Lawmakers Find $21 a Week Doesn't Buy a Lot of Groceries

[Kevin]

Here's what a local ministry has going for $25:

(4) 5 oz. New York Strip Steaks
(1) 4 lb. I.Q.F. Chicken Thighs
(1) 40 oz. Beef & Bean Burritos
(1) 28 oz. Banquet Beef & Noodle Dinner
(1) 2 lb. Breaded Frying Chicken
(1) 1 lb. Ground Beef
(1) 12 oz. Pepperoni Pizza Sticks
(1) 2 lb. Popcorn Chicken
(1) 1 lb. Bean Soup Mix
(1) 8 oz. Biscuit Mix
(1) 7.5 oz. Mac & Cheese
(1) 12 ct. Corn Tortillas
(1) 26 oz. Pasta Sauce
(1) 16 oz. Pasta
(1) 24 oz. Hash Brown Potatoes
(1) 16 oz. Mixed Vegetables
(1) Dessert Item

When my wife's father was disabled, divorced and dependent on the government, he did just fine. Even lived with cancer for several years on this sort of stuff.

[squirrely girl]

omg i love those co-op buying situations. we have a few local churches that do that and i think its GREAT! i just wish more groups would get in on that...

-m

[OneTimeSBX]

im back from the weekend, what the heck happened to the original topic? lol

in re: to your list above, kevin, none of that food is necessarily "healthy" (please, any health care professionals correct me if im wrong). i see a loooot of sodium and carb laced food! which goes back to the original problem of yeah, you can eat for $21, but not well/healthy.

[squirrely girl]

booooooooo on original topics. ha!

as for the foods, yes they're carb/sodium laced but at least its not fast food. the co-op clubs around here also include fresh fruits and veggies, but mostly cause they're buying from local farms too.

- m

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by OneTimeSBX

im back from the weekend, what the heck happened to the original topic? lol

in re: to your list above, kevin, none of that food is necessarily "healthy" (please, any health care professionals correct me if im wrong). i see a loooot of sodium and carb laced food! which goes back to the original problem of yeah, you can eat for $21, but not well/healthy.

So you're saying that we don't only owe lazy people free food in exchange for sitting on their asses.. but we also owe them healthy, expensive, luxurious food? Nice.

Healthy food is a luxury, not a right. Poor people don't get to have luxuries -- and yes, in this case, they'll lead shorter lives (which is probably better for society anyhow... shaving an extra 10-20 years off of their lives will save us all bundles of cash). I don't think that's intentional -- but it's certainly a fringe benefit.

You might raise the issue of children.. well, I do think we ought to be doing more in our schools to ensure that at least there, they get healthy food.

The trouble is that schools often have to choose between feeding their students a healthy diet and feeding their students enough calories to keep them from becoming malnourished. Further, even if the parents did have the $, they'd probably spend it on junk anyhow. Junk is easier to prepare and generally, when kids are faced with the choice between a taco town taco and an apple, the kids are going for choice "A."

[OneTimeSBX]

Originally Posted by Kevin

Healthy food is a luxury, not a right. Poor people don't get to have luxuries -- and yes, in this case, they'll lead shorter lives (which is probably better for society anyhow... shaving an extra 10-20 years off of their lives will save us all bundles of cash). I don't think that's intentional -- but it's certainly a fringe benefit.

did i just read that right?? let me see if i got this straight...poor, unhealthy people who eat bad food die early, and that is a fringe benefit for everyone else who pays taxes???

healthy food is not a luxury. organic, radiated apples grown on only 3 trees in america is a luxury. a bag of salad or a banana is not. free range certified corn-fed beef is a luxury. a pack of chicken hot dogs is not.

that has got to be one of the coldest things ive ever heard! hell, why feed children healthy foods? i guess the earlier we kill them off too the better society is!

pardon my sarcasm everyone, but that just wasn't right!

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by OneTimeSBX

did i just read that right?? let me see if i got this straight...poor, unhealthy people who eat bad food die early, and that is a fringe benefit for everyone else who pays taxes???

healthy food is not a luxury. organic, radiated apples grown on only 3 trees in america is a luxury. a bag of salad or a banana is not. free range certified corn-fed beef is a luxury. a pack of chicken hot dogs is not.

that has got to be one of the coldest things ive ever heard! hell, why feed children healthy foods? i guess the earlier we kill them off too the better society is!

pardon my sarcasm everyone, but that just wasn't right!

Healthy foods cost more.

Are you suggesting that expensive things which aren't 100% necessary to get the job done are somehow not a luxury? How is it that you define luxury?

As for being cold... I think being cold is the only way to define policy. We have a limited supply of money. We should recognize that we can't do everything we want. Therefore, we have to prioritize. Making sure lazy people live long lives comes in at the bottom of my list.

How much cheaper for us all is it going to be if that lazy person dies at 50 of a massive coronary as compared to living to the age of 85 in a state-run nursing home? The difference is probably hundreds of thousands if not millions of our tax dollars per person. I view these people as leaches. Society is better off with them gone -- either they find work and can afford healthy, luxurious food or they sit on their asses and die young. It's still their choice.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by Kevin

Healthy foods cost more.

Why is that?

I don't even want to get into the grocery store/fresh produce issue in the Hill District here, except to say it's a freaking disgrace and "the grocery store was looted in the MLK riots" is not a valid excuse.

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by 33girl

Why is that?

It costs more to bring to the market because quite a bit of it goes bad on the shelves as opposed to packaged and preserved foods which once placed on the shelves will generally sell (eventually).

[KSig RC]

Originally Posted by 33girl

Why is that?

Most likely, it's because the things that make food 'unhealthy' also allow it to be mass-produced easily and efficiently. It's easy to find a vat of man-made fat, or factory-farm out a ton of crappy foods - and more cost-effective.

Everyone wants free-range chicken until they realize it costs 300% more to produce.

[CutiePie2000]

Originally Posted by OneTimeSBX

none of that food is necessarily "healthy" (please, any health care professionals correct me if im wrong).

I totally agree, but then again I compete in Figure/Fitness, so I'm not really a good person to ask. But none of that stuff would not get me "stage ready" (i.e. none of it is considered "Eating Clean".). Bring on the skinless chicken breasts and the sweet potatoes, baby!