a star made of elves. or an elf made of stars

kissingunderspiderwebs:

sugaredvenom:

mamavh:

feministindianmanifesto:

dr-grumbles:

letschangethings:

dr-grumbles:

thambos:

calecake:

ilykadamen:

downlo:

Grocery prices in CT as of Jan. 13, 2011:

• Morningstar Grillers Burgers: $3.50 (on sale)
• 1 lb 96% lean ground beef: $4.89 (for 93% lean beef)
• 16 oz. cashews: $5.39 (for 15 oz.)
• 1 lb strawberries: $3.49 (for 16 oz.)
• 10lb potatoes: $7.98
• 1 gallon OJ: $3.99
• 1lb mixed frozen veg: $2.50
• 1 bunch broccoli: 79 cents (on sale)
• 1lb dried pinto beans: $1.79

Total: $34.32

Except for the Morningstar thingies (why are they even on there?), everything I picked was the cheapest, generic brand and some of the items were on sale. And this person’s groceries don’t include staples like milk, bread, eggs, butter/oil, sugar, flour, spices, coffee/tea. It’s a completely unrealistic list. And as others have pointed out, this bunch of groceries don’t even make sense as a single meal replacement. Unless you’re into orange juice-marinated meatballs with cashew crust and potato-strawberry-broccoli salad.

These groceries also don’t include things like baby food, diapers, cleaning supplies, and all those other non-food things that people have to buy. I guess it didn’t occur to the jerk who made this infographic that the person buying that fast food meal might have spent all his/her extra money on bus fare, diapers, and school supplies. And that’s putting aside the issue of food deserts and people not having the time, ability, or energy to cook for themselves. Ugh. I hate assholes who confuse good fortune and privilege with thriftiness and smarts.

Reblogged for commentary.

Also, I have no doubt that the person in the OP got all their food at the cost indicated. There are places to do this stuff: the other day, I purchased two huge paper bags full of fruits, veggies, breads, eggs, and other stuff that was enough for several complete meals for a mere $30. Why was I able to do that? Because I live in an affluent suburban neighborhood only a mile away from an affordable farmer’s-market style grocery store, and I have a car to make the five-minute drive there. If I did not live in that neighborhood, I would not have access to this grocery. If I did not have a car, the trip there would be twenty minutes one-way walking in the cold with bags, or maybe fifteen minutes on public transit, which runs very seldom, and I would have to spend time outside in the cold with backs regardless. So that thriftiness? PRIVILEGE!

Not to mention that Wal-Mart isn’t necessarily the place you want to be voting with your money if you’re part of the “errybody should eat healthy yaaaay” movement. They don’t pay their employees enough to eat well like that. Maybe the picture was a with an employee discount or something.

And I’m gonna shut up before I keep spewing offensive things because I lack tact.

Regarding buying the “cheapest generic on sale” items, there is research that states that some of those in poverty don’t actually buy generic. This sounds really odd at first, but when the people who say they won’t buy generic explain themselves the constant theme is that they, “can’t afford to fail.” They trust the name brand, but if they waste 2.00 on generic orange juice that ends up being soured, that’s a failure and they have no juice to drink now.

Also, do farmer’s market’s take food stamps? I doubt it in most lower income neighborhoods (due to requiring the market to have a card reader).

There are also not a lot of major food staples here. I would have made very very different choices with 20.00 to spend. I’d buy milk, eggs, beef, (canned) veggies/beans, bread, spaghetti sauce and pasta. This gives a lot more variety in the day to day meals. I’d never pick cashews and strawberries over milk or bread.

Also, this is just really classist and misleading. People in poverty with 20 dollars to feed their family for a week aren’t going to get 4 combos at burger king. That’s absolutely ridiculous.

This is also really ableist in my opinion, and not only because this isn’t a balanced diet, but because everything is in the state that requires the most work to be preformed by the person preparing it.

Being in poverty is hard work.

As a previous Wal-Mart employee, I have to say that from my experience Wal-Mart pays higher than minimum wage, which, lets face it, plenty of people ‘live’ on. Plus all the paid holidays (8hr paid shift regardless of whether you work or not, and if you do work you get time-and-a-half, too), and decent hours, it’s really not as bad of a place to work as everybody seems to think.  Also, because of the fact that usually groceries are taxed differently than most commodities, Wal-Mart (and grocery stores) are unable to offer an employee discount on grocery items.

I gladly spend, on average, about $100/month at Wal-Mart on food items alone. Solely due to the fact that in most cases, their prices at at least a few cents lower than Publix (the store I generally choose to patronize, due to product quality and cleanliness).

