Okay, so what am I doing about the fact that buying anything in the produce section costs a lot? The dollars per calories basically makes no sense if I’m on an extreme budget.
I can buy a pack of strawberries that will last the family a day or two for $5+ and has a total of 200 calories in the entire package and we go hungry, or I can buy something processed that’s calorie dense.
Or I can buy something calorie dense and cheap like rice and beans that takes a lot of time to prep and make, which I don’t have because I work two part time jobs to pay rent - my main way to stay afloat is working long hours and overtime.
Meanwhile all the media that is presented to me tells me not to buy whole foods but to buy packaged products that are a lot more fun and tasty instead. It’s not like I am out here paying for the ad-free Netflix tier. My school and family never taught me how to cook because my school was a low income public school in a segregated society, and my parents also worked multiple jobs to make ends meet and didn’t spend a lot of time at home as a result.
A lot of 9 to 5 corporate employees really don’t understand what it’s like to be poor.
I will tell you what I did in that situation. I ate the cheap, processed, calorie dense foods, until such time as I could move to a major metropolitan area with better economic opportunities.
Moving to that area (Northern Virginia) was my focus. I did it through sheer willpower and determination.
I had to essentially abandon family and friends to do it however. But I gave myself a better life outcome.
I can buy a pack of strawberries that will last the family a day or two for $5+ and has a total of 200 calories in the entire package and we go hungry, or I can buy something processed that’s calorie dense.
Or I can buy something calorie dense and cheap like rice and beans that takes a lot of time to prep and make, which I don’t have because I work two part time jobs to pay rent - my main way to stay afloat is working long hours and overtime.
Meanwhile all the media that is presented to me tells me not to buy whole foods but to buy packaged products that are a lot more fun and tasty instead. It’s not like I am out here paying for the ad-free Netflix tier. My school and family never taught me how to cook because my school was a low income public school in a segregated society, and my parents also worked multiple jobs to make ends meet and didn’t spend a lot of time at home as a result.
A lot of 9 to 5 corporate employees really don’t understand what it’s like to be poor.