that's the big problem in the US, poor areas typically don't have grocery stores close by so the only options for food are fast food or convenience stores that sell shit like rahmen noodles which is dirt cheap - typically like 35 cents a pack, cheaper than a pack of bubblegum.
I don't get this. Why aren't there any supermarkets, just corner shops?
I don't live in the states, but maybe companies aren't willing to move into areas where there'd be a shit ton of criminal damage done to the place, and shoplifting and theft? Tons of good people live in disadvantaged areas, but tons of assholes too.
So how much does a meal of instant noodles cost?
Edit: /me reads above
35 cents a pack? You could get more potatoes for that price :P
yeah, the problem I mentioned above is you'd have to go to a grocery store. Partially because of crime but mostly because it isn't profitable, grocery stores have fled poor areas. It's called a food desert. Apparently it is (or was) a problem in the UK because that's where the term originated.
from wikipedia (snip):
"Land-use policies that facilitate development of predominantly wealthy and white suburban neighborhoods have altered the distribution of food stores. In the interest of profitability, larger supermarkets have followed this trend and are most prevalent in these white suburban neighborhoods (Morland, 2002). Prevalence of food deserts in poorer neighborhoods is driven by lack of consumer demand, as the poor have less money to spend on healthful, nutritious food"
The secondary issue is that supermarkets need a lot of land, and simply aren't able to set up shop in many neighbourhoods, as land is not available, or if it is available, construction is often actively blocked by people with varying agendas.
I've had this conversation on other boards before and sometimes directly with people who grew up poor. Sometimes it's a 2 hour bus ride to get to a proper grocery store. After working 2 jobs, it's unreasonable to expect someone to do that. Poor people barely have time to work and sleep and take care of their kids, never mind riding the bus for hours to get better food.
geezus. this is pretty bad though. You'd think people in some poor 3rd world country wouldn't have supermarkets around, but in the developed world it shouldn't be like this. Anyway, if there's no grocer or supermarket - where do you get ramen from? Fill up the trunk of the car with it (although if you have a car...?) on the monthly supermarket run?
I remember driving through some areas of Miami where every shop had huge metal bars in front of the windows, although there was an economy there and shoppers around.
I've also seen poor areas here in China, but they're just poor and there's still an economy there and people selling food. But a place where there's no shop around to buy even some veggies? That's tough. That's hard to imagine, especially when you hear it's like this in the US.
I've also seen poor areas here in China, but they're just poor and there's still an economy there and people selling food. But a place where there's no shop around to buy even some veggies? That's tough. That's hard to imagine, especially when you hear it's like this in the US.
suburbs are pretty terrible for groceries as far as I can tell.
I was living in Burnaby, Canada a few years ago, and every grocery shopping meant either 20 minutes bus ride to the closest chain store, or taking a skytrain to a huge department store two metro stops away. that 20 minutes could easily turn an hour due to weather or some other stuff.
the only 7-11 in a walking distance (that I actually was lucky to live nearby - the next 7-11 was like 3-4 miles away) was mostly selling junk foods, soda and magazines.
and I would imagine there're areas with worse coverage (or total lack of) public transport.
Europe and Asia are imo way better developed in that regards + local stores have more competition, not to mention lower prices and more healthy food choices.
Not to be a turd in the hamper here, but all of the major supermarkets here in the UK do home delivery for the same price (and sometimes less) than a physical shop done by yourself.
Is there not a similar scheme in the US? ASDA have a particularly good one and they are owned by the Wall Mart group =/
Although, I suppose the difficulty lies in actually being at the house to receive it.
Some chains only deliver 09:00 to 18:00 on weekdays, as well as having a vague 5-hour window within which they 'might' show up.
Now that's an uplifting article... I guess we just need to play with the cards we're dealt.
I could share a few stories of my school times, but I wont cos I rather leave that kinda shit in the past and forget it, but not entirely, because you need to taste the sour to be able to appreciate the sweet.
Ultimately, it's incredibly satisfying to look back at your past, where you were, how you lived, and compare it to your present and bright future.
They deliver to your house for free? No, we have nothing like that here. At all.
I heard Kevin Smith talking about getting groceries delivered on his podcast, so they have it out in parts of California at least.
I'm white & live in the suburbs, I'm minutes away from Wal-Mart, Target, Sam's Club, and HEB.
If you live in a poor area you probably have to shop at convenience stores, small shops that stock snacks and other sundries that have long shelf lives - like rahmen noodles.
They had home delivery in south florida. super convenient for the car less student.
They even have home delivery here in china too, which is nice. (There's also booze delivery, but that's a different thing lol) And then there's a Tesco Express across the street and a greengrocer... and a 7/11 with ramen (I'm sick of those - I ate too many of them, but I'm not sure if they're cheaper than in the US)
Peapods covers a very small area and I can't get into the site without signing up but I'm going to wager that it isn't free.
I think I should have said, "We don't have that sort of thing on a mega chain level here." Sure, there will be some smaller stores that might do it or some services but on a whole? No.
They deliver to your house for free? No, we have nothing like that here. At all.
Not free, but for similar price to what it would cost in petrol/bus fare. It's a really good service, next day delivery and any out of stock items usually are replaced by bigger packs/better quality product for the same price as what you ordered. Very rarely is there things completely missing
Not to be a turd in the hamper here, but all of the major supermarkets here in the UK do home delivery for the same price (and sometimes less) than a physical shop done by yourself.
