A diet fueled by food stamps is making South Texans obese but leaving them hungry

[haele]

116. Discount seconds store/"Big Lots" shopping.

This weekend, the local discount seconds store was selling:

2 for $1 Pepsi product 6-packs.
3 pack of Fruit Roll-up boxes ("made with real fruit!&quot , $2
Family Sized Lays Chips $1.50
1 loaf Springfield Bread $.99
1 pack of 10 hotdogs (off brand) $.99
12 oz. pack of shredded non-dairy "cheese"
Jello cups, 4-pack, 2 for $1
1 gallon Sunny Delight, $1.50
1 gallon Milk $2.50
Arizona Tea drink stick box or 20 oz cans, 2 for $1
Kellogg's Cereals, assorted 16 oz. boxes, $1


Not too nutritious - but if you're left with $10.00 and it's Sunday on last week of the month, there's very little in the fridge and on the kitchen shelves, this store is down the block, what are you going to get for you, not to mention your kids?

You have no gas, need to get a ride to get back and forth from work or plan on walking for two hours if you can't get a ride. The nearest food pantry is at least mile away and only open on Wednesday and Saturday for 4 hours in the morning, and there's always a line that goes around the block starting at least for three hours before it opens.

As for grocery shopping, food handling, cooking - if your momma or grandma didn't teach you these things, your school certainly didn't. The bodega two blocks down the other way might have rice, beans, and oranges and bananas on sale, and a bargain bin with damaged cans of tuna fish and veggies for $.30 - $50 apiece, but other than the oranges and bananas, you might not have a clue what to do with the rest.
Home Ec. class is a luxury for struggling school districts, and those "oh so cutting edge" charter schools don't provide much in the way of arts, crafts, or sciences outside of what they can provide from books or computers, unless there is a sponsor (usually corporate or through local business interests) who will provide the services for goodwill and ad rights. A Home Ec. lab room is expensive to maintain, after all.

Poverty creates its own special hell of stress and insecurity, both of which lead to reactive decisions that don't usually have consideration or logic behind them. A "little treat" that helps you "feel better" or like a normal person can easily go to the top of your list when you feel helplessly defeated. It's not smart, it's not healthy, but it's a common reaction in human beings.

Haele