this post was submitted on 20 Sep 2023
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[–] 01189998819991197253@infosec.pub 129 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Eating like that, no, you can't live like this. At least, not for long.

[–] bookmeat@lemm.ee 16 points 1 year ago

That's not food.

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[–] tdawg@lemmy.world 91 points 1 year ago (3 children)

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

[–] c0mbatbag3l@lemmy.world 56 points 1 year ago (3 children)

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.

[–] chatokun@lemmy.dbzer0.com 23 points 1 year ago (1 children)

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.

[–] c0mbatbag3l@lemmy.world 13 points 1 year ago (3 children)

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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[–] themeatbridge@lemmy.world 23 points 1 year ago (2 children)

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.

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[–] Phoenix3875@lemmy.world 15 points 1 year ago (1 children)

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.

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[–] NatakuNox@lemmy.world 85 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (13 children)

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.

https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/food-security-in-the-u-s/key-statistics-graphics/

https://www.chn.org/voices/food-insecurity-is-already-a-huge-problem-for-the-u-s-in-2023-it-may-get-worse/

https://www.feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america/food-insecurity#:~:text=A%20definition%20of%20food%20insecurity&text=More%20than%2034%20million%20people,insecurity%20in%20the%20United%20States.

[–] curiousaur@reddthat.com 70 points 1 year ago (6 children)

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.

[–] MuhammadJesusGaySex@lemmy.world 52 points 1 year ago (23 children)

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.

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[–] Yondoza@sh.itjust.works 20 points 1 year ago (5 children)

Rice and beans, baby! It's a world wide staple for a reason.

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[–] Neato@kbin.social 34 points 1 year ago (6 children)

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.

[–] _Sc00ter@lemmy.ml 38 points 1 year ago (11 children)

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.

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[–] WoodenBleachers@lemmy.basedcount.com 27 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

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.

[–] NatakuNox@lemmy.world 17 points 1 year ago (2 children)

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.

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[–] Makeshift@sh.itjust.works 22 points 1 year ago

… 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.

[–] Mercival@lemm.ee 14 points 1 year ago (5 children)

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.

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[–] photonic_sorcerer@lemmy.dbzer0.com 63 points 1 year ago (1 children)

All that produce fresh from the factory!

[–] Dmian@lemmy.world 25 points 1 year ago (2 children)

You see more green plants in the desert

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[–] crispy_kilt@feddit.de 41 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

Have you tried buying food instead of whatever the fuck this garbage is?

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[–] Plibbert@lemmy.ml 32 points 1 year ago

Average moderator shopping cart.

[–] sentient_loom@sh.itjust.works 31 points 1 year ago (1 children)

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

[–] aaaaaaadjsf@hexbear.net 30 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I don't see any food in that shopping trolley. Most of that is snacks and microwave meals.

[–] FrogFractions@hexbear.net 19 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Don’t be smug about it though. Cooking might seem like an innate ability if you were raised with it but intergenerational poverty is associated with a lack of education about things like this and also a lack of access to quality food.

If you’re time poor from working shifts or multiple jobs

If due to social class or race or intergenerational poverty you lacked an education about food

If contemporary race and social class segregation means you live in a “food desert” that simply doesn’t sell fresh produce

Have empathy. Obviously this person is suffering and needs help.

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[–] jpreston2005@lemmy.world 28 points 1 year ago (1 children)
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[–] Assian_Candor@hexbear.net 25 points 1 year ago (7 children)

I know a lot of folks in this thread are taking the piss but imagine you are a single mother on a limited / min wage income working 2 jobs and a kid or two to feed. You need food that doesn’t spoil and that you are certain your kids will eat (can’t afford to waste it) and that doesn’t require much if any time to prepare (you don’t have time). This is how you get shopping carts like this.

People posting the Russian borscht or whatever don’t get it, there are people out there that simply can’t spend an hour or whatever cooking.

[–] usernamesaredifficul@hexbear.net 14 points 1 year ago (11 children)

I mean I get it but when I was a kid it was "shut up and eat what's put in front of you"

[–] Assian_Candor@hexbear.net 17 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (8 children)

Maybe you don’t want to spend the 20 mins you have with your kid that isn’t getting them ready for bed fighting about broccoli or whatever. My point is free/extremely cheap, easy access to healthy prepared foods is the solution to shopping carts like this not shaming people for their food selections. Hardly anybody over the age of 7 would intentionally choose to eat like this.

[–] Adkml@hexbear.net 15 points 1 year ago (10 children)

Letting your kid eat junk food because you don't want to be the bad guy and make them eat vegetables is really shitty parenting.

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[–] Astroturfed@lemmy.world 25 points 1 year ago (1 children)

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.

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[–] Apolonio@hexbear.net 25 points 1 year ago

Other than the points already discussed about food deserts and the differing prices of such food between The global north and south, I think we must also consider addiction. Food industry calculates and produces such ultraprocessed foods with the sole goal of hijacking your brain as efficiently as possible, so un processed foods starts looking and tasting bland in comparison and suddenly you are getting cravings.

[–] dustyData@lemmy.world 25 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

I would bet most of the weight in that cart is sugar, salt and plastic.

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[–] Melonius@hexbear.net 24 points 1 year ago

Just buy the corn syrup and iodized salt direct from the manufacturer and skip all these middle men.

[–] Floey@lemm.ee 24 points 1 year ago (5 children)

Americans are scared to touch a bean.

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[–] Dirk@lemmy.ml 22 points 1 year ago (10 children)

Could be twice the amount when getting store brands instead of luxury brands.

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[–] TheEgoBot@lemmygrad.ml 21 points 1 year ago (5 children)

Hey go fuck yourself for trying to straw man the legitimate issue of poverty and food insecurity in America with some bullshit

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[–] const_void@lemmy.ml 17 points 1 year ago (1 children)

And that's exactly where the billionaires and ruling class want you.

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[–] FReddit@lemmy.world 16 points 1 year ago (11 children)

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.

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[–] BilboBargains@lemmy.world 14 points 1 year ago

Diabeetus be like: Don't worry, it won't be long to wait.

[–] redlightdistrict@beehaw.org 13 points 1 year ago (1 children)
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