47.4 Million Americans Live in Poverty

hi hi 

its sad to see so many poor people in a land of plenty, poverty means not being able to feed your family....have seen it up close and personal...it isnt pretty nor nice

Doesn't really seem possible it in such a wealthy country it very sad to be honest. I'm glad i live in western europe where welfare and healthcare are free all be it at a basic level.

roy perhaps they are "fat" because of poor nutrition/does that mean the skinnier you are the richer you are..............

Roy C.  You might try a little compassion.  Obviously you don't know what you are talking about, especially about the food poor or rich people eat for that matter.

I probably know more about nutrition than you could ever hope to know, let alone understand.  As for diet books, they are only on the market to make money.  Doesn't sound like you know much about healthy eating.  And yes it does take money to eat healthy,  The cheapest foods, at least in the U.S., are potatoes and rice. Also sugar is a big part of the problem of obesity.

Also helps to have good parents who see that one has a good understanding of what it takes to be healthy.  Which includes proper exercise and lots of fruits, veggies and nuts.

You can consider this your lesson for the day.

In Canada and the UK it's way cheaper to eat badly than it is to eat well. As someone who doesn't eat meat and who likes to eat tons of fruit and vegetables, I spend way more money on my food bill thank some of my friends. It would be way cheaper for me to eat badly and buy white bread and pre-packaged deli meat and cheap mayo, but I just can't eat that stuff so for me to buy whole grain bread, fresh vegetables and real mustard, it's way way way more expensive.

I can't say I know about the US though, but that's what I know about shopping in Canadian and British supermarkets, having lived in both countries for many years.

Roy

Instead of beating poor people over the head with your nutrition stick, wouldn't it be better to suggest ways to get the message out about what constitutes healthy eating with a low budget?

There needs to be a campaign similar to the "stop smoking" campaigns that had ads on tv, radio, newspapers, etc.  Good nutrition on a budget can be done, but people need to have some guidence about how to do it.  I grew up thinking everything was fried......even bologne!  And I had to learn about broiling and not re using bacon fat to fry with.  The next generation hopefully will have better, healthier eating habits than I had as a young adult. 

And the subsidies we pay farmers for corn, soybeans, ect. push down the cost of most all processed food.

Roy, here is a challenge for you, next time you go shopping look at the cheapest foods, now find one without "high fructose corn syrup" you can, BUT it will probably be a "diet" version, & just because it doesn't have it listed doesn't mean much see also maltodextrin & a number of other added sweeteners that are used in processed food (know any diabetics? they have to read ALL labels for that reason)

Hi all, For anyone that is interested about the information on food labels, the quick and easy way is: on the Nutrition Facts find the Total Carbohydrate then find the sub-group Sugars. The closer those two numbers, the worse the item is for you. Fats are important , but not half as important as carbs. It's not fat that is the problem as much as ALL those left over carbs that the body goes and coverts into fat to store. For those that my question this, yes I'm diabetic 60 units daily (NPH and Reg.).Nutrition is a complex problem that can not be solved by simple methods, access to and affordability of healthy food is not always easy; nor is the availability of food stamps open to just any and all.This is a good thread and will be interested to see where it goes.