theriversdaughter:

illuminabi:

You can really tell who’s never experienced poverty and food insecurity when it comes to discussions around food costs and how unhealthy food is cheaper. Some fucker always comes in with the price of like… lettuce or… apples. And it’s like yeah bitch but can you work an 11 hour shift after eating some salad and an apple!?! Find me something cheaper, and more filling than the broke ass staples of boxed mac and cheese, hot dogs, noodles, bread, beans, and rice. I’ll wait.

It also ignores the mental toll that poverty takes like maybe your home made veggie filled recipe isn’t crazy expensive but it also involves prep time and cooking time and organization in terms of fresh food that a lotta poor people can’t manage.

Not to mention if you can only afford to get to the store once every couple weeks via bus or cab then you can’t keep fresh veg on deck.

But ya know.. poor people are just dumb and lazy.

There’s a post I’ve seen going around about how bread is super-easy to make and people have been making their bread for centuries, and omg, it’s so easy and cheap and why can’t poor people just bake their own, because so easy.  I want to scream every time I see it because I have a really basic, no-knead, no-frills peasant bread recipe that I make that’s about as easy as you can get and only has like 5 ingredients, AND THAT BITCH STILL REQUIRES THAT I HAVE A MINIMUM OF TWO HOURS FREE TO DEAL WITH.

Yeah, it’s basic ingredients, and doesn’t require kneading, but I still have to be around to deal with it between it’s first rising, and it’s bowl transfer and second rising, and then baking, and the thing with bread is that once you start it, there is no stopping.  You are committed to that damned thing until it’s done, and you can’t just go work another shift, or go to bed, because each stage is on a timer and can’t wait.  People were able to bake their own bread in other times because, hey, the women never left the home to go to work and were around to deal with multi-stage cooking.  

These days, home-baked fresh bread is a luxury afforded to folks who have time and money, which sure as hell isn’t folks at or below the poverty line.  I know, because I am finally at a level of financial security where I can make my own bread again, which is not something I had the luxury of doing for a Very. Long. Time.