On another note, the only farmer’s markets/butcher shops/fresh markets that I’ve seen that DO accept food stamps/EBT are the ones in low-income neighborhoods.

Oh really? I haven’t frequented a Farmer’s Market in a long time (due to the lack of one, oh hi food deserts) but I remember none of the ones in my hometown (rather low income, >20,000 for many) had any card-reading system. It was all cash based, with hand written receipts.

When you have $20 why the fuck would you pay $4 for some fucking cashews?

Reblogging again for some more great comments. Also to add that in my town, he farmers’ market accepts food stamps. I volunteer at the booth as often as I can (I get FS, too, so really appreciate the option). The way we do it is that people use their FS card (there is a battery-run card reader) to buy tokens. They then use their tokens at each individual booth (though the booth has to apply to accept them; short form). We also accept a type of voucher that is given out at the senior citizen homes (and perhaps to others with disabilities. I’m not sure because I only heard people asking me about them; I never saw any.). IDK what the process was like to get this program implemented, whether it is feasible for all communities, but it is out there and I am so thankful for it.

Just wanted to add- I fucking hate the USian food stamps system. The more I hear about it, the angrier I get. Here in the UK, benefits come in the form of money- if you’re entitled to the money, you get it, and if you then spend it on food, or drugs, or pedicures, that’s up to you, but you know what? People don’t spend the money on “trivialities” generally, because they need to eat, and most people will prioritise eating over their nails. They buy the food that is most appropriate to their situation, from whatever retailer they wish.

So, yesterday I decided that food retail works like this- fast, cheap and nutritionally “good”. If you’re shopping on a budget you can only pick two. The food shown here could make a meal, but it wouldn’t be quick. The fast food is a meal, but it’s not “good”. Food that’s fast and “good” is expensive.

We need to come up with a neutral word to describe food with low-nutritional value that isn’t “bad” because I don’t like the connitations of saying people eat “bad” food- it feels food-shamey.

 Oh…this is from those assheads Sparkpeople…no wonder. 

Reblogging for excellent commentary, because those are all great points… but they are still not even the point. The bottom line is that the Sparkpeople image in question is condescending and runs on the assumption that people eat fast food because they are too ignorant and stupid and lazy to buy groceries or, I guess, do math. This assumption is being made based solely on what people choose to eat, as if that is some sort of marker of intelligence rather than, um, a choice of what food they want to eat.

I grew up on food stamps and quite frankly by about age 7 I was already sick of every purchase my family made being scrutinized. Oh you bought ice cream? But those two dollars could’ve been spent on VEGETABLES! See, because you don’t deserve ice cream, not even $2 generic ice cream, because you’re poor. You deserve to be told what to buy by richer people, because richer = smarter and we know what’s best for you. My family sure as hell bought groceries at the grocery store, we shopped generic, we used coupons, we bought goddamn fruit and vegetables - and we ate fast food, when we felt like it.

Perhaps for the upper-middle-class among us I could break down the cost of baking a loaf of bread and making a bowl of soup (probably about $10 for enough to feed a family) vs. the cost of eating at Panera (about $10 to feed one person). Oh, what’s that? You eat at Panera because you don’t feel like cooking, or you don’t have time to cook, or you like the food the way they make it, or you wanted somewhere to meet friends for lunch, or you were out in the middle of the day and needed to stop somewhere for a quick bite?

Because THOSE ARE THE REASONS I EAT AT BURGER KING. Being poor does not take away my right to choose food based on reasons other than cost. (And, actually, I eat at Panera too, because they have free wifi. POOR PEOPLE WITH LAPTOPS? GODNO.)

Also, additional privilege check: Working refrigerator, working freezer, working stove, working oven. Currently? I do not have them. That’s a bit of a barrier to a home-cooked meal, yes?

Also also, and kind of off topic, I could teach whoever made this a thing or two about how to shop poor. First of all, as someone else noted, when you only have $20 you do not spend 1/5 of that on cashews. And, I hate to break your health-conscious heart, but when you have a family to feed you also do not buy a pound of 96% lean ground beef for $3 when you can get 6 pounds of fatty ground beef for $5. I’m not even going to touch that Morningstar nonsense, except to say that $3 would buy a shitload of rice, which would give you something to actually eat with the otherwise confusing choice of random beans.

Anyway that is just me going on a “honey let me teach you how to be poor because you don’t know” rant. The bottom line here is this: Money =/= intelligence, and even if it did, NOTHING gives you the right to tell people what to spend their money on or what to put in their bodies. NOTHING. So step off.