Why Is Mario Batali on Food Stamps?

[Prism]

123. I work full time and go to school full time.

I work 9 hours a day and am taking 12 hours this semester. So no, I don't have much a luxury of time. I make what time I can for various things. Furthermore, I do not own a car. I either walk or bike to the stores (and 11 year-old bike that requires frequent repair). I do most of my grocery shopping once a week on my day off. For bits and bats, or the multiple locations you note, I grab things on my way to and from work. I know what I'm getting ahead of time so I can get in and out with it.

I'm not scolding the poor. I grew up poor. My parents were on welfare at various times of my upbringing. I know what it's like to have the electricity and water turned off. As a student with a placeholder job, I'm not exactly swimming in money myself.

My contention is not that the very poor don't have it bad. My contention is against the idea that no one can possibly eat well unless they're spending tons of money on food. I feel like DU is strangely disconnected from the poor or what the world's like out there. I encounter this a lot in Berkeley, where I'll find fellow liberals wondering how anyone can live without money. Well, yeah, if you think the rest of the world functions like Whole Foods and Andronico's, I can see why you'd think that.

I don't know. There's a condescension here, I think, that the poor don't have the time, energy, or ability to take care of themselves.

Even in your post, you made a lot of assumptions about my life based on my habits. "Well, he can do this, so he must have endless time and resources." I promise you, I don't. I am not impoverished, but I do live within a tight budget, am frequently exhausted, and have most of my time accounted for in some way.

Assumptions are tricky things.