Eating like that, no, you can’t live like this. At least, not for long.
That’s not food.
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If anyone is actually on the struggle bus don’t get ramen. Get rice. Buy the biggest fucking bag of rice from the local Asian store you can find. You can make enough rice to last multiple days in one sitting and the bag will last you several months to a year depending on if you have family or not
If you can spring for it buy some high protein beans or lentils or some other legume and mix them, almost every society on the planet no matter the geography invented rice and beans because it’s so damn easy to store for long periods of time and will get you the protein and calories you need to survive.
Is it fun? No. But it will get you fed and it’s an excellent base to throw in other things to spice it up. Get a little extra money and can afford a bit of meat and veggies? Sauteed them up and you get a full blown meal with a side dish and a porkchop/fish filet/chicken breast with your rice.
Wait, rice and beans isn’t fun? It requires some extra seasonings but Carrib style rice and peas are my jam. Though it does have a Lotta aromatics.
Well… personally I think rice and beans can be delicious but it’s not most people’s idea of comfort food I suppose. At least where I’m from.
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Lentilles-saucisse is a French staple and I’d definitely consider it comfort food. Lentils, sausages, with some carrots and little bacon bits (lardons) cooked into the lentils, heaven.
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Half way into it I was like… “yeah yeah yeah that’s our staple food! It’s very ni…”
“Is it fun? No.” Had me question everything in life thus far. 🤣
No I genuinely enjoy rice and beans, but I feel like people I know have really high expectations for food being good.
The price of rice is pretty high right now. It’s still a good value, especially in bulk, but it’s not as cheap as it used to be.
Only gonna get higher, so buy now.
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Make sure to put the rice in a freezer if you’re going to store it for a long time. This is important to prevent bugs, especially in hot and damp weather. If that’s not possible, sprinkle some dried chilis or peppers.
As in the cooked rice or the dry stuff?
Dry stuff probably. You have to do the same with flour.
People make fun of this. But if you are on a poverty budget, you have to buy cheap calorically rich food as you would starve on expensive healthy options. Not to mention, most poor people live in grocery food deserts where the closest food market is a dollar general that doesn’t carry fresh/healthy food.
Edit: Since people seem to think they’ve solved the food insecurity for 34 million Americans. I’ll continue to go with organization international and domestic that actually studied this.
No, you wouldn’t. The same amount of money going to dry beans and grains, some dairy and eggs, and some cheap protein goes much further. You’d even have enough left for fresh veggies and seasonings.
The intersection of poor and can’t cook is just depressingly shitty and too common.
So I live in the US. I have 2 friends that got scurvy in 2017. How did they get scurvy you might ask? Let me tell you. They live about 30 mins from the grocery store in a car. Which they don’t have. The closest person that can take them grocery shopping lives about 2 hours away. Plus they’re poor as shit.
To save money they spent 3 months eating nothing but homemade biscuits (scones for non Americans). The lack of vitamin c gave them scurvy.
They live on a fixed income. My state tightened requirements for food stamps. They were fucked.
I will say that the UN came to my state several years ago. They literally called it the 3rd world and said it was the most impoverished place in the developed world. So, there’s that.
West Virginia?
Username checks out
Granted they were headed to West Virginia next. So they may have changed their tune. Heh
Why do they live on fixed income? There’s not even semi-local charities willing to donate food?
I mean maybe, but how do you get involved with one? Also, they’d have to deliver.
I’ll admit I’ve done no research, but wouldn’t Meals on Wheels fit this perfectly?
That’s a good question. She is on disability, but he is her caregiver. So, I don’t know if that would feed both. I’ll ask them about that.
So that sucks, but I just don’t see it being entirely about poverty in this case. There’s not a single neighbor of theirs who they could ask “hey, next time you drive to Walmart let me ride with you”? They hit their diet to save money? There’s no churches around them doing food pantry days?
Scurvy… You can prevent scurvy by eating literally anything uncooked, including meat. You can get vitamin C from grass. Sounds to me like these people are wholly uninterested in understanding anything about nutrition and diet and don’t talk to their neighbors at all.
Did you just blame poor people for being unhealthy because they don’t want to eat grass?
