Felt A Little Like I Was On Candid Camera

[KnoxMom]

I try to avoid processed foods altogether but I typically purchase all fruits and veggies from our local Farmer's Market. The prices are decent and I like the idea of eating fresh, locally grown food. I was a little thrown off, even offended by the food stamp card comment though. I grew up in a single parent household with actual food stamps. We were cut OFF from them when my mother picked up a 2nd job to make ends meet. (Ironic how you are penalized for trying to do more to support your family) We often received food from our local pantry and church because we were barely making it after she was diagnosed with cancer and made JUST enough that she couldn't qualify for free or reduced healthcare. She NEVER purchased junk food. She said we couldn't afford NOT to eat healthy and believed anything outside of meat that didn't come out of the ground wouldn't get you full unless you ate larger portions than you were supposed to. (I swear it seemed like we ate oatmeal for breakfast EVERYDAY, fish, rice and broccoli for dinner all the time and fruit was the only sweet treat if she added cinammon to baked apples). I'm not sure what your motivation was exactly for making the comment but I just want it to be clear that it is completely irrelevant what the woman is using to pay her groceries with. I know parents that make $75K ALONE and will give the child whatever junk they want. I do wish that EBT would limit the qualified foods to healthier choices like WIC does in my state to discourage foods with little to no nutritional value. Ultimately, I think if parents actually READ the box they'd think twice before buying half of the things on that list.

[LaLa1923]

I think its pretty rude of you to judge someone knowing nothing about them. :confused: And to throw in the food stamp comment is just really disgusting. How does their economic status have anything to do with poor food choices. I know families on food assistance who eat welland well off familes who eat McD's every night.

When I shop at Wal-Mart, its usually pantry or freezer trips. I don't buy produce there - I grow my own or buy local. I don't buy meat there because I buy that in large packs at Costco.

That's usually what I buy there too!

[JenNJ]

judge, well let me tell you, these same people who fill their carts full of junk are the same people who are overwieght and have naughty children and they can't figure it out. My sister is a cashier at a cheap food store here and when they get their cheques they fill their carts full of crap. You never see fruit or veggies in their carts. Its rare people who are on food stamps buy real food. Its like last week when I saw the hugely obese women (and she had her fat hanging to her knees) buying a whole cart full of pop, really what did you want me to think. Buying junk is such a norm its not even funny anymore, and its reality, people just don't buy healthy anymore.

My point is that people make bad choices no matter how little or how much money they have. Just because someone is on food stamps does NOT make them a bad parent who will feed their child crappy food. Parents of all backgrounds make good and bad choices. becuase they are human and humans aren't perfect.

So yeah -- taking a moment in someone's life and judging them on it is wrong -- but it is especially wrong when you throw in that because they aren't making a choice you approve of that they must be on food stamps. It's disgusting.

If your sister is so offended by the customers at her store using their food stamps for low quality food, maybe she shouldn't work at a grocery store that sells processed foods. Becuase I shop at Whole Foods, Costco, Trader Joe's, local farm stands, and farmers markets and I frequently see families using food stamps to purchase food.

So I'm not buying your opinion that it's "rare" that people on food stamps buy real food. I think that people on food stamps are just like everyone else -- they buy a mix of real foods and processed foods.

Becuase someone's financial ability to feed their family doesn't change who they are. It only means that they need to make do with less. So I think instead of judging them, you should maybe see if you can't help out by donating real foods to a local pantry or offering to buy $20 worth of produce for the single parent in line using food stamps.

[crazydaycarelady]

I think it is pretty common for people on food stamps to make poor food choices (having worked in a grocery store myself.) NO, not everybody does, but a pretty good majority do so I don't think her assuming this mom would pay with food stamps was not that far out of line. Just reality.

Kind of like assuming that people who get daycare assistance are going to be unreliable. No they all aren't, but a good majority will be. (as many of us have learned.)

[KnoxMom]

I think the point was that the comment was not necessary. If I see a bald man in a pickup truck and a confederate flag I can make an easy assumption, but that doesn't mean I need to share it OR that it is correct. Some things are just better left unsaid whether or not the sterotype fits.

[Cradle2crayons]

I'm not sure about the economics of some areas but here, the worst foods for you are the cheapest... And that is was people on food stamps buy. I know because I was one of those people many years ago. Although I did try to buy some fruit etc, the cheapest way wasn't always the healthiest and 100 bucks of food stamps to feed three people at the time didn't go very far at all

[daycaremum]

I think it's sad that there is a thread about judging what another person had in their cart at the grocery store, regardless of what was in there. I guess there is no where to be safe from being judged.
I agree that many people are uneducated about healthful eating, but that's not my business and it doesn't make me sad.
I would be sad if someone I knew or loved were making poor choices. I just spend my time trying to make the best choices for my own family, choices which are not always easy to make or to maintain.
If I had an off day where I decided to stock up on snack foods and treats that we seldom purchase, I would hate to think someone was standing behind me feeling sorry for me and assuming I was uneducated about how to eat in a healthy way.
Maybe this lady eats this way all the time, so what.

