If you need $20 dollars spare as the first step, and to continue to use electricity to power the thing as the second - it isn't accessible. Also - did it even cross your mind that if they could afford it, they would get one? It's not like rice cookers are this secret tool only a select few know about..

Seriously, I get that it can be hard to imagine conditions we haven't personally experienced, but it can't be that hard to understand what "dirt poor" actually means, nor to accept that poor people aren't poor by choice, nor are they surviving on cereals because they have better options they're just not utilising as well as you think you would in their shoes, which you are not, and clearly have never been, in.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

Thanks for assuming a ton there, asshole.

I have been there. I have scraped together coins I could find to buy a single pound of dry pasta, to eat it plain. Repeatedly.

Money is not such an issue for me these days, but depression is. I know how hard it can be to do the minimal steps to make food.

I understand how precious time, money, and energy can be. I have eaten cereal and the like for plenty of meals I shouldn't have, and have always regretted it.

There are better options.

A $20 rice cooker is the same as like 5 boxes of cereal. If you are too money pressed, but have some time, one can likely be found nearly free at a thrift store or yard sale, or you can cook rice or pasta in a pot instead.

If you don't have access to a cooking surface, we're getting to houselessness territory, which is a huge problem and is affecting far too many people, but is beyond just being poor or not having time.

Edit: And if all that is too much, you can eat cold beans from a can. I have done this as well. It's not great, but it's a better option than cereal still.

[–] UNWILLING_PARTICIPANT 1 points 9 months ago

I'm happy that no matter how bad things were for you that you had the wherewithal to feed yourself properly. It doesn't sound like you've experienced a lot of privilege, but that is one area where you can count yourself fortunate.

Similarly, I've been homeless but I always made sure that I could get some food into me somewhere. Usually shelters, soup kitchens, food banks

[–] [email protected] 11 points 9 months ago (2 children)

A box of cereal is like $6 and all sugar. It will provide 3-4 bowls of cereal for that price, with no actual nutrition. If you can afford a box of cereal a day, you can live on instant noodles instead for like 3 days and have the 20 for a brand new rice cooker. Or just go to the thrift store.

Cereal is not a poor person food. It is not nutritious, cheap, or filling. It is an expensive box of sugar. I get that it can be hard to imagine conditions we haven't personally experienced, but it can't be THAT hard to do basic math and put yourself in that situation for one second to understand that eating cereal for every meal is not cheap or sustainable.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Is there a word for mansplaining to poor people? Because that's how that came off.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 9 months ago (1 children)

nah I've been eating from bins poor and you can also just eat beans from the can cold. I'm not saying you'll love life but you can survive around a year before serious deficiencies and it's much much much cheaper per calorie than cereal.

Importantly it also has proteins so you can actually keep working/moving around etc. You can basically only sell your body (begging, stealing, sex work, or labor) at that point so you need it to work.

Rice is bulk and calories but stale bread from supermarket bins is free and can be eaten cold. Steal bolt cutters from the back of a car at a job site and you're golden for getting into supermarket bins.

[–] UNWILLING_PARTICIPANT 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I didn't even grow to that poor, but knew people who ate worse just because the battle of everyday life took every last ounce of gumption they had.

Luckily my ma knew about food and cooking, so we did alright, but I had a lot of little friends who were totally totally lost when it came to feeding themselves.

Hell right now I know middle aged men pulling six figures who are hurting nutritionally, and it's like impossible to educate them to a better way to take care of themselves, despite money not actually being an issue

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Yeah, I guess I was lucky in some ways because my family coming from Polish invasion survivors meant that I was raised with a strong emphasis on healthy peasant food. My grandparents in particularly always made sure we ate heartily, so when I was on my own for a bit and had to survive I knew that I needed crap like veggie stews and not instant noodles.

When I went to uni it was baffling sneaking in to the student accomodation to visit my girlfriend and seeing rich kids with literal fucking scurvy and shopping carts full of pasta and mince + instant noodles. Like friends, please eat a carrot.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

That's a great last sentence, I might start using.

Friend please eat a carrot.

[–] Jakeroxs 2 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Nah it's like $4 max or you go with generic, and it sure as shit is more then 3-4 bowls lmfao

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago

Even generics are more expensive than that now a days. It's like 5 plus taxes for the small box or generics.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 months ago

That's $20 brand new. If you get it used you can find some either for free or next to nothing. I don't think it's a cost thing, I think it's an accessibility thing.

Also, Kellogg isn't a budget cereal brand. If you're so poor you can't afford a few dollars for a ride cooker then you shouldn't be buying Kellogg. Actually, nobody should be buying Kellogg because it's all the same cereal except for marketing.