Oh the indignity! I can hear it now. “Eating only things with a nutrition label on the box is a yuman right!”
I eat weeds. Wild weeds from the yard. For fun. They’re tasty. You should try it. Most of them are harmless and nutritious, shit, dandelions were an imported food crop from Europe. Double check what you’re eating first but they can be really good.
I didn’t blame them for not eating grass I said that you should know a thing or two about nutrition if you intend to, you know, survive. I don’t know about you, but if I was so poor I was living off of scones alone for 3 months, I’d be looking up wild food and learning about vitamin deficiency, and I’d be entirely willing to eat grass to prevent fucking scurvy.
You have a yard. Many people do not. People live in parts of the US that are deserts made of shitty buildings and huge roads.
Those places are called “cities.” And the people in question also have a yard, they’re renting a house in the country.
And I don’t have a yard actually, I just live somewhere that there’s living creatures outside aka not a city.
Yeah it’s kind of rural, but also people don’t talk around here. I don’t know any of my neighbors names, and I live in an apartment. Also, save money was really a polite way of saying pay bills or eat. Like, even now they don’t use heat in the winter which isn’t a big deal. But they don’t use a/c in the summer. Which here is incredibly dangerous. In the summer the temp regularly gets above 100F and the average humidity is around 75%.
Now things are better. His dad drives down once a month and takes them food shopping, and buys them stuff. But that still means most of the month is no fresh fruits, or vegetables, or milk.
The scurvy thing was just something that happened due to poor diet. Like, sure, looking back it’s easy to say “I’m getting scurvy. I better eat some vitamin C.” But the reality was they didn’t realize that they had scurvy until it was serious enough to have symptoms. After all who thinks about scurvy in 2017.
Why do they live like this? I understand you know, some people are just hard up, but eventually you try to sort it out right? Are they both disabled or something?
Yeah the scurvy thing is weird. It’s like how antivax people don’t think about measles and polio anymore and so don’t see the importance of vaccination.
So, that’s a complicated issue. She is like 60 and disabled. She has MS. He is like 34 and isn’t disabled, but is her husband and full time caregiver. They are married, and spend most of their time playing video games.
He met her playing on a game server I used to host a literal lifetime ago. They got married when he turned 18. Honestly the whole thing is kind of gross, and I don’t really like her much. But, he and I grew up in the same town and share some experiences, and are friends.
They got into a cheap house and have been living there. Recently she inherited some money and bought the trailer and land that he grew up on. They are in the process of moving into it. Which is closer to me.
I think their rent has been 850 a month and she gets like 1100 a month for disability. So that doesn’t leave much for bills.
Goodness. Yeah I hate to be callous, but that sounds less like just having it hard and more like a lifetime of terrible decision making. Whatever the case is I hope they make it happen with their land plans and are able to make their lives easier.
If you’re on certain types of disability you are limited in how much money you can actually have at any given time. “SSI beneficiaries are limited to only $2,000 in assets of any kind. For married couples or two-parent families with SSI beneficiary children, the limit is $3,000, which creates a marriage penalty because the couple limit is 25 percent less than the limit for two individuals.” Hence the fixed income.
I don’t see Oreos mentioned in any of those dummy.
Rice and beans, baby! It’s a world wide staple for a reason.
Yeah if it were that simple, world wide hunger would have been solved.
Some places just don’t have anything to eat. The person in the photo used their money foolishly. It’s not the same problem…
I tried chicken and rice for a few weeks as a diet and it was beyond miserable. Only thing that kept me on it was using sauces I shouldn’t have. Yes, cookies and sweets are a little more money than rice and beans but anyone who has been subjected to the latter can testify it’s akin to eating condensed sadness. High fructose corn syrup makes this garbage dirt cheap but that’s a whole other issue.
Try using spices and vegetables. When people say rice and beans they don’t mean literally only those two ingredients
The cart is all cookies and unnecessary shit like that. Comparing that and how eating the same food for a long time is “miserable” to places that are starving because they don’t have food is amazing. Peak America energy lol
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I’m not sure what you wanted to say with the first link, but
Households with children headed by a single woman (24.3 percent) or a single man (16.2 percent).
man that’s a big difference. I wonder what’s up with that, are single woman household much poorer or something?
