Is food really cheap in the U.S.? Or is Unemployment Benefits really good?

[ChemicallyEnhanced]

I've noticed watching My 600lb Life that all of these people are unemployed (you can't really work when you weigh 600-900lbs, plus many can't get out of their house or even bed), so how can they afford the ENORMOUS amount of food they eat? It's not even just groceries; some of them order huge amounts of takeout multiple times a day.
Just really curious if anyone knows how they can afford that?

 

[jhjhsdi]

Maybe they inherited all the money or won it or worked a really good job for 10-20 years, saved up a small fortune before quitting and deciding to spend it all on food and never leave the bed.
I dont think benefits are good enough to eat your way to 600 lbs, but then again im from the UK where benefits for the average joe are about £10 per day (hard enough to eat 3 'decent' meals a day on let alone adding in luxuries like smoking/drinking/phone credit/public transport) - would be pretty hard to get to 600 lbs on UK benefits unless you just spent all your money on lard or something and ate that lol

 

[Robi]

well a whole chicken i saw was 19 dollars in us, everything has risen atleast two dollars, thing of cheese 8 dollar, eggs 5 bucks, milk 4, plus yeah there people on food stamps that never were, and if they lie and work they have to pay it back, they dont mess around

 

[Robi]

oh and no hot food and dont think uber eats does food stamps

 

[HatingThisLife]

They likely collect SSI disability benefits and own their homes outright some how, by inheritance or divorce or something. The ones with kids probably get $350+ per kid for foodstamps as well.

 

[thegreenhand]

Junk food is disgustingly cheap in the US.

Healthy food can be had for similar prices but this requires buying raw ingridients (beans, rice, lentils, etc.) and cooking. Most folks either can’t be bothered to cook or don’t have time because of the demand of hourly wage jobs

 

[F.U.B.A.R.]

I've noticed watching My 600lb Life that all of these people are unemployed (you can't really work when you weigh 600-900lbs, plus many can't get out of their house or even bed), so how can they afford the ENORMOUS amount of food they eat? It's not even just groceries; some of them order huge amounts of takeout multiple times a day.
Just really curious if anyone knows how they can afford that?

Brilliant! My Mrs always watches this shit. It amazes me how they always have big fuck off houses and trucks large enough to transport their lardy arses 100s of miles to see that creepy surgeon guy.


Food addiction is the worst addiction of all for your health...

 

[Jabberwocky]

I've noticed watching My 600lb Life that all of these people are unemployed (you can't really work when you weigh 600-900lbs, plus many can't get out of their house or even bed), so how can they afford the ENORMOUS amount of food they eat? It's not even just groceries; some of them order huge amounts of takeout multiple times a day.
Just really curious if anyone knows how they can afford that?

Junk food is disgustingly cheap in the US.

exactly, I was going to say, you do not have to be financially well off to become a morbidly obese skin potato in this country.

although, a major factor is that these people are HEAVILY enabled, if you notice, they all seem to have someone that brings them all their food and never says no. Also, even with welfare or unemployment (temporary), they are probably living rent free with family, so they just spend everything on food. They must be enabled in several ways.

if they actually walked down the block for all their food they'd probably lose 100 pounds

 

[tubgirl.jpg]

well a whole chicken i saw was 19 dollars in us, everything has risen atleast two dollars, thing of cheese 8 dollar, eggs 5 bucks, milk 4, plus yeah there people on food stamps that never were, and if they lie and work they have to pay it back, they dont mess around

19 dollars for a whole chicken and 4 bucks for milk? Jesus, that's fucking ruthless pricing.

 

[F.U.B.A.R.]

exactly, I was going to say, you do not have to be financially well off to become a morbidly obese skin potato in this country.

although, a major factor is that these people are HEAVILY enabled, if you notice, they all seem to have someone that brings them all their food and never says no. Also, even with welfare or unemployment (temporary), they are probably living rent free with family, so they just spend everything on food. They must be enabled in several ways.

if they actually walked down the block for all their food they'd probably lose 100 pounds

True that.

It kills me when you see the parents. They're usually nearly as fat as the patient.

Never seen any skinny parents.


What's also interesting is that the female patients usually have average to small sized husbands/partners who are totally enabling their condition.


Fuckin feeder weirdos...

 

[jhjhsdi]

That program makes me feel sick

 

[Jabberwocky]

Personally, I have a hard time taking "food addiction" seriously. It implies it's just as devastating as every other addiction, and I just don't see it that way. Yes there are similarities, but.... idk

I do not look at a 600lb person the same way as an IV heroin addict... I just don't

they live two VASTLY different lives and have two vastly different set of pressures on them to survive

sometimes I feel biased... idk... I honestly never particularly enjoyed food, so I can't see how someone would seriously be addicted to it... when I eat 2000 calories or 12 donuts and a litre of soda, I feel like utter shit for 6 hours afterwards!!

you never see 600lb homeless people, do you... I think that somehow encapsulates my point

 

[paranoid android]

Junk food is disgustingly cheap in the US.