You have to pay around £6 for delivery on the ones I've seen, which is a heck of a lot of money when your weekly budget is about £20.
On the other hand, if prices in a cornerstore are twice as high as a supermarket (IIRC I read £0.11->$0.17 versus $0.35) it's a net savings. And like Dustin said, you don't have to go yourself which saves time and money.
You have to pay around £6 for delivery on the ones I've seen, which is a heck of a lot of money when your weekly budget is about £20.
If I recall, any shop over £10 with ASDA is free delivery (or something to that effect).
Worth knowing if you're unable to get to the store one week
Edit: You know what, I just looked it up and have no idea where I got that figure from.
You generally have to pick a delivery slot and different slots cost different amounts. Delivery seems to average at around £3.
I've never shopped with ASDA as there never seems to be one nearby. Tesco and Sainsburys do free delivery on orders over £40, and delivery is about £6. The other trouble is that you have to be in to recieve it, and the slots are often limited. When I was at uni, I'd be in from 9-6 every day and couldn't use it anyway.
Poor guy, sounds like he went through a lot of crap.
Studied animation a few years back at West London College which used to be TVU - we thought it should be renamed to 'TFU' (Totally F**cking useless). Our student halls were pretty luxurious, we had a swish single room with adjoining bathroom, internet and other cool stuff, people still found a way to bitch about it though
Replies
Tru dat.
I don't get this. Why aren't there any supermarkets, just corner shops?
Edit: /me reads above
35 cents a pack? You could get more potatoes for that price :P
yeah, the problem I mentioned above is you'd have to go to a grocery store. Partially because of crime but mostly because it isn't profitable, grocery stores have fled poor areas. It's called a food desert. Apparently it is (or was) a problem in the UK because that's where the term originated.
from wikipedia (snip):
"Land-use policies that facilitate development of predominantly wealthy and white suburban neighborhoods have altered the distribution of food stores. In the interest of profitability, larger supermarkets have followed this trend and are most prevalent in these white suburban neighborhoods (Morland, 2002). Prevalence of food deserts in poorer neighborhoods is driven by lack of consumer demand, as the poor have less money to spend on healthful, nutritious food"
I remember driving through some areas of Miami where every shop had huge metal bars in front of the windows, although there was an economy there and shoppers around.
I've also seen poor areas here in China, but they're just poor and there's still an economy there and people selling food. But a place where there's no shop around to buy even some veggies? That's tough. That's hard to imagine, especially when you hear it's like this in the US.
suburbs are pretty terrible for groceries as far as I can tell.
I was living in Burnaby, Canada a few years ago, and every grocery shopping meant either 20 minutes bus ride to the closest chain store, or taking a skytrain to a huge department store two metro stops away. that 20 minutes could easily turn an hour due to weather or some other stuff.
the only 7-11 in a walking distance (that I actually was lucky to live nearby - the next 7-11 was like 3-4 miles away) was mostly selling junk foods, soda and magazines.
and I would imagine there're areas with worse coverage (or total lack of) public transport.
Europe and Asia are imo way better developed in that regards + local stores have more competition, not to mention lower prices and more healthy food choices.
Is there not a similar scheme in the US? ASDA have a particularly good one and they are owned by the Wall Mart group =/
Although, I suppose the difficulty lies in actually being at the house to receive it.
Some chains only deliver 09:00 to 18:00 on weekdays, as well as having a vague 5-hour window within which they 'might' show up.
I could share a few stories of my school times, but I wont cos I rather leave that kinda shit in the past and forget it, but not entirely, because you need to taste the sour to be able to appreciate the sweet.
Ultimately, it's incredibly satisfying to look back at your past, where you were, how you lived, and compare it to your present and bright future.
I heard Kevin Smith talking about getting groceries delivered on his podcast, so they have it out in parts of California at least.
I'm white & live in the suburbs, I'm minutes away from Wal-Mart, Target, Sam's Club, and HEB.
If you live in a poor area you probably have to shop at convenience stores, small shops that stock snacks and other sundries that have long shelf lives - like rahmen noodles.
PeaPods delivers groceries to your door.
They even have home delivery here in china too, which is nice. (There's also booze delivery, but that's a different thing lol) And then there's a Tesco Express across the street and a greengrocer... and a 7/11 with ramen (I'm sick of those - I ate too many of them, but I'm not sure if they're cheaper than in the US)
I think I should have said, "We don't have that sort of thing on a mega chain level here." Sure, there will be some smaller stores that might do it or some services but on a whole? No.
Not free, but for similar price to what it would cost in petrol/bus fare. It's a really good service, next day delivery and any out of stock items usually are replaced by bigger packs/better quality product for the same price as what you ordered. Very rarely is there things completely missing
You have to pay around £6 for delivery on the ones I've seen, which is a heck of a lot of money when your weekly budget is about £20.
Worth knowing if you're unable to get to the store one week
Edit: You know what, I just looked it up and have no idea where I got that figure from.
You generally have to pick a delivery slot and different slots cost different amounts. Delivery seems to average at around £3.
Studied animation a few years back at West London College which used to be TVU - we thought it should be renamed to 'TFU' (Totally F**cking useless). Our student halls were pretty luxurious, we had a swish single room with adjoining bathroom, internet and other cool stuff, people still found a way to bitch about it though