What is wrong with you?
Until you realize that some people are soon poor, they may be lucky to have a microwave, let alone a stovetop/cooking pots, pans.
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Because that’s the same as the intersection of poor and “working more than one job, has no time to cook, and can’t afford lots of kitchen gadgets”
You clearly are one of those who don’t know how to cook if you think it takes forever and needs lots of gadgets.
A rice cooker. Everyone should have one. A pot, pan or wok.
Start the rice cooker before work. Come home to cold cooked rice, crack an egg chop some veg and have delicious nutritious fried rice in minutes. Cook enough for 4 meals and pack lunches.
Tortillas are another cheap nutritious item I forgot. Bean and egg tacos are cheap and delicious.
EatCheapAndHealthy was one of my favorite subreddits, we should get that going again here.
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Are you illiterate?
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None of those say that getting Oreos instead of beans and rice is the right choice when you’re in poverty.
Maybe if they post those links a few more times…
Also cooking takes time. I make dinner every night and even with previously prepped things it’s usually 20-30min every evening. If I worked 2 jobs (12-16hr) I wouldn’t have the time nor energy, either.
Now throw in a being a single parent!
I honestly don’t know how people do it. When my wife’s out of town for a week, nothing gets done beyond basic survival. I don’t have time to do any other chores, and I only work 1 job.
Child labour
I live alone and everything gets done. I cook meals that have 1/2 days of leftovers and leapfrog through them so I’m not eating the same thing all week. I grocery shop after work on Friday and clean house on weekends. It’s not that difficult to manage. I guess kids would throw some complications on that though but I do have working out and hobby stuff after work that could be swapped with child care time.
I never had more time than living alone. Having a spouse and 2 kids is mayhem.
The kids make the things you mentioned impossible. I’m up an hour before them to get the day going. Then it’s getting everyone together to get to work and daycare. Pick up kids from daycare after work, cook/have dinner, a little down time (like 30-60 minutes tops) which is spent with my kids, then it’s baths and bed time routine for both of them. At this point, it is somewhere between 8 and 9, depending on how bedtime went and you haven’t even cleaned up dinner or their lunch stuff. Now you can’t leave your kids alone in the house, so you can’t run any errands.
If you have practice or activities after daycare, push everything back another hour or 2.
It’s a lot to do, which is how I dont understand how single parents do it every single day. I can handle it for a week, but a lot of routine chores don’t happen. Things like a load of laundry goes in at 10p and I pass out and it sits wet until the next day.
What is your spouse doing during all this?
This was in reply to “when my wife’s out of town for a week.” And me talking about how i have no idea how single parents do it… So… not there. When she’s home, the duties are split and it’s manageable
I never had more time than living alone. Having a spouse and 2 kids is mayhem.
Sorry I got confused by this line.
I also live alone, and my kids are grown up and gone.
I came to feel that “It’s not worth it to cook for just one person” was a pretty lame excuse to eat frozen food and other garbage.
I’m trying to cook more stuff I can freeze or at least store for a few days.
Still pretty lazy though.
I believe in you. There’s lots of easy stuff you can make that’s good for you too. Just have to look up recipes. I’m gonna be staying with someone for a few weeks soon and I’m dreading it because they eat like shit.
It’s kind of hard right now, because food prices have gone up so much .
But you don’t have to poison yourself
Rice would be a choice, but I got type 2 diabetes a couple years ago after having pneumonia.
What’s really bad is bread, which is annoying because it is relatively cheap.
I don’t know much about diabetes diets so can’t speak to that but I haven’t really found junk food to be any cheaper than any other ingredients. Steak is more expensive but my grocery store usually has sales on particular cuts or older stuff you just need to use right away.
I do not have children but that is a dramatically out of touch perception of parenthood
Seriously, do one big dinner every Sunday and freeze enough portions for the rest of the week. Healthy, delicious, cheap and saves time on weekdays.
I’ve mentioned that a few times and people went “eugh, I don’t want to eat the same food two(!) days in a row”.
:/
If that’s a big issue you can always save some from last week and alternate.
Now that I work 12 hour shifts 5 days a week… I only cook on the weekends. I try to make a bigger meal that saves well though. Chili, etc. after that’s gone just easier things like sandwiches until the next weekend.