Healthy food can be had for similar prices but this requires buying raw ingridients (beans, rice, lentils, etc.) and cooking. Most folks either can’t be bothered to cook or don’t have time because of the demand of hourly wage jobs

Same as here in Canada. You can get mac and chease for like 30 cents a box ffs but you will pay out the ass for good meat, fish, rice and things like that. I try and eat healthy buy buying in bulk but it's not easy.

 

[thegreenhand]

Same as here in Canada. You can get mac and chease for like 30 cents a box ffs but you will pay out the ass for good meat, fish, rice and things like that. I try and eat healthy buy buying in bulk but it's not easy.

Bulk is definitely the way. I try to buy from smaller grocers who you can get to know and often will discount things if you’re a regular.

I have a middle eastern import store near me that has rice, beans, lentils, etc. for dirt cheap. Spices are very cheap in bulk too. Some ethnic grocery stores really mark things up though so you have to shop around to find one you like

 

[All the tacos]

I tried to stop getting groceries at walmart and big chain grocery stores. Even tried to buy locally raised meats and vegetables. Ended up paying almost 3 times more to eat healthy. Its sickening how i can get a bag of burgers which comes with 5 unhealthy cheeseburgers at the fast food drive through for roughly $7 but a damn salad that is healthy cost $10. And it's not even a good sized salad and im hungry 10 minutes later.

 

[JTemperance]

Generally speaking,* you can't use food stamps at McDonald's or any other restaurant, so benefits and fast food don't really intersect as obesity causes.

Prepared foods are also off-limits if they're hot or ready-to-eat. So you can't get a deli sandwich or rotisserie chicken at the supermarket using food stamps, but you are allowed to buy shrink-wrapped sandwiches or cold pieces of fried chicken.

Beyond that, you can basically get what you want in terms of junk food like ice cream or potato chips, whether you buy them at a supermarket or at a convenience store/gas station. Fox News used to rail against the fact that that you're allowed to shop at farmers' markets and buy fancy stuff like organic arugula or shrimp cocktails.

*There is a Restaurant Meals Program that a few states have, but it's hard to qualify. You have to be either unable to cook for yourself (due to age/disability) or unable to store food (due to homelessness).

 

[deficiT]

Personally, I have a hard time taking "food addiction" seriously. It implies it's just as devastating as every other addiction, and I just don't see it that way. Yes there are similarities, but.... idk

I do not look at a 600lb person the same way as an IV heroin addict... I just don't

they live two VASTLY different lives and have two vastly different set of pressures on them to survive

sometimes I feel biased... idk... I honestly never particularly enjoyed food, so I can't see how someone would seriously be addicted to it... when I eat 2000 calories or 12 donuts and a litre of soda, I feel like utter shit for 6 hours afterwards!!

you never see 600lb homeless people, do you... I think that somehow encapsulates my point

I mean, it destroys your life and health just the same. Causes diseases like diabetes and obesity. It can easily destroy, or end your life in a short amount of time, just like homelessness.

That's because homeless people don't get to eat enough, or prepare their own food to become completely obese. It's a lot easier to be a dope/crack addict or drunk in big cities than a food addict, because you can get your doses for a couple of bucks. It's enough to stay addicted to substances, but if you spent that same money on food, you wouldn't get fat you'd just stay alive and subsist.

Most people that become devastatingly obese have some other underlying health issues or life circumstances that enable it, just like substances.

 

[thegreenhand]

I tried to stop getting groceries at walmart and big chain grocery stores. Even tried to buy locally raised meats and vegetables. Ended up paying almost 3 times more to eat healthy. Its sickening how i can get a bag of burgers which comes with 5 unhealthy cheeseburgers at the fast food drive through for roughly $7 but a damn salad that is healthy cost $10. And it's not even a good sized salad and im hungry 10 minutes later.

I personally will use the local food pantry to get most of my produce. They offer unlimited amounts to individuals and families. Idk where it all comes from tbh but my guess is that’s it’s unsold but still edible restaurant or grocery store products. Better than being thrown in a dumpster

 

[deficiT]

Yeah, idk, depends on the state what benefits you can get.

In Maryland, I get like 257 bucks a month for food stamps. I don't think that's quite enough to support a serious food addiction or encourage obesity. And even if you have disability it's only like 700 or 800 bucks a month, so, which is hardly enough to make rent, let alone bills. Idk.

 

[JTemperance]

sometimes I feel biased... idk... I honestly never particularly enjoyed food, so I can't see how someone would seriously be addicted to it...

I'm not much of a food person either, but I totally understand how it could become a kind of "drug of addiction" for some people. Like drugs, food is a powerful source of pleasure for a lot of people. And like drugs, people use food to manage their unpleasant feelings ("emotional eating").

Food also has the benefit of not bringing down much disapproval from the square world on the person who abuses it, at least outside of the urban upper-middle classes who disdain fat people almost as much as drug addicts. I've heard it hypothesized that this is a reason why obesity tends to track religiosity in the US.