The article depends on lots of embedded graphs and links that I'm too drained right now to reproduce, so go to the source:

URL: http://qz.com/251202/the-only-food-...them-unhealthy/

I have a FB friend who shopped and ate for a month, strictly what she could have purchased with the same amount of money she researched and found out would be her allotment if she went on food stamps. It was phenomenal what she was able to buy and cook. NO junk food or excessive carbs. Fresh produce and simple meat. I'll go back and copy it if y'all want to read it.

It's about more than just the cost of groceries. There's the time factor as well. Most minimum wage jobs involve manual labor and or retail work where you are on your feet up to 8 hours a day. Add to that the time to commute by bus or in a crappy old car that breaks down every other day. I can honestly see why poor people might find it pretty relaxing to go to McDonald's and let someone else cook for them while they catch up with their families.

I think it is a tragedy that nutritious food for all is not a priority in this country. We subsidize the Big Farm producers...why not subsidize the poor instead?

I'm amazed at how many people don't really know how to cook from scratch, and perhaps that's one reason they think it's so expensive to buy good food. They don't make spaghetti sauce, they buy it in a jar, stuff like that. I'm really grateful my mom taught me all about cooking, and I've never been one to buy ready-prepared foods. My mom brought us up to view convenience foods as a much lesser way of eating. Of course, she was nutrition aware from my youngest memories...she was an early reader of Adele Davis!

When I was in high school, we always had a home economics class in which girls learned cooking and sewing. Sometimes a boy or two would sign up as well, but this sort of thing probably hasn't been offered in high school for decades!

The other problem is that supermarkets in poorer areas often carry wilted veggies and grey meat that won't sell in the their other stores. People have to carry everything home by bus or walking, and since they are often living paycheck to paycheck, they cannot afford to buy lots of stuff on sale.

If the US government weren't subsidizing wheat, corn & soy, the crappiest foods would not be so cheap.

I was brought up exactly like you, most of our meals eaten at home. Eating out was a rare treat then. My mom didn't read Adele Davis, though, insteadshe cooked more traditionally. We always had a tin of bacon grease next to the stove to fry stuff in the seasoned cast iron skillet. She also loved to make just about any Julia Child recipe (only on weekends since she worked).

My sister-in-law never learned how to cook, and her kids never witnessed cooking in their home. Her kids were pretty much brought up on Happy Meals. My niece happened to marry a guy from an Italian/Argentian family and they (the entire family) cooked together as entertainment. Since she met him she's learned to cook and loves it. It can definitely be learned, but you have to have the time to do it. She's fortunate to be a stay-at-home mom, subsidized I believe by her parents.

Another thing we have in common, Deirdra. I believe the same.

Absolutely, I totally agree. Nothing at all made from these foods is worth eating, they provide nothing we can't do without!

Ahhh, yes, the bacon grease. Like my mom, I keep a tin of it right on my kitchen counter...tonight it was put into the spinach I was sautéeing. It adds a heavenly flavor to veggies!

100x THIS.

I keep mine in the 'fridge, right next to the jar of pastured lard.

Where do you get your pastured lard?

Naw, Carole, I'm a "Home Ec" teacher (we're called Family and Consumer Scientists now which is a more appropriate name for what we teach) and we still have those classes at both the middle school and high school level. I teach both nutrition and cooking from scratch!

Food banks also have cheap, non-healthful foods. We used to "shop" at the food bank once a month - a variety of bread & pastries, lots of macaroni products, canned/frozen convenience foods, tons of green beans (don't know why so many people donate green beans to food banks!), white rice, occasionally white flour. In season we could get apples, onions, potatoes.

We had the opportunity to glean from local corn fields, but I was never able to do so because of my back pain.

I didn't think of it then, but now I wonder what people thought seeing this 230+ lb woman getting free food. Probably thought I should eat less & move more.

Jo, I hope your curriculum is better than it was when I was in school. The only things I remember cooking were a cake, and a ghastly creation called "pizza cheese dreams." It was a slice of toast with pizza sauce and cheese. Seriously?

I wish I would have been taught how to roast a chicken, use the leftovers in a casserole, and boil the bones for broth. I wish I would have been taught how to properly cook eggs. And different cuts of beef. And vegetables. :/