This week I’ve had my eyes opened to batch cooking. We were a bit skint (not poverty line skint) and working opposite shifts to each other, so for time and money we bought in ingredients for lasagne and chilli and made a massive batch of each on Sunday.
All week I’ve been taking the chilli to work and the family have been microwaving the batches when Wifey finishes work.
Cost me 50% of my usual food budget this week, and we still got in all the usual stuff for lunches with fruit and such.
Downside was Wifey overcooked the lasagne, so it can be a gamble I guess, but I will certainly be making a massive batch of Chilli in the future
This person has blown money not getting the store brand. Driving farther to get real food cannot be that much more expensive, but let’s say it’s even $4 more. You’d get your money back buying a pound of apples. As someone who didn’t grow up with means, I know a lot of people with carts like this and it’s mostly just a history of bad choices.
Food deserts are places more than 20 minutes away from a grocery store. So at least that’s a 40 minute round trip if you have a car. And spoiler alert, most people living in poverty don’t have reliable mods of travel. It’s a proven fact that processed foods provides more calories for less than fresh produce. Two oreo cookies is more calories than a apple and they keep longer. Are there some people that make poor eating habits simply because they can, absolutely! But that’s not what I’m talking about. Please don’t demonize people for the failings of our society.
Calories, yes. Actually making you feel full? No. Oreos burn far too fast to provide meaningful fuel for your body. Non reliable transportation I completely understand. I share a car. But if you have access to a car even sometimes you can make it work. If you can’t afford even oreos then I understand. A 40 min round trip is do-able. It sucks, but once a week it works. Now, a food desert is also defined as somewhere over 10 miles away. Let’s say it’s 15 for nice math, that’s still rare. If you take a car that gets an abysmal 20 miles to the gallon and you spend $4 a gallon on gas (also an awful price) it would cost $6.00 to go to the store. $6 a week can change things, but that’s also do-able. Apples will keep on the counter for a week for SURE. So even accounting for a terrible scenario you’re better off buying apples even if you only have access to a car once a week. I know this isn’t everyone, and some people straight up can’t afford even the gas to go to the store, but my mother nickel and dimed her way through my childhood and we were able to stay decently fed. Even a box of pasta is cheaper. Forget fruit. Just eat pasta. It’s certainly better than oreos and keeps just as long
You know what keeps even longer, is cheaper and healthier? Rice and beans.
mostly just a history of bad choices
What a weird way to spell “chronically overstressed”.
That’s too many letters you can just say lazy or stupid.
… rice, beans, and a $15 rice cooker?
I’m as lazy as they get in the kitchen. If I can’t throw it in a pot, walk away, and walk back to food then it’s too much effort.
Rice and beans is cheap, quick, and easy.
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That’s all part of the problem though, isn’t it?
I live in central Europe and veggies and fruit are one of the first things, you see when you enter a store. They’re also really affordable and you can get them in pretty much every corner store all over the town as well. There isn’t a place where basic fruit and veggies are more than 15 minutes walking/public transit distance from you within the city. Never had to drive to a grocery store in my life. Some places are even open at night.
Let’s not blame the people for eating like this, when that’s exactly what the system is set up for.
But it’s not though. Many people on Lemmy act like the US is some evil cabal trying to kill its citizens. No. The area is just big af. People went west and were mostly self-sufficient (with regards to food production before anyone starts getting angry). Now that people aren’t self-sufficient anymore, instead of moving closer they stay put, but there’s so few people that a business can’t sustain itself. I understand some people can’t afford to move, but some people are unwilling to
Used to be that small towns had general stores so you never had to go that far. Walmart killed them all. Pair that with a lack of walkable roads, and rural America is fucked.
So if Walmart killed them all, but they’re too far away from a lot of people, then presumably at least those people would’ve kept the general stores in business, no?
People just drive 15-30 minutes.
Those without reliable transport have few options. Its not uncommon to go grocery shopping once a month here in West Virginia.
Good luck keeping fruits and veggies around that long.
