out for me, but my husband loves them so I make them for him. But I love grilled chicken and do eat a fair amount of it. and steamed veggies but I need to do better. There are so many reasons that people are fat. Everything from chemical imbalances to lack of desire to cost. And yes, contrary to some people's opinions eating better does cost more. How many healthy boring items can one person eat! I love fresh fruit, but a bag of apples is $5 here. and so are oranges. There are about 12 or so per bag. I have four step kids that live here on the weekends, guess how long that lasts! I cannot wait until my garden can go in. That will save so much.

[disneysteve]

contrary to some people's opinions eating better does cost more.

There is some truth to this but it isn't 100% accurate.

You can buy a pack of chicken breasts, store brand, bulk pack, on sale for whatever they cost. What happens when you get them home can make a big difference in how fattening the meal is. If you leave the skin on, batter them and deep fry them, that's one thing. If you remove the skin, season them and bake/broil/grill them, that's another. Either way, the chicken cost the same amount but the first way, it has way more fat and calories than the second way.

[Scanner]

DisneySteve,

I do forget we both live in the Garden State - and produce around here is relatively cheap. NJ, which has a bad reputation for so much, has some of the best produce - blueberries, strawberries, tomatoes, peaches, corn, everything really. I can often get two containers of blueberries for $3.00 when they are in season.

But. . .that being said. . .meat (other than luncheon) ain't cheap here. I remember when I lived in St. Louis, I could pick up a ham quarter for $5.00. . .used to make ham and cabbage a lot out there.

Minimum for a ham (other than a ham steak) is $12.00 here.

But yes, again. . .I totally disagree. Eating healthy doesn't have to break you. It's not more expensive. I really think it's a wash.

[disneysteve]

meat (other than luncheon) ain't cheap here.

I don't really know because we really don't buy meat in our house. We primarily eat a vegetarian diet.

[rob62521]

I'm going to have to agree (somewhat) with the original poster. I find eating healthy FAR more expensive than eating crap.

I think that while poverty is obviously not the SOLE cause of obesity, it is a contributing factor in our society where the cheapest foods are crap, and we have communities of people who are being raised on it and don't really know any different. Lack of education also goes along with poverty (frequently).

And I agree with you as well! Very few people I know actually fix things from scratch...they buy processed foods, go to restaurants, etc. They aren't lazy. And I truly resent the poster who said people who are fat are lazy. What a broad generalization. I'm overweight and I'm not lazy. I cook from scratch and fresh fruits and vegetables are a big part of my diet. And they are far more expensive than the cheap carbs.

[disneysteve]

Very few people I know actually fix things from scratch...they buy processed foods, go to restaurants, etc.

I cook from scratch and fresh fruits and vegetables are a big part of my diet. And they are far more expensive than the cheap carbs.

Not cooking from scratch is a huge problem. Restaurant food and processed foods are packed with calories, sugar, fat, corn syrup, etc. Home cooked foods are so much healthier.

As for cost, I think it balances out to some extent because the healthy stuff is so much more filling and satisfying that you don't have to eat nearly as much of it. I could (if I wanted to for some odd reason) sit down and eat a dozen donuts and still be hungry for a full meal. But give me a modest serving of some grilled veggies over whole grain pasta and I'm stuffed for the night.

[Caoineag]

Not cooking from scratch is a huge problem. Restaurant food and processed foods are packed with calories, sugar, fat, corn syrup, etc. Home cooked foods are so much healthier.

As for cost, I think it balances out to some extent because the healthy stuff is so much more filling and satisfying that you don't have to eat nearly as much of it. I could (if I wanted to for some odd reason) sit down and eat a dozen donuts and still be hungry for a full meal. But give me a modest serving of some grilled veggies over whole grain pasta and I'm stuffed for the night.

Hmmm..my body actually seems to recognize the caloric value of food. I have to eat a lot more healthy stuff to equal that one fried chicken sandwich I would eat from a restaurant. My DH's body however seems to ignore the caloric impact of beverages of any kind so he helps himself a lot by drinking water the majority of the time. I definitely think everyone's body is different.

That said, I have found that cooking from scratch (something no one in my family knew how to do by the way) does save money over buying processed food. Produce has become a lot cheaper for me by shopping at one particular store versus the most convenient one (think 75% less expensive). Access to education and resources I think is a huge contributing factor. But I knew lots of poor people who were skinny and lots that were morbidly obese.

