Woman Who Grew Up Poor Shares The Reasons That Many Poor Families Depend On Junk Food

Having healthy options at the dinner table is a privilege many people do not realise they have.

Rachel

• Published in Interesting
• March 12, 2021

Many of us are well aware of Jamie Oliver. He is the English celebrity chef who transformed the options at the school cafeteria and spends his time preaching about how easy and simple it is to eat healthy food.

He forgot to add the addendum that many poor people are aware of. The fact that it is easy and simple to eat healthy food if you can afford to and have time to cook.

This is not a privilege that all of us have, and the rhetoric he spouts, without acknowledging the very real economic factors that play into people's lifestyles means that healthy is not the cheap easy thing he claims.

The thread begins by acknowledging that Jamie Oliver was campaigning to add a "sugar tax" to foods, making unhealthy foods more expensive.h

But she began to share her own experience with growing up poor...

Explaining that not all families have the time or experience to prioritise healthy eating.

Being "time poor" as well as "money poor" means that you cannot spend hours cooking each day... you have bigger things to worry about.

Fruit and veg can be expensive. Not to mention it goes off really quickly if it is not eaten.

Some people just have bigger, and more valid priorities than Jamie Oliver does.

Meanwhile, Jamie Oliver whips out his mortar and pestle and bangs on about how easy everything is!!

Cooking is HARD work.

Claiming that it's easy to eat well is good in theory, but life doesn't always work that way.

Unhealthier foods often tend to be quick and easy.

Raising the price on food will not mean people will eat healthier. It will mean that they do not eat.

There are so many things that can be done that will ACTUALLY make a positive difference in people's lives.

Taxing unhealthy food will do nothing but add more stress onto people who are already stressed.

Stop! Blaming! Poor! People! And! Help! Them! Instead!

Also no one told Jamie Oliver to do some cultural sensitivity training? Or just... not be a rude person??

Kids eating is more important than kids eating healthy.

Judging does nothing but further stigmatise the poor.

OOP. Watch out Jamie....

Besides, of all the foods, I do not think pizza is the worst?

!!!

Thanks Jamie for ruining my school dinners and hating poor people xx

People should be able to access healthy food... so why not lower the price on it, instead?

Rachel