But it’s not though. Many people on Lemmy act like the US is some evil cabal trying to kill its citizens. No. The area is just big af. People went west and were mostly self-sufficient (with regards to food production before anyone starts getting angry). Now that people aren’t self-sufficient anymore, instead of moving closer they stay put, but there’s so few people that a business can’t sustain itself. I understand some people can’t afford to move, but some people are unwilling to
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Dude please don’t spam the same links a dozen times
On a poverty budget a plant based diet is healthier and vastly cheaper. A bag of rice and a bag of beans is cheap.
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I can get rice and beans at dollar general or literally any bodega in any city I have lived in.
I see you watched the Wendover Productions video.
Yes, but I lived it long before watching the video. Growing up my neighborhood was literally isolated for all the surrounding grocery stores. The poor side of town was on the west side of a major highway and all the grocery stores were on the east side. But strangly enough the west side has less on ramps to the highway and even fewer bridges to get to the other side. So you had to drive an extra 20 min just to cross from west to east. But east to west was literally 2 min. A lawsuit eventually got that “fixed” but it shows malicious intent by those in power.
I can’t believe that’s the best option, snacks and some weird pre made stuff
Dude I feed 3 people a month on $200 with no assistance. And we eat healthy. We splurge a little too.
It’s too expensive, sure. It should be half that. And some people live near a dollar store, I get that, they’re eating cat food and Vienna sausages. But this meme isn’t about those people. There are waaaay too many people complaining about the cost of groceries that won’t eat anything that doesn’t come out of a plastic package.
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Lol this is complete bullshit. What a clown.
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All that produce fresh from the factory!
You see more green plants in the desert
Cactus
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thatsthejoke.png
This is upbringing and education. If you grow up in a household that eats well and values food and cooking at home surely it’ll make a difference. I wouldn’t solely blame this on the individual. America sells junk food way too aggressively and way too much. I reckon there needs to be restrictions on that and even heavier taxes on junk food.
That’s 70% horse shit.
With everyone in the house being over worked and under paid, everyone is too exhausted to spend the time to actually cook.
To me that’s like saying everyone’s too exhausted to brush their teeth or have a shower. Simple cooking isn’t hard when it’s ingrained in your life. That comes from finding enjoyment in it and upbringing plays a big part in that.
Cooking for one sucks balls. I like cooking for a larger group but cooking for one is only worth it if you do a big batch and eat it for a while
I actually enjoy cooking for myself. I do always make a batch. I feel more relaxed and free to experiment knowing I won’t disappoint anyone if I make a mistake.
Then do batches!
Ok, so I wasn’t brought up that way. Well, I kinda was, but my mom made a lot of undesirable shit. I only recently learned that vegetables can actually be delicious. Still, it feels like a lot of work. I cook good meals as a treat. The rest is like oven/microwave crap from Trader Joe’s and cooking simple ass stuff.
Cooking simple ass stuff is still cooking and that’s a win. I love cooking one pot dishes. Everything in a rice cooker and press start. There are days I don’t feel like cooking for sure. I guess it’s about finding a style that doesn’t feel like a chore for everyday cooking. And go all out when you have the energy.
People are just making excuses for not doing for themselves, that’s all.
If you don’t know the basics you have a moral responsibility to learn the basics. It’s part of being an adult. But American culture discourages people from pursuing maturity and enables them to do dumb shit like live solely off of processed foods. And it’s able to do that because most Americans don’t want responsibility. They want their lives lived for them and corporations exploit that.
Upbringing, education and availability. There are towns in the US where the only grocery store within 20 miles is a Dollar General, creating food deserts.
Issa joke 🤦♂️
There’s ground beef there
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That’s for the Hamburger Helper
I should add that to my food repertoire 
Because $200 worth of real food would be about a quarter of that in America.
Have you tried buying food instead of whatever the fuck this garbage is?
That’s my thought as well. They NEED to buy the name brand items as well?
There are PLENTY of corners that can be cut, as well as buying items that can be made into larger meals (soups, pastas, etc.) that reheat well.
Whoever this person was needs to rethink their wants and needs, then shop accordingly to their budget.
It’s a joke.
If you’re on a budget this is such a horrible cart… not to mention so unhealthy. I guess most of it doesn’t go bad quickly at least… only positive.
That was the point of the picture …
My stomach hurts just looking at it.