[AmyKidsCo]

OMG were you behind my mother in law?!

I'm always saddened when I see families like that too, but many people don't know or don't believe that those kinds of foods are bad for you. Plus processed stuff is cheaper- you can get 2 boxes of Mac n Cheese for under $2 but can't get a bag of apples for that. A 2 liter of soda is $1 - milk is $3. Ever since food started to be seen as a commodity things have been messed up.

[craftymissbeth]

I think it's sad that there is a thread about judging what another person had in their cart at the grocery store, regardless of what was in there. I guess there is no where to be safe from being judged.
I agree that many people are uneducated about healthful eating, but that's not my business and it doesn't make me sad.
I would be sad if someone I knew or loved were making poor choices. I just spend my time trying to make the best choices for my own family, choices which are not always easy to make or to maintain.
If I had an off day where I decided to stock up on snack foods and treats that we seldom purchase, I would hate to think someone was standing behind me feeling sorry for me and assuming I was uneducated about how to eat in a healthy way.
Maybe this lady eats this way all the time, so what.

[sarahhardy2711]

My point is that people make bad choices no matter how little or how much money they have. Just because someone is on food stamps does NOT make them a bad parent who will feed their child crappy food. Parents of all backgrounds make good and bad choices. becuase they are human and humans aren't perfect.

So yeah -- taking a moment in someone's life and judging them on it is wrong -- but it is especially wrong when you throw in that because they aren't making a choice you approve of that they must be on food stamps. It's disgusting.

If your sister is so offended by the customers at her store using their food stamps for low quality food, maybe she shouldn't work at a grocery store that sells processed foods. Becuase I shop at Whole Foods, Costco, Trader Joe's, local farm stands, and farmers markets and I frequently see families using food stamps to purchase food.

So I'm not buying your opinion that it's "rare" that people on food stamps buy real food. I think that people on food stamps are just like everyone else -- they buy a mix of real foods and processed foods.

Becuase someone's financial ability to feed their family doesn't change who they are. It only means that they need to make do with less. So I think instead of judging them, you should maybe see if you can't help out by donating real foods to a local pantry or offering to buy $20 worth of produce for the single parent in line using food stamps.

I agree with everything you said! Some people should mind their own business more and judge less.

I believe that people on food stamps eat just like everyone else. A mix of real and processed food. The food stamps give them the ability to not have to miss a meal because they don't have the money to buy food. We all have things in our pantry we shouldn't, some more then others.

[preschoolteacher]

OMG were you behind my mother in law?!

Haha, Amy, do we have the same relatives?

It's so true that people either don't know or don't believe that eating this way is bad for you. I'm not talking about the occasional Oreo cookie every now and then. I mean eating a diet of all processed, fake "food" like the OP described.

As soon as I began feeding my son solids at 6 months, people began trying to feed him "juice" aka sugar-water, cookies, frosting, cake, chips, and so on. I never allowed it, but it always shocks me that people think it's okay to feed babies this way. They are growing and developing and deserve to eat healthier than even adults do. I really think if we feed kids healthy food, we can prevent lots of behavioral, learning, and health challenges.

One of my proudest moments as a mom so far has been when my little guy happily chowed down on quinoa, red peppers, and broccoli in front of our relatives who don't "believe in" health food. They couldn't believe he was eating so much and so happily. One grown adult even asked me what some of the stuff on his plate was... okay, maybe quinoa is a little uncommon in some places, but it made me laugh inside...!

[Sugar Magnolia]

So I'm at the grocery store.....woman is riding in one of the sit-down motorized shopping carts. She is easily 400 pound. She asked me for help reaching something on the top shelf of the freezer...6 (six!) boxes of Dove ice cream bars!

[mnemom]

The amount of judging in this thread is very disheartening.

[MNMommy2]

I don't agree with the "so what" comment at all. It is a big deal because she is teaching these eating habits to her kids, who will teach it to theirs, and so on. Childhood obesity is rampant and it is absolutely PREVENTABLE!!! People buying crap just gets the companies making the crap to come up with more ideas for more crap. I fear for my children and the food they are actually going to be able to purchase when they are grown. A bunch of genetically engineered crap. (I like that word today, apparently. But that is what it is.)

I do feed my kids some snacky things, but I am very careful about what they are. Few ingredients, or I make it myself. I will not let them eat that kind of stuff when they are here. I have been feeding them things like zucchini, asparagus, and brussel sprouts and they gobble them up.

It always makes me sad when my food lady comments on how great my menu is in comparison to others. One of the reasons I stay home is because I want to know that my kids aren't somewhere eating junk all day. When my niece and nephew tell me what they ate at daycare, I just shudder.

SOME people are choosing convenience (plain lazyness) over theirs and their kids health. Pure and simple. (Even loving parents feed kids bad food--I have seen it. Not saying they dont' LOVE their kids, just that they are uneducated about healthy food and thus make really bad choices!!)

[Cradle2crayons]

The amount of judging in this thread is very disheartening.

Amen :hug: