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sugar in food

2007-07-16 15:07:02

Re:Thank ADM, Cargill and their lobbyists.

(Score:5, Insightful)

by TubeSteak (669689) on Sunday July 15, @07:18AM (#19865961)

(Last Journal: Sunday February 26, @12:02AM)

But the GP is right too. You don't HAVE to buy pre-processed foods. 95% of the crap sold in grocery stores just isn't good for you. You can buy the ingredients and make it yourself like your mother may have done.

For poor people, even the ingredients that they can afford tend to be shit. High in fats, sugars and/or salt. Low quality meat and pre-processed canned/boxed foods are also much cheaper than fresh ingredients.

Not to mention that some people's mothers are busy working two or more jobs and don't have time for anything besides a McDonalds quality dinner.

[typepad.com]

Voluntarily eating at/below the poverty level will change your perspective.

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

That foodstamp challenge is BS

(Score:5, Informative)

by Sycraft-fu (314770) on Sunday July 15, @09:50AM (#19866647)

Largely because they seem to have made no attempt to really buy cheap foods. The biggest one would be rice. You can get an amazing amount of calories from rice and that shit is dirt cheap. It is also soaks up flavours really well so you can season it easily, and cheaply. You should be able to get rice in a 50 pound bag for around $14. Now given that you get about 220 calories per cup and a cup weighs 7 oz or so that's about 25,000 calories per bag, or a while weeks worth of calories for one large person.

Using that as a staple, you find that you now have more to spend on other things. You also will discover that rice is quite healthy.

Now please don't think I'm arguing that people should have to live off of a couple bucks a day for food, but realise that these congress people aren't doing it right. When it comes to really cutting food budget, you don't go to White Castle. You concentrate on materials which are cheap and have good calorie content. Rice is essentially the unbeatable champ in that area and hence forms your staple (it is not such a coincidence that it often forms the staple of diets for people more poor than is even conceivable in the US). Beans also work well, especially when purchased bagged and not canned, and they supply protein. Beans and rice, though not glorious, are just about enough on their own to sustain you.

If they are serious about seeing how to live on an extremely low budget for food, they should at least make an honest effort.

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

Re:That foodstamp challenge is BS

(Score:5, Interesting)

by jafiwam (310805) on Sunday July 15, @11:05AM (#19867309)

(http://slashdot.org/ | Last Journal: Thursday August 12, @11:57AM)

Staples yes.

Try getting enough servings of fresh green vegetables for a family of four on a budget.

Here's a hint:

Fresh spinach for four ($12) ($9 if you can find the unbagged bunches, seriously!)

Broccoli for four ($3)

Tomatoes (four large) ($3)

I could go on and on.

The "poor" lifestyle staple of rice and beans (arguably probably the most cost effective way) with enough veggies doesn't exist.

You CANT get enough good veggies on that budget. You could get low quality frozen. Or if you are lucky get one of those local "farm share" subscriptions ($30 per month for half share of random crap squash, who the fuck needs a whole case of squash at a time?) The idea you can get tasty veggies for cheap is simply bullshit.