You are weak and your bloodline is weak, instead of sugary sweet like God intended when he invented high fructose corn syrup
guys, this is a joke post
Yet it is still bringing out all the bots and trolls.
Average moderator shopping cart.
I would bet most of the weight in that cart is sugar, salt and plastic.
And corn
Plastic is way too light to hit the top 3, it’s probably water or some form of fat.
I would’ve guessed metal
Could be twice the amount when getting store brands instead of luxury brands.
While your point is well taken, luxury brands?
luxury brands?
When the product isn’t really that good but you pay a lot more just because there’s “Oreo’s” written on the product for example.
That’s normally called Name Brand, what you are referring to is store brand, which is usually cheaper.
Oreos are not a “luxury”.
They are if you eat them with your pinky up
They also aren’t a necessity.
Yes they are lol. What planet u live on?
There’s only 2 options luxury and staple.
Oreos sure AF aren’t a staple
Yes, cookies are not a staple, but oreos are not a “luxury” brand. Eating desserts may be a luxury, however.
Any brand name is luxury
Sure. But luxury and luxury brand are too different things. Like ice and ice cream.
If those were luxury brands the ramen would be shin black
Americans are scared to touch a bean.
I heard they bite
Beans and rice go a long way to help the food budget.
No love for potatoes??
Diabeetus be like: Don’t worry, it won’t be long to wait.
Over the last 10 years or so, some kinds of convenience foods have gone up a lot. Like some types of
“value meal” is over $10. That’s a bad scene if you have several people to feed.
You can beat that by cooking your own, but if you have been working a 12 hour shift that is a harsh scenario.
It just seems like people, and I’m referring to the U.S., getting food should not be such a press.
The big problem is convenience is being shoved down our throats.
10 Years back, what was there that was convenient? Bread and then stack something on it.
Now every brand is trying to shove “REALLY EASY AND FAST MEAL FOR WHEN YOU ONLY HAVE 20 SECONDS TO EAT” down yours.20 Years ago we just cooked and if it had to be quick we cooked something small.
So if you enter a grocrry store in the us two huge strong guys immediately grab you and force garbage down your throat? And the beat you until you buy some more garbage and if you so much as look into the direction of vegetables or legumes immediately shoot you?
Come the fuck on
People are freely choosing to buy this garbage
Are you also one of the brainlets that think that advertisements don’t work on you? Because i have a bridge to sell to you. If you truly don’t understand how this happens then you might not be informed enough on how advertisements and media campaigns change society. Do you want me to explain it to you?
Please, do!
Happy to. This is very US centric and not applicable to many other countries.
Back in the 70s the big bois of processed foods started advertising processed foods. Their marketing guys realised that convenience, in many cases, wins when it comes to perceptions. This is one reason why cornflakes took off. After they stopped advertising it as an anti masturbation food. They found that especially on sundays wives had to wake up way earlier to make food for their families before they all had to go to church. So they started advertising it towards women. Some adopted it because it just meant that they could now sleep longer or be less stressed on sundays. Eventually there was more stuff that was relatively quick. Cornflakes, canned beans, canned something. Premade things that you just had to warm up. And they all had something in common. They werent really nutritious and a bit expensive. But the convenience of them paid off. And if many people adopt something as the new normal it becomes normal. Now it was a normal thing to eat something quick in the morning, like cornflakes or premade sandwiches. Or the new cool thing that was even more convenient. But the things being advertised and slowly adopted were shit. Nutrition and price eventually succumbed to the promise of time savings. How much time does it take to eat rice and veggies in the morning? Lets say you made it all the day before. 10 minutes of plate > warm up> sit down > eat > clean up.But this isnt enough. You are used to 10 minutes already. Your boss now wants you to come in at 8. You wake up at 6 and you will be in traffic for an hour to 1 1/2. You have 30 minutes. Now 10 minutes isnt enough anymore. But now nestle has an idea. Just eat a poptart. Its got real fruit inside, tastes sweet and you just have to pop it in the toaster.
Boom, new normal. Ads are everywhere. And who are you to say no to saved time.
- But not just that. Ads are everywhere. But you are strong, you don’t watch tv.
