High Cost of being poor.

[Dinner]

Cheapest of all is to do a limited bit of raising your own food. In junior high and high school my best friend was really religious and sometimes I'd go with him on church outings just because it was fun to go camping or fishing or what not. One family at his church had eight kids, the mom stayed at home, and the dad only made around $30k doing some sort of blue collar work. Still they had a bit of land out in the boonies (the Ramona area if you know this area at all) and they had fruit & nut trees, a small corn field, a really large garden, plus they kept sheep, chickens, and pigs. Having a family of 10 people meant they always had left overs which they'd feed to the pigs essentially giving them several hundred pounds of free meat each year plus all the free eggs they could eat. It's amazing how much even a small plot of land can produce plus if you have a large family you get free labor.

[Patroklos]

I won't hold it against the unnecessarily "poor" for not having a full on farm in their backyard like those guys (good on them), but almost all of us have enough space for a few tomato trees, carrots, squash or similar fair. I always grow tomatoes and various herbs in a simple flower trough on my back porch. I could grow far more if I was so inclined.

Also something that I do here in Charleston is a farmer's coop. I paid $150 straight up and for four months I get a good sized bag of veggies straight from the farm every week. They drop them off at volunteer houses in various neighborhoods and I just walk by and pick them up. It is more than enough to fulfill the dietary needs of a family of four, I give about half of it away every week. This past week I got broccoli, cauliflower, beets, turnips, a head of lettuce, carrots and squash

[Alinestra Covelia]

The solution = COOK YOU LAZY BASTARDS!!! (I am saying this to myself as much as anyone else )

We need a cooking thread. For easy recipes so that newbie kitchen Polytubbies can grab some stuff at the market and throw it on the heat and enjoy some good, filling, healthy homecooked stuff without having to go the fast-food route or the expensive sit-down restaurant route.

[Maniac]

I lack a car, so I walk 30 minutes each way to buy my groceries

I'd like to introduce an ancient powerful invention to you:



I mean seriously, what's up with the bicycle hatred in the US?

[rah]

It used to be quite popular.
But since it requires actual effort using your legs and not just your fingers for games and texting, it has recently fallen out of favor with the laziest generation ever raised.

[Dis]

We need a cooking thread. For easy recipes so that newbie kitchen Polytubbies can grab some stuff at the market and throw it on the heat and enjoy some good, filling, healthy homecooked stuff without having to go the fast-food route or the expensive sit-down restaurant route.

I know how to cook eggs.

that's about it. other than tacos and spaghetti.

[Dis]

bicycling is dangerous. by law you can't ride on the sidewalk (although I do). Riding in the street is just suicidal.

[Dinner]

I mean seriously, what's up with the bicycle hatred in the US?

Most of America has been built since WW2 and is very spread out. It was built to car size and not human size so the distances are much further apart then in other countries.

[Dis]

although I hope to move closer to work and ride a bicycle to work. It's not too bad on residential streets. but very dangerous on arterial streets. People regularly drive 55 mph on those things.

[Maniac]

Most of America has been built since WW2 and is very spread out. It was built to car size and not human size so the distances are much further apart then in other countries.

Being unfamiliar with the US I cannot say if this is true or you're just making excuses. Regardless, my comment stands in the case of DarkCloud. He could cut his travel time down from 30 to 5 minutes.

Does that mean by the way that in a big city like New York for instance there isn't a single supermarket in a five kilometer radius of wherever you live??

[rah]

Being unfamiliar with the US I cannot say if this is true or you're just making excuses. :

It's making excuses. Back in the 60 and 70 only a few rich kids had cars in high school, everyone else had bikes that they road everywere. I probably logged at least 5 miles a day when I was a kid going back and forth to work or to the pool. On some day it was 15-20 miles. But kids today are too lazy for that. It's either drive or sit at home. I didn't buy my first car until I was in college.

[DanS]

In many parts of the country, it is pretty dangerous to ride a bicycle on the roads. That said, in other parts of the country it's not dangerous. It's not that dangerous in many cities, but keep in mind that a minority of people live in cities (as Europeans who are not the Dutch know them) in the US.

Also keep in mind that US supermarkets are quite large and efficient. Prices tend to be good. But in urban areas, it's tough to build large, efficient supermarkets. So the supermarket companies tend to avoid urban areas.

[Drake Tungsten]

Bikes are for pussies. I used to walk to school and back. 30 miles a day, easy. Still doing it, too, as I don't have a car.

[DanS]

Didn't know that you were Amish.

[Drake Tungsten]

I'll have to have you over for hand-churned butter someday.