Over 30 forum?

[Aeradalia]

Are you kidding? Health food is the cheapest. I spend no more than $10 on vegetables that last me the whole week and salads make up half of my meals. People who don't eat healthy are just lazy.

Vegetables tend to do poorly in a packback in 90+ degree weather. They also bring about food poisoning and other problems on the street. Trust me... for the impoverished on the street or in filthier conditions... 'health food' is not cheaper.

Also... it's a lot easier to steal candies than fruits and vegetables as one is far more available than the other (i.e. convenience stores.. etc.).. so once again, it's more readily available to the impoverished.

Then finally, people are more apt to give out junk food and canned goods to the homeless (which spoil quickly when opened) than they are any other foods for some reason.

When I was homeless... something with sugar was more or less the staple diet as it held out longer, was easier to find, and less likely to make you sick.

[IndiReloaded]

Then finally, people are more apt to give out junk food and canned goods to the homeless (which spoil quickly when opened) than they are any other foods for some reason.

I tried to give a homeless fellow a beautiful bag of Granny Smith apples. He didn't want it. Took my Cape Cod chips, tho.

[Aeradalia]

I tried to give a homeless fellow a beautiful bag of Granny Smith apples. He didn't want it. Took my Cape Cod chips, tho.

They last longer... easier to ration... and hold more value with others when you need to trade for something better.

[Mish]

Vegetables tend to do poorly in a packback in 90+ degree weather. They also bring about food poisoning and other problems on the street. Trust me... for the impoverished on the street or in filthier conditions... 'health food' is not cheaper.

Vegetables last much longer than any other type of food you can use for nourishment. Definitely much longer than junk food.

If I was homeless and made $5-$10 a day from begging there's no way I'd eat anything else. I think it comes down to personal choice like Indi mentioned. They choose chips over apples because they fill you up faster not because of their monetary value, they are not thinking about the long term effects.

[bluesummer]

I don't know, it costs me more to buy the veggies for a salad than to buy a meal at McDonalds (not that I eat it).

[Illusional]

Are you kidding? Health food is the cheapest. I spend no more than $10 on vegetables that last me the whole week and salads make up half of my meals. People who don't eat healthy are just lazy.

the thing about vegetables is that they don't keep you satisfied for very long. i must eat atleast 4-5 times a day and this is without considering my drinking sessions.

raverboy

[Illusional]

Vegetables last much longer than any other type of food you can use for nourishment. Definitely much longer than junk food.

If I was homeless and made $5-$10 a day from begging there's no way I'd eat anything else.

if i were homeless, i'd hit up the dollar menu like it was a wheel of fortune machine in vegas.

raverboy

[IndiReloaded]

Do homeless people ever steal the macadamia packets people leave outside their houses?

[Illusional]

i dunno, i've never heard of anyone that leaves macadamia nuts outside their houses.

raverboy

[IndiReloaded]

What? When we were on the Big Island, there were houses that left bags of macadamias at a kiosk outside their house. $3 a bag, honour system. It was in the hills north of Kona...

[Illusional]

hrmm... well in that case, they probably had a tree and these bags were their access. i've heard of people doing that with mango and other various fruits. being that they had an access of nuts i'm sure that they were out in the country side where there probably weren't many homeless if anything.

from what i've heard though, this hasn't happened to my knowledge, but then again, i think that i've only been to kona like twice.

raverboy

[IndiReloaded]

Excess mango. You live in paradise. I have a couple cherry trees and some blackberry bushes.

[Illusional]

haha well.. mango is only one thing... there are other fruits that also come in excess.. one would be lychee. how many of you people have tried fresh lychee??

raverboy

[Primo]

Geez, I'm not starting threads anymore :-P

[Aeradalia]

If I was homeless and made $5-$10 a day from begging there's no way I'd eat anything else. I think it comes down to personal choice like Indi mentioned. They choose chips over apples because they fill you up faster not because of their monetary value, they are not thinking about the long term effects.

Hard to focus on eating healthy when you're hungry all the time, uncertain about the future, lacking in dignity, stinking to high heaven, and people look at you like you're something they scraped off their shoes.

Btw, it's very difficult to collect $5-$10 a day (at least in Dallas it was) as the police tend to constantly move the homeless from one place to another. Also when you do finally find a place that does hand out sufficient money, that's when the assholes show up and run off the 'decent folk' by being pushy or damn near nuts.

It's easy to assume all the things you'll do or how things should be when you've never had to actually face such a delimma. Intelligent or not... people don't give out fruits and vegetables very often, they don't store well, they're not desired by anyone you could trade with, and they will make you sick from salmonella poisoning if you keep them around for too long. Anything that needs to be cooked or kept cool is definitely out of the question unless you have reliable ties to someone who can provide those luxuries for you -- and then you have to wonder, at what cost?

It's not about the monetary value of the food... it's about the street value. And "health food" has almost no street value, whereas junk food does. A bag of chips can get you some smokes, some smokes can get you some money, and that little bit of money help you to get a new backpack, clothes, bus pass or whatever else you need -- or more junk food for trading. I managed to get my hands on a hersey bar when I was on the street... traded that for a week long bus pass so I could get to the shelters that were dotted across town.