More than half of Ventura County is overweight/Obese (water, free)

[user_id]

Originally Posted by Maliblue

The best deal you can get for $6, in terms of filling you up so that you feel sated and not hungry two hours later, might be something like a Little Caesar's pizza. It is hot, and will fill your belly. It has one of the highest calories-to-price ratios of anything you can buy.

The idea that people in poverty are making food choices by maximizing their calories per dollar is highly dubious. After all...that requires a level of understanding of nutrition many people don't have.

There are many ways someone can "fill up" cheaply on foods that aren't so bad for you. For example you can get a bean/cheese burrito for $1 at various places. The problem isn't costs per calories....its knowledge and addiction. Junk foods are addictive and the average person has a poor understanding of nutrition.

Also low income household aren't the biggest consumers of fast food and obesity is by no means isolated to lower income households. Fast food isn't that cheap.

[user_id]

Originally Posted by SOON2BNSURPRISE

44 ounce soda at circle K cost $0.89 I think, last time I checked. A water bottle at the same store cost over a $1.

You can get free water at any restaurant.

[patryuji]

Originally Posted by Maliblue

Honestly, I don't get why people can't wrap their hands around this.

You work 9-5 for minimum wage. You are exhausted. You have never learned how to cook, and would have a hard time working up the energy to cook if you knew how to.
...I consider myself a reasonably bright person, but I wouldn't know wtf to do with a turkey carcass. I do know how not to feel starved with only five bucks; you can fill yourself up with fatty food. I used to have a list of my head of how to fill my belly for under five bucks: Caesar's pizza, fast food value menus, 7-11 burritos, Hot Pockets, etc. I didn't think to myself "how am I going to make dinner from a turkey carcass?" and wouldn't have tried if I knew how to.

My way out of the trap was just to earn more money; I still can't cook, but at least I can buy healthier prepared food now. I was lucky; earning more money is not an option most people can take easily.

When I didn't work from home, when I wasn't making good money, I learned how to cook at home. It isn't rocket surgery or brain science. When I was poor I couldn't afford to eat out.

Eggs, Oatmeal, Fruit, Chicken on sale, Rice, beans, Veggies - fresh for the carrots, cucumbers, onions and frozen for things like broccoli, peas, brussel sprouts.

You don't have to be a Master Chef contestant with an entire turkey to roast. Basic eats are easy to make and youtube now teaches you everything you need to know about cooking (library for internet, or share with a neighbor).

9-5 isn't exhausting. When I worked for minimum wage, I worked 60hrs+ per week trying to get every overtime hour I was offered (working in a meat packing plant with boxes of frozen meat from 20lbs to 60lbs moving several tons per day by hand in addition to some breaks from the labor where I was driving the forklift). Sadly, now that I make far more than minimum wage I still work nearly as many hours, but I still find time to cook 90% of my meals even though I could easily afford to eat out 3 times a day 365 days a year.

[wac_432]

A dozen eggs are $0.69
A pound of strawberries is $0.79
Skim milk is under $2, whole milk is over $3.
Broccoli, asparagus, cauliflower, peppers, corn, and seasonally even green beans and Brussels sprouts are under $1/lb.

Eating healthy from ALDI or the 99C only store is dirt cheap. The hispanic markets are cheap too, but I notice they barely carry veggies. Lots of marinated meats, though. Plus beans, rice, and cheese. Oxnard isn't a food desert or too expensive. That might be true in Manhattan, but not in the middle of a farming community.

[nightlysparrow]

It's only dirt cheap if you don't care about toxic chemicals. Just because there are farms around doesn't mean buying organic isn't important. Some of the growers in Oxnard have been sued for overspraying their crops.

Strawberries are the #1 worst, oversprayed to tastelessness. Buy some organic ones from Costco and you'll be amazed at the difference. Strawberries, along with bell peppers, hot peppers, spinach, nectarines, apples, peaches, pears, cherries, grapes, celery, tomatoes and potatoes are on the "Dirty Dozen" list of the most pesticide-laden produce items.

https://www.ewg.org/foodnews/dirty_d...p#.WZ90LRS0A64

And eggs are not that healthy unless you discard the yolks. Whole fat milk is definitely not at all healthy. Neither is fatty cheese.