I think there are a lot of factors that contribute to obesity but I do think malnourishment can be vastly improved with better education.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

If nobody cooks from scratch, who is buying all the raw ingredients at the stores? Every store sells them and I certainly see people buying them.

The Aldi's stores I go to ---one of which is in a extremely poor neighborhood, the other in a neighborhood with probably only $30,000/year household income-- are full of people, many of whom I would guess are poor and using foodstamps (which have been debit cards for years, now BTW), and who are buying raw ingredients. I see carts filled with flour, milk, eggs, rice, beans, pasta, potatoes, whole chickens, onions, bread, oranges, bananas, carrots, cabbages, broccoli, lettuce, peppers, apples, pears, kiwis, grapes, canned goods (does that qualify for raw ingredients?), pasta (qualify?), cheeses, yogurt. I see other things, too, including really bad stuff, but Aldi's sells tons of basics in these stores.

Foodstamps also can be used to buy seeds for food plants and Aldi's sells these in spring.

My poor neighbor has been asking me over and over to please drive her to the park where the police stables are to get some manure for her vegetable garden. (Haven't been able to work out the day & car use yet.) She eats very inexpensively and deliciously and grows enough to share with me. I give her things from my garden; she gives me things from hers. She does eat a lot of carbs, especially rice, lentils, carrots, and homemade bread, but I believe that is how she ate even before she was poor. Oh, she does use a lot of oil in some dishes, a liquid oil of some sort, not sure what. She eats a little meat, but not at every meal and usually only bits of it in a dish, I would say easily less than 2 ounces per serving, probably less. Yeah, she is fat, but not lazy at all, and I would say well nourished, just over-caloried. I don't think she knows anything about nutrition, but I think she does well anyway.

So enough of my pointing out that 1) not all poor people eat crap yet indulge in luxury foods with foodstamps, and 2) some people still do cook from scratch. "You" aren't the only one.

[Caoineag]

...So enough of my pointing out that 1) not all poor people eat crap yet indulge in luxury foods with foodstamps, and 2) some people still do cook from scratch. "You" aren't the only one.

I agree that most people on food stamps don't indulge in luxury foods but this is one of those topics that splits a room down the middle. I have been in rooms where the topic comes up and I assure you, it always turns into a feisty argument.

As to "You" not being the only one cooking from scratch, in my world, I knew and still know no one who cooked even most things from scratch (and my family was one of the poorer families aka working poor I know so that is a wide range of incomes that weren't cooking from scratch). That isn't saying no one in the US knows how but it does mean I had a lot to learn when I started cooking from scratch. I wish I knew someone else who cooked from scratch, I would love to raid their recipes.

Personally, I felt like an idiot the day I realized that one could make tortillas at home because it had never occurred to me that you could (it wouldn't and didn't occur to anyone else I knew either). I have had to reexamine a lot of foods to figure out what can and can not be made at home. My family when I was growing up bought tons of mixes for cornbread muffins, cakes, brownies, etc. We made food at home but nothing was ever really from scratch. We even bought batter mix because we didn't know how to make it. Frankly, I think the internet is heaven sent for allowing me to learn how to do all of these things.

[cicy33]

I personally could not cook from scratch. there are not enough hours in the day. I am not talking about eating healthy but like the above poster is talking. they actually cook from scratch. I know that when I say I cook from scratch I am actually talking about mixing mixes and putting ingredients together versus using a ready made box item of the whole meal. I have to agree there is probably not too many people who actually cook from scratch, as in make their own bread, tortillas, mixes etc from actual spices. I know there are people who make bread but I mean the people who never buy ready made bread. I would also think it is not the cheapest. When I go shopping to make cookies the seasonings, cinnamon, vanilla, almond extract, etc. they are not cheap. But I do however, have great sense of respect for ones that do it. By the time I get home from work I only have 4 hours till bedtime, I would like to do something other than cook.

[disneysteve]

Cooking "from scratch" definitely has a different meaning than it once did. If you ask, most people will consider a meal to be made from scratch if it involved opening a bag of frozen veggies, cooking them and serving them over boxed pasta that was boiled and then topping the whole thing with sauce from a jar.