Food Snob

It is *so* easy to judge people in this situation. Why don't you take some time to find out how much in food stamps and other government buttistance she actually gets, then look at the prices for fresh foods in your local supermarket and think about the size of her family and how much it'd cost to feed them good, fresh foods every day. Even at the portions you'd consider "sensible".

Honestly, I think it's more of a culturally motivated difference than mere poverty. My grandmother, for instance, was Dominican born and always worked either factory or domestic jobs in this country. She cooked every day, although meals often consisted of rice, beans, vegetables and some meat. We rarely had junk food in the house because my mother and grandmother thought it frivolous and expensive. What about other immigrant groups stuck in low wage labor like Chinese, Vietnamese, Koreans, Mexicans and Indians-Pakistanis, just to name a few? Chances are that if there are women in those households, fresh and inexpensive foods are being cooked, even if it's just tortillas and frijoles or rice and daal.

Believe me, I'm no food snob and am far from rich. So, I'd probably approach her from the angle of saving money in the long-term if she'd learn to cook. I'd then teach her how to cook, probably couching it in an invitation to come over my house and help me cook.

My fiance cooks very well for me, but generally eats cheap convenience foods because she doesn't want to be bothered cooking two meals. When we can agree on what to eat together, I consider it especially celebratory. I see what she spends on processed foods and think it would be cheap for one person. But, if we had a family of four or ten, that would surely add up beyond what we could stretch out using fresh ingredients.

How much do you think it costs to make rice and beans palatable? Plenty of poor people manage to afford even a modest collection of spices and cooking implements. Even an Indian slum dweller can afford onions, garlic, chiles and other spices to put in her family's daal or poha.

Your depiction would make me want to shoot myself and end it all rather than kill myself gradually with munk food. I think good food, even from simple ingredients, can really change one's outlook on circumstances even by simply making one feel physically more nourished.

I agree with you here. Middle clbutt people can sure get judgmental when they can afford organic milk and eggs, free range chickens and mail ordered spices. I used to be able to afford all that before my ex wife left me financially desbreastute from her compulsive spending. Now, I can't buy free range and organic, and I frequently opt for frozen fruits and vegetables because of how I tend to use them. But, we have relatively few processed foods in our house and generally like it that way. My fiance, being "WASP" and Missouri raised, probably is used to more processed foods than I knew growing up. But, her parents also smoked meats and cultivated fruit and vegetable gardens. All in all, I'd teach this woman how to cook and turn her on to some cheap and tasty food that will make her feel better and excite her taste buds.

Orlando