Costco and even Wal-Mart sell organic produce. But there are organic growers around: McGrath Family Farms, Deardorff Family Farms, and Boskovich Farms.

[SOON2BNSURPRISE]

Originally Posted by user_id

You can get free water at any restaurant.

When is the last time you saw a poor person eating at the kind of restaurant that serves water for free? Although they may be able to get a free small cup at a fast food place I have seen plenty of poor people and they are huge. Most of them that I have seen have these large cups full of sugary drinks. I am betting some kind of soda.

When my wife and I go out we always order a glass of water and some lemon wedges. At Yard House they bring us a small bowl with lemon wedges. My son works there though so maybe that is him telling them that we love the water with a little bit of lemon.

[user_id]

Originally Posted by nightlysparrow

It's only dirt cheap if you don't care about toxic chemicals. Just because there are farms around doesn't mean buying organic isn't important. Some of the growers in Oxnard have been sued for overspraying their crops.

Organic farms use pesticides as well....just organic approved ones. It is often the non-organic pesticides that are better studied due to wider use. There is currently no evidence that eating organic produce has any long-term benefits and there isn't a single medical or scientific group that claims you need to eat organic to be healthy.

Originally Posted by nightlysparrow

And eggs are not that healthy unless you discard the yolks. Whole fat milk is definitely not at all healthy. Neither is fatty cheese.

Eggs can be party of a healthy diet and reduced fat milk and cheese are roughly the same price as the full-fat versions.

[user_id]

Originally Posted by SOON2BNSURPRISE

When is the last time you saw a poor person eating at the kind of restaurant that serves water for free? Although they may be able to get a free small cup at a fast food place I have seen plenty of poor people and they are huge. Most of them that I have seen have these large cups full of sugary drinks. I am betting some kind of soda.

You were trying to make it seem like soda was cheaper than water but every restaurant has to provide free water. Bottled water is a luxury.

[SOON2BNSURPRISE]

Originally Posted by user_id

You were trying to make it seem like soda was cheaper than water but every restaurant has to provide free water. Bottled water is a luxury.

Soda is a luxury as well. People don't have to buy a soda. They do it because it is cheap and taste good. They do it because they are conditioned to do it. They crave lots of sugar and soda offers plenty of sugar. When you go to a fast food place, which is the kind of place you will more than likely find a poor person eating, the water they give you for free comes in a small cup. If you want a large portion of water chances are you would buy the bottled water.

When I have been out to eat I have not seen too many poor people choosing water of any type, free or otherwise. My first mention of water had to do with the local Circle K. They advertise a 44 ounce fountain drink for $0.89 and a 20 once water bottle cost $1.69 at the same place.

On those times that I have been in a McDonalds the people that appear to be poor were not drinking water. Then again McDonalds offers any size drink for a $1. You can bet that they took the large. My kids like McDonalds. Every so often we will stop by. My son always has the same thing, including a small Hi-C. One day the guy at the counter gave us a large cup for the Hi-C. I told him I wanted a small. He told me that they all cost the same. I told him that my son won't drink a large. He never wants anything bigger than the small. people are conditioned to eat and drink the large size for everything.

[user_id]

Originally Posted by SOON2BNSURPRISE

When you go to a fast food place, which is the kind of place you will more than likely find a poor person eating, the water they give you for free comes in a small cup. If you want a large portion of water chances are you would buy the bottled water.

The middle-class are the biggest consumers of fast food and most places will give you a larger to go cup for water....I get them all the time. And if you're eating in then the small cup doesn't matter.

Originally Posted by SOON2BNSURPRISE

When I have been out to eat I have not seen too many poor people choosing water of any type, free or otherwise. My first mention of water had to do with the local Circle K. They advertise a 44 ounce fountain drink for $0.89 and a 20 once water bottle cost $1.69 at the same place.

Well, yes, they aren't going to advertise for free water but you can get it.

Originally Posted by SOON2BNSURPRISE

On those times that I have been in a McDonalds the people that appear to be poor were not drinking water. Then again McDonalds offers any size drink for a $1.

There is no way to determine how much someone has just by looking at them....I'm pretty sure I "appear to be poor" on most days.


In any case...there is no financial incentive to consume soda over water. You can get free water at any restaurant.