Lean times make you fat?
By mommyboo
@mommyboo (13174)
United States
November 9, 2008 9:50am CST
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27426596/?GT1=43001
The link between poverty and obesity may seem counterintuitive, but health researchers say tight budgets lead to weight gain as consumers seek cheap-but-filling calories
Do you think this is true? I am on board with it to a point - because of the ban of new fast food restaurants in one county or area of low income in CA. Because THAT went through, and that particular county had a larger percentage of obesity, there must be something to it. I even see it in daily life as far as middle class. It just happens to be cheaper to buy food off the dollar menu instead of a salad. heck, the salads are what, almost 6, 7 bucks? I could literally feed 3 kids PLUS me off the dollar menu for 7 bucks.
I have never understood why you can buy ramen and mac and cheese for 20 cents but lettuce and tomatoes are now almost $2 and $3 respectively. Salmon? $6.99 a pound! Can't even get a loaf of bread for 79 cents any more, now it's about $1.29. I cut corners where I can too, although I do still buy a lot of fresh produce. I don't buy organic, that is hatefully expensive and the only way I figure someone can do that is they eat like a mouse or they only buy food for 2 people. I mean I buy my whole roasting chickens on sale for 69 or 79 cents a lb. Organic chickens are like six bucks or more a pop! I'm not paying six bucks for a chicken, sorry.
Anyway, are you caught in this trap? Do you have to sacrifice quality and wholesomeness of food these days in order to stretch your grocery dollars?
2 people like this
4 responses
@34momma (13882)
• United States
10 Nov 08
i so understand where they are coming from. when you don't have a lot of money to buy food you tend to buy the foods that are going to make you full longer. with that in mind you are buying things that are high in colories.
I am with you, i am so not going to pay $6 per lbs for chicken, but when i do get the cheaper chicken i am going to make sure i prepare it so that it is healthy for my family and i know they will be full. so you have to balance out what you buy with how you prepare it.
@ronaldinu (12422)
• Malta
9 Nov 08
I think that there might be a correlation between obesity and poverty. Poverty leads to bad education and less income. Less income means less money to buy vegetables and healthy food which most of the times is more expensive than junk food. © ronaldinu 2008
2 people like this
@mommyboo (13174)
• United States
13 Nov 08
I have never really understood why processed crap that is bad for you ends up being cheaper than healthy foods. Someone tell me why you can get burgers and fried chicken sandwiches full of fat and sodium and god knows what else for $1 but if you want to get a salad and fruit it costs 5 times as much. Are apple slices REALLY more expensive than french fries?? McDonald's sells the happy meals for around $4, and you can choose fries or apple slices and I think milk or juice or soda. However! If you decide to buy the apples SEPARATELY, they cost more than the fries SEPARATELY. I think the milk also costs more separately than a child size drink, ie soda. I suppose it's all a moot point if mom or dad has enough to just buy a happy meal, but if they have to purchase things separately, that 10-20 cent difference adds up.
Experience DOEs tell me that even if healthy and junk food were comparable in price, people who tend to live on junk food will still choose junk food. Little kids who are used to eating hot dogs, chicken nuggets, pop tarts, twinkies, mac and cheese and soda all the time will turn their nose up at good stuff. Fortunately kids who are used to a balance will eat everything, so it's really important to introduce kids to everything instead of giving them chicken nuggets for dinner every night.
@revellanotvanella (4033)
• United States
9 Nov 08
I so do. I am having to put aside my bias and its like Ive just begun my own food pantry because where before I would not even touch canned foods now I find myself stocking up on them. I have been doing ALOT of shopping around and thank goodness I have a Cooperative store right down the street. I am shopping around so I can still get Organic canned foods because Im seriously scared of any canned food with meat inside and often I do not buy tomatoe sauces with 'meat' in it because how could I ever know for sure where that meat came from? And at times its listed as modified food starch which isnt even meat but something made to taste like it. Prices are only going up and we really need to question the source of our foods and find reliable products now before they continue rising. But yea, I find myself snacking on bags of Doritos now to get a filled stomach because I only have enough money for the day to buy lunch for my kids (after rushing out of the house with lousy breakfast). And yea, I have worked in some really impoverished areas and they practically live on processed foods like chips and sodas--thank goodness there is Chinese stores because then they wouldnt get any vegetables in their diet if there were not.
For me I am running into the problem where the items I normally buy are being eliminated from the grocery store and they no longer sell them or the prices went up substantially. Like my butter, a tub of Smart Balance butter--the only butter I prefer--used to sell for 4.79 butter in just two years its now 6.99! I had to buy sticks of butter because I just couldn't imagine paying that much for butter. But you know this may be a reality already for many. Normally I can get my butter from the wholesaler from the Warehouse Store for $5 but our membership just ended the end of October and to renew is too expensive because we rarely use it anymore so it would not be worth it. But I am looking around and will be stocking up on butter very shortly. You know I just saved 20$ off my groceries with coupons!
@mommyboo (13174)
• United States
13 Nov 08
We recently had a Winco open closer to me, so I check the prices there for staple items and use the sale flyers in order to get things cheaper. I actually have a lot of canned and frozen things, canned items as staples can be stored for years.
I think the butter I get is that 'i can't believe it's not butter' and I can still get a large tub of that for about $4. I buy real butter too, but the spreadable tub is for anything it has to be spread on. I usually use the real butter only for cooking, baking, etc. Do you know anybody who still has a warehouse membership? I have told friends before that if theirs expires, they can come with me.
@ptrikha_2 (45458)
• India
13 Nov 08
Well; sometimes it pinches hard that great things like Fruits and Vegetables are available costlier than Cold Drinks or Biscuits .
