Poor people are fat because they can't afford healthy food

[Jolly_Penguin]

LOL that cracked.com article is great. A lot of good points in there that I can see in my youth. I totally prefer canned vegetables and somewhat stale bread to fresh.

 

[barbos]

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/worlds-fattest-man-keith-martin-4751943
I think it's relevant

 

[barbos]

I think it should be against the law feeding people over 150kg.
You are over 150kg and want to eat? go get the food yourself.

 

[Derec]

Poor people can't afford healthy food because they spend all their money on overpriced sofas. *ducks*

Seriously, fresh food is not expensive compared to other things even poor people spend money on. I know certain areas are underserved when it comes to grocery stores but that is a function of demand - if there isn't enough demand for a grocery store, they don't get build or alternatively existing ones close because they cannot keep being profitable. Then there is misguided opposition by "community organizers" - good grocery stores increase property values, which attracts the "wrong crowd" - more affluent and more white - into a neighborhood which is somehow bad, mostly because it decreases the power and influence of said community organizers.

 

[Derec]

Cracked has part of the answer.

It's not just food deserts. It's also the purchasing patterns one must adopt when one is poor.

I call BS on the authors excuses. Can't afford gas to go grocery shopping more than once a month? As if a grocery run must always be a separate trip. It's not like he would not have driven past a grocery store or several on his way to work or other regular activities, which means opportunity to grocery shop with no extra spent on gas.
Then there is this:

For my ex-wife and I, it meant getting around $5,000 at the end of January. And just like many poor people, we'd be broke within days of cashing that check, our living room sporting a new TV. Or we'd replace our old computers and all of our furniture.

"Make it rain" is indeed a self-destructive attitude, but whose fault is it really?

 

[Nice Squirrel]

I call BS on the authors excuses. Can't afford gas to go grocery shopping more than once a month? As if a grocery run must always be a separate trip. It's not like he would not have driven past a grocery store or several on his way to work or other regular activities, which means opportunity to grocery shop with no extra spent on gas.

Did you read his explanations? This was the reality in my household growing up. We had to wait until dad got his paycheck form his federal government job (lab tech at the VA) before he could run to the grocery store. If it was an especially tight month, dad would cash a check at the liquor store and have the owner hold it a few days so he wouldn't bounce checks. Everyone in the neighborhood had to do this once in a while and the liquor store acted as a defacto interest-free payday loan operation. They didn't want the thousands in cash on hand to tempt armed robbers and in essence were valuable members of the community.

Then there is this:

For my ex-wife and I, it meant getting around $5,000 at the end of January. And just like many poor people, we'd be broke within days of cashing that check, our living room sporting a new TV. Or we'd replace our old computers and all of our furniture.

"Make it rain" is indeed a self-destructive attitude, but whose fault is it really?

Apparently you've lived a very privileged life. It is not a self destructive attitude. That money wouldn't be around for long anyway, might as well have a little luxury.

 

[Bronzeage]

Did you read his explanations? This was the reality in my household growing up. We had to wait until dad got his paycheck form his federal government job (lab tech at the VA) before he could run to the grocery store. If it was an especially tight month, dad would cash a check at the liquor store and have the owner hold it a few days so he wouldn't bounce checks. Everyone in the neighborhood had to do this once in a while and the liquor store acted as a defacto interest-free payday loan operation. They didn't want the thousands in cash on hand to tempt armed robbers and in essence were valuable members of the community.

This was years before someone realized how much money could be made in the "post dated check loan" business.

While we are criticizing the dietary habits of poor people, let's not forget how badly they handle what little money they have.

 

[barbos]

Maybe poor are fat not because they are poor but because they are dumb?
And that could explain why they are poor too?
Oh wait, they are dumb because they poor....

 

[Nice Squirrel]

This was years before someone realized how much money could be made in the "post dated check loan" business.

Exactly, and notice how they do it for *cough* the same *cough* reason: to be a service for the community.

 

[Metaphor]

I think it should be against the law feeding people over 150kg.
You are over 150kg and want to eat? go get the food yourself.

I know you can't really have been serious, but if you were, have you any idea how ludicrous it is to set a weight limit irrespective of gender and height?

 

[NobleSavage]

A liter of soda is about $1. A gallon of milk (3.78 liters) averages $3.67

I meant this as a comparison. Milk, a healthy alternative, is about the same price as soda.

I started this thread because I recently started eating healthy meals that I cook myself. I realized that I was saving money and it really didn't take that much time -- just a little planning. I don't do anything complex; it's all fairly simple.

Obesity amounts for 21% of healthcare spending. That makes it a serious problem. Like all problems I'm sure this is multifaceted, but I just don't see cost or convenience being the primary variables.

 

[Metaphor]

I meant this as a comparison. Milk, a healthy alternative, is about the same price as soda.

On what planet is milk a healthy anything? 100ml of milk contains 62 calories (and includes saturated fat). 100ml of Coca Cola contains 42 calories, and no fat. Milk might have a better GI profile (because in America, Coca-Cola's calories come mainly from high fructose corn syrup), but I can't see any sense in thinking milk should substitute for soda.

