If people only had a clue

[NMMNG]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x3011238">"Poverty linked to obesity" articles and posts are cropping up everywhere. The cry goes out that the poor can't afford nutritious foods and that's what makes them fat and poorly nourished.

Funny, because I shop for my developmentally disabled clients every week and manage to get incredibly nutritious foods for them for amazingly low prices. Frozen vegetables (five servings per bag) for about $1. Dry beans/legumes (5-11 servings per bag) sell for $1-2. Throw them together in the slow cooker with some seasonings in the morning and when you come back in the afternoon you have a delicious, nutritious soup that hasn't been processed or filled with chemicals or additives. It's also not loaded with fat and excessive calories. Of course this is only one meal, but the veggies and beans can always be used as side dishes for plenty of other meals.

I can't help but think the issue linking poverty and obesity is not the lack of cheap nutritious foods, but the lack of education combined with poor choice making.

[CrispyQ]

1. You hit the nail on the head.

Lack of education is the root of many of our problems.

[yewberry]

2. There are other issues at work with poverty, too.

Please don't read this as a flame--this is a subject that really troubles me. You can eat well cheaply, but it's not always possible.

The first problem is access. I'm lucky that I have a grocery store within a half-hour walk--sometimes I just don't have a buck to ride the bus--it's not a great store and the prices are pretty high, but it's there. There are neighborhoods here in Seattle that don't have a grocery store, and those neighborhoods are not the wealthy ones. It's very hard to find good food at a mini-mart, never mind fresh produce.

And--guess what--there are several fast-food places between me and the grocery store. You can bet there are far fewer of those places in a "nice" neighborhood. They are betting that I'd rather walk five minutes to KFC than thirty to the grocery store. Lots of people choose the shorter walk and no time investment in preparing their food. After a long day at work, who wants to go to the trouble?

Next is the problem of basic necessities. I don't have a crockpot. Lots of people don't have cooking pans, or running water, or a pinch of cumin for flavor, or even a working knowledge of how to cook. It isn't much of a surprise that sometimes people feel forced to live on Kraft Easy Mac or the 69¢ beef-n-cheese burrito from Safeway.

I agree that it can be cheaper to eat a veg diet than a meat-based diet. Sometimes I wonder, though, if there isn't some kind of conspiracy going on with the fresh produce. It's kind of unbelievable. How can they charge $3.99 a pound for tomatoes (not any cheaper in the summer, either)? I was in the local co-op last week and they were charging $3.99 for a cucumber. A single cucumber.
The food that is cheap (the same food that gets distributed in our local food banks) is nearly always nutritionally poor. Pasta, potatoes, store-brand soup, white rice--bulky foods that fill you up but aren't exactly health food. Food is very expensive here--I can't get the supplies to make a pb&j for under ten bucks. I could get a cheap burger, fries & soda for three.

I don't know--I didn't intend for this to be such a rant. You're right that education is a part of making better food choices. There are other problems with poverty and nutrition, too. It can take a lot of effort sometimes to eat well as a poor person.

[CrispyQ]

3. CNN actually did a segment on the issue of no grocery stores in poor areas.

I don't recall what city they were in, but it was a poor area of the city & had all the fast food places, KFC, Taco Bell, Burger King & McD's. There was a mini-mart type store with a grocery section that consisted of treat food like chips & cookies, canned soup, boxed dinners, a few canned veggies, but no frozen or fresh veggies. The nearest real grocery store was about 2 miles away. That's a long walk for many people & especally a long walk back with a load of groceries.

[LeftyMom]

4. The local weekly did a story a few years back about lack of fresh produce in poor neighborhoods

Most of the small markets that served those areas would only get fresh produce in, if they did at all, at the first of the month to serve food stamp purchasers. For the rest of the month you'd either have to put up with overpriced, dodgy veggies or get a ride to someplace with a real grocery.

There was a drive to get that neighborhood a farmer's market, but I don't know if that ever happened. Still, even in working class areas, the grocery stores are often full of really questionable convenience food, which if you don't have time to cook or the energy to argue with your kids about what's for dinner, can be very tempting.

[NMMNG]

5. Yet another checkmark in my

"Reasons not to move to a city" list. x(

[LaurenG]

6. It is lack of education, I can personally attest to it

I actually gained weight when I went vegan last February. I felt like I was hungry all the time and wanted to "be sure" I got enough nutrition/protein too, lol. I have been slowly educating myself and finding that I do well if I eat lots veggies (not starch or nuts or juck food). My subconscious mind still thinks I need to eat too much to make up for the lack of "protein"<--thats a hard brainwashing to get over for me.

[NMMNG]

7. I know from my own experience that education is a significant factor

I was thin until I was six, which was when we moved to live near my maternal grandparents. After my mom divorced my step-father my grandmother babysat me and my sisters a great deal and we also slept over at her house many weekends. My grandmother thought that it was a good thing for me and my sisters to scarf down two or even three helpings of food at a meal, and she essentially raised us on junk food and soda. As I became a teenager my lunches at school consisted of ice creams and milkshakes purchased at the snack bar and dinners were often things like chicken nuggets, frozen pizzas (as in entire frozen pizzas) or McDonalds. Often the closest I came to eating a vegetable is if it came in a TV dinner I was microwaving or the pickles and onions on my burgers.

As an adult I carried these habits for the most part. In particularly lean times I turned to Ramen noodles, boxed Mac & Cheese and hot dogs for sustenance. In times where I had more money I feasted on take out and pricier grocery store junk food. It wasn't until more recently that I became better educated and learned the merits of vegetarianism, not only the health benefits but the cost benefits.