Letters to the Editor
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Stupidity versus ignorance
If McArdle is allowed to post ignorant garbage for a living, perhaps I can be indulged in writing something factual for free.
Pop quiz: What are the biggest four expenses (each consuming about 25% of the budget) for families within 10% of the federal poverty limit?
Ready?
Here they are:
1) Housing
2) Transportation
3) Child care
4) Medical needs
Do you see food on there anywhere?
Oh, and this is not a racial issue. There are millions of families in real hardship, and they don't all live in the ghetto. I am sure McArdle believes poverty is a moral failing, but in many cases the culprit is a medical crisis involving the primary breadwinner or caregiver.
Ah, to be ignorant... it beats stupidity any day.
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Recent study about this:
I don't know where the full study is, but this study claims to refute the idea that poor kids are fatter because they eat crap. I haven't read it real closely, so I won't say if I agree or not, just presenting the link:
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gnWmic2fxW2ulbq5eB-nJfDAnusAD8UB6C0O0
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Food stamps and obesity.
I am a poor person, and I am not fat. I am, in fact, underweight...as are most of my poor rural neighbors. Fat is not even an option for us, as prepared foods are too costly.
Fresh fruits and vegetables, beans, rices, bulk grains, nuts and other wholesome foods are a lot cheaper than the packaged institutional crap that passes as food in America's grocery stores. Food stamps help many of us buy these healthy items rather than do without completely.
The presumption that people receiving food stamps are going to spend them on junk is just plain mean-spirited. More to the point, in areas such as where I live, (rural CA.,) it is just plain wrong.
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Regarding the cost of a healthy meal
Food cost for most fast food restaurant meals is miniscule - pennies, literally. The markup on any starch is huge -that's how they make their profits. Meats and fresh veges are more expensive, but they buy the lowest quality of those they can get away with, so they are still making money off beef and that insipid tomato on your burger.
Restaurants also have to pay for labor and equipment, not to mention stockholder dividends, so the food is not the highest cost for them. Basic foods are still reasonable in this country. Even paying retail at the grocery store you can buy beef, bread, lettuce, tomatoes and potatoes for fries far cheaper per meal than Mickey D's.
When you are getting fast food meals for 99 cents, you should worry - it's likely you are eating meats stuffed with soy protein and surplus grains and the cheapest, pesticide laden, irradiated starch and veges.
It is still possible to eat at home for pennies per home-cooked meal, but the time, skills and incentives for doing that are disappearing. When the grocery stores are filled with tempting processed microwaveable meals, when the airwaves are filled with ads for the newest franken-food that the corporate food industry creates, when Taco Bell shoves oil-laden cheeses and mystery meats into our children's faces, how many busy people can put on their blinders and just buy the basics?
Few indeed. We are all good consumers, buying up what the corporations give us to buy. The push for healthy eating is co-opted immediately by the market and turned into more processed foods, filled with additives, that have HEALTH in the name. Yes, they CAN fool all of the people, all of the time.
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Food stamps = obesity is their stupidest argument yet
Any nutritionist will tell you that eating junk is cheaper than eating healthy foods. You can make a cheap, filling meal with high-fat hamburger and hamburger helper for about $5 for the family. Making a meal with fresh vegetables and lean meat will set you back a lot more. The cheapest generic cereals can be had for pennies per serving. Real whole grain (not the stuff marketed as "contains whole grains") will set you back more. Margarine is cheaper than butter (trans-fats, anyone?). Bulk white rice is cheaper than brown (and easier), and both are cheaper than healthier grains.
If we want to cut back on obesity, we need to increase the amount of money available for food stamps and then only allow them to be used for healthy foods. Anybody who wants Ho-Ho's can use their own money, but fresh vegetables, milk, skinless chicken breasts and pork tenderloin should be discounted.
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well...
the wic program already offers an alternative to food stamps that encourages nutrition, albeit with an outdated approach. of course, if you've ever been stuck behind someone with a wic check at the grocery store, you'll know what a horrible idea that is!
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I've been challenged
To find a comparable to better meal at a grocery store to the cheapest crap put out by the fast food giants. I'm not at the store right this moment, so the prices are from memory, but they should be approximately right:
99c chili - This one's easy. Make some chili. It freezes well, so while you'll have to spend about $8-$10 that day, you'll have a dozen servings, making your per serving cost about 15%-30% less. If you're serving a family, the savings are realised quite quickly, for an individual...maybe you can justify that 30c per day.
$4.86 big mac, fries and coke - If all you want is burgers, I'll make up 4 of them for that price. We can do fries if you've already got some cooking oil. Alternatively, you could have a steak diner.
steak (cheap cut, nothing fancy) - $1.50
Potato - $0.35
salad - $1
water - $(too small to calculate) Drop the empty calories of the coke.
Enjoy your steak and 40% savings.
Again, as is often the case with grocery stores you have to plan a bit, buying in larger quantities to save over the course of the month. Buy the 10lb bag of potatoes for 5 bucks. Some cuts of steak are quite cheap, I typically buy inside round for 8.99/kilo ($4.07/pound), or $1.50 for a 6oz, but usually have to get 2 or 3 steaks at once. This is great, as it provides lunch for the following day as well.
Anyway, I just get sick and tired of people repeating the mindless mantra that fast food is cheap. It's not. I eat very well, and pay an average of $4.17 per serving*, from the grocery store. If my budget was tighter, I could easily cut back significantly on that and still be eating healthy, if possibly a bit bland.
*this average calculated based on my monthly grocery budget divided by 2 meals per day. I do eat breakfast, but figure the cost on that is so low as to make counting it cheating.