I recently have lost 45 kilos (that's 99 pounds for Americans today, and for the rest of the world in the 1950s). I didn't do 'diet' anything. You simply need to decide on a calorie limit and stick to it (mine was 1,200 a day, which is severely low for a 6'8" man, but the weight did come off quickly). It doesn't really matter if that calorie limit is reached by one meal of KFC or by kilos of no-dressing salads and raw vegetables. At least, it doesn't matter in terms of actual weight loss.

In fact, I've invented a secret 'Hollywood' diet. It involves one question.

i) Are you hungry?

If the answer is 'no', you ate too much.

I wish I could go back in time and knock the fork out of my hand.

(Goddamn I love KFC. I love it more than Gwyneth Paltrow loves her diet of kale and sadness).

 

[NobleSavage]

On what planet is milk a healthy anything? 100ml of milk contains 62 calories (and includes saturated fat). 100ml of Coca Cola contains 42 calories, and no fat. Milk might have a better GI profile (because in America, Coca-Cola's calories come mainly from high fructose corn syrup), but I can't see any sense in thinking milk should substitute for soda.

I get 1% milk. It's 46% carbs, 20% fat, and 30% protein. It's filling, soda isn't.

I recently have lost 45 kilos (that's 99 pounds for Americans today, and for the rest of the world in the 1950s). I didn't do 'diet' anything. You simply need to decide on a calorie limit and stick to it (mine was 1,200 a day, which is severely low for a 6'8" man, but the weight did come off quickly). It doesn't really matter if that calorie limit is reached by one meal of KFC or by kilos of no-dressing salads and raw vegetables. At least, it doesn't matter in terms of actual weight loss.

I find counting calories to be a pain in the ass.

In fact, I've invented a secret 'Hollywood' diet. It involves one question.

i) Are you hungry?

If the answer is 'no', you ate too much.

I wish I could go back in time and knock the fork out of my hand.

(Goddamn I love KFC. I love it more than Gwyneth Paltrow loves her diet of kale and sadness).

If it works for you, rock on. I'm almost never hungry and I've been losing weight. I focus on healthy foods that fill me up. Getting in shape and losing weight does take a little mental toughness, but if that is the totality of the plan most people are gonna fail and I bet they are much more likely to relapse as well.

The other part of this equation is to exercise. No need to get complicated here either -- go for a walk.

 

[credoconsolans]

The other part of this equation is to exercise. No need to get complicated here either -- go for a walk.

Where some poor people live, they have to dodge shady people and loose pitbulls when walking anywhere, let alone walking for exercise.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

For the record. I see a lot of fat poor people.

They tend to eat what is cheap which is high fat, high salt, starchy foods.

Low fat, white chicken breast is $6.98 a lb.

Cheap, full of antibiotics, ground fatty mystery beef is $2.98 a lb.

Guess which one gets bought?

What's a white chicken?

Anyway, in recent purchases I have found the chicken breasts for $3/lb--and the low quality ground beef at about the same price. Cheaper still is the whole chicken.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

Apparently you've lived a very privileged life. It is not a self destructive attitude. That money wouldn't be around for long anyway, might as well have a little luxury.

Calling it reasonable and not self destructive doesn't make it so.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

I think it should be against the law feeding people over 150kg.
You are over 150kg and want to eat? go get the food yourself.

I know you can't really have been serious, but if you were, have you any idea how ludicrous it is to set a weight limit irrespective of gender and height?

150kg is way too heavy no matter what your size or gender.

 

[NobleSavage]

The other part of this equation is to exercise. No need to get complicated here either -- go for a walk.

Where some poor people live, they have to dodge shady people and loose pitbulls when walking anywhere, let alone walking for exercise.

I'm aware of the realities of bad neighborhoods.

For the record. I see a lot of fat poor people.

They tend to eat what is cheap which is high fat, high salt, starchy foods.

Low fat, white chicken breast is $6.98 a lb.

Cheap, full of antibiotics, ground fatty mystery beef is $2.98 a lb.

Guess which one gets bought?

What's a white chicken?

Anyway, in recent purchases I have found the chicken breasts for $3/lb--and the low quality ground beef at about the same price. Cheaper still is the whole chicken.

I get chicken breasts at Cosco for $2.50/lb. Yeah, poor people don't shop at Cosco, but I just checked Walmart and it's $2.30/lb.

 

[TV and credit cards]

I wonder what it takes to get salmon down to the $5 price point? Granted, I'm sure I'm being taken advantage of paying $15 for the stuff that swims in water but Walmart sure is amazing.

Third world poor people keep fucking and having babies they cannot feed because fucking is fun and that and alcohol is all the fun they can afford. First world poor people have it made. By making about $350 a week they can afford not only fucking and alcohol but yummy food and cigarettes. I mean, you work your ass off going back and forth between two crappy jobs every day and when you finally get some time to eat, sleep, and kick back, what would you do? Go buy some fucking kale?
That's pretty much it.

 

[NobleSavage]

I wonder what it takes to get salmon down to the $5 price point? Granted, I'm sure I'm being taken advantage of paying $15 for the stuff that swims in water but Walmart sure is amazing.

I was thinking the same thing. I just checked the price and on the web and it's actually $3.97/lb for wild, skinned, filets.