- but the Stores have more aisles filled with poptarts than aisles filled with bread and real food. You have no way ro escape. And your health is not that important when you have work at 8 and if you come in at 810 you can lose your job because of at will employment. Also sugar.
And that’s how a whole country grows up on trash processed foods and nobody cooks anymore. Because the media, brands, your supermarkets and society tells you that a good breakfast consists of poptarts and a glass of orange juice. And dont even think of offbrands to save money! Theyre disgusting. Only eat poptarts!
Thank you for taking the time to explain, I appreciate it!
This is very different to where I live. Here our (literally communist /s) laws prevent something as ludicrous as at-will employment. Working hours and mandatory rest periods between them are regulated by laws. They cannot be circumvented by employment contracts, not even if the employee themselves wishes it. The law is the law. And I won’t even talk about a minimum of a month of mandatory paid holidays per year or six months of mandatory minimum paid maternity leave.
What people eat has gone to shit here a bit as well for two similar reasons: convenience and the change in gender roles. In the past women were forced to cook at home. Now they are - finally - a bit freer. The problem is that some men refuse to cook elaborate meals instead of the women, so easy meals it is. But easy meals for us means spaghetti with homemade tomato sauce, that can be cooked in 20 mins. Or some piece of meat with some easy to prepare vegtables on the side, like frozen broccoli. Or dump whatever vegetables into a broth, boom, soup, to be eaten with whole grain bread. I don’t think something like pop tarts would sell here. Even if they were they’d be considered candy, not a breakfast replacement.
I think a big difference is the quality of foods. A sandwich in the US might mean white toast 10% sugar by volume, made of bleached white wheat, with lots of 80% sugar by volume jam and maybe peanut butter (which is 5% sugar and 40% cheap oils instead of 100% peanuts). For us a sandwich might mean whole grain rye or spelt or wheat with various seeds, zero added sugar bread, with tomatoes, mozzarella, pesto, and cress inside. (And that is not something super special you’d only get in one specific out of the way store, but at a random train station take away.)
I somewhat agree but your time scale is way off.
At least in the US, it’s been exactly this way for at least the last 20-30 years. 20 years ago was 2003, if you showed me this photo and told me it was from the turn of the millennium I wouldn’t bat an eye. The 90s was crazy with all these fast brands and snacks. Everyone’s freezer was filled with totinos pizza rolls.
Arguably longer to be honest. I can’t remember a time where frozen microwave junk food didn’t dominate the grocery stores and TV advertising. I wouldn’t hesitate to believe an argument that it’s been like this since the early 70s but assume it happened sometime in the 80s when the stay-at-home housewife transitioned to the career-focused woman.
As an European student, my freezer is also filled with pizza rolls and other junk food. But that’s only because my fridge is filled with fresh produce and my cupboards have lots of dry ingredients. Cooking simple dishes from common ingredients is easy and quick once you got a couple of go-tos and the freezer is only for “guilty pleasure” snacks. That cart looks like my snack run. Many ads show “quick and easy” meals here too, but luckily I learned (in school) how to cook on my own, quickly and easily despite my schedule
I can’t speak for everyone but, in the US, I would imagine students especially cooking with fresh ingredients is pretty rare, especially guys. Personally I didn’t start doing that myself until I was married and really only because my wife enjoyed cooking. Since kids I can’t imagine being on the processed food train - most people I know didn’t start cooking at home when they had kids.
I’m a big proponent of the “cooking is way easier than you think” camp but you’d be surprised how little some people have in their pantry and cabinets. There’s folks that don’t even own a baking dish, anything more than a 12" frying pan is probably a big ask depending who you’re talking to. Spices? I knew kids in college that didn’t even own table salt and pepper shakers… if I said the word turmeric I’d get a funny look.
Many people are not that privileged. Adding onto that: Building up a spice rack and knowing what and how takes work. If youre already in the processed food trap learning how to cook not only takes time but also seems useless because you can spend just 1 dollar more and you save the time
My time perception is off and additionally i do not live in the US. The steady and very aggressive push towards highly processed foods that are “quick and easy” never really came to Europe.
But i have a lot of US Based Customers that i talk to a lot and in recent years the topic of time scarcity has almost gotten to be a daily occurrnce.
