THE POOR MIDDLE CLASS NUTRITION CRISIS

 

Why This Post Is Called A Nutrition Crisis Rather Than A Food Crisis
The Poor Middle Class Nutrition crisis is due to the lack of healthy, nutritious, especially locally grown food. It is not as much about the availability of food itself. There are plenty of sources for cheap, empty calorie items. But access to affordable, healthy, local food is a the root of the Poor Middle Class Nutrition Crisis. The major food challenges for the Poor Middle Class are:
• having access to healthy food
• affording to eat healthy food
• eating enough nutritionally rich food
• staying healthy by being able to eat healthfully

Nutrition Crisis
Food Tank Suggests Community Gardens To Solve Health Issues

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Challenges & Solutions to the Poor Middle Class Nutrition Crisis
The following tools for accessing food have both pros and cons. The one thing they have in common is the added expense of time. Some involve monetary cost. Others are financially free. There is always a trade-off. This can also require a significant adjustment in lifestyle if one is used to supermarket shopping for quick and easy access. Here are some suggested alternatives that are mainstream or government sponsored:

• Buy In Bulk

• Use Store & Brand Coupons

• Barter & Exchange Products

• Get WIC & Farmers Market Coupons

• Go To Food Pantries

• Collect Food Stamps

 

Here are Alternative Lifestyle Means of Obtaining Food

• Grow Your Own from seeds and food scraps-Here is a post about starting a community garden.

nutrition crisis
10 Steps To Starting a Community Garden from the American Community Garden Association

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Go Dumpster Diving-This food was retrieved from dumpster diving

nutrition crisis
My Facebook Page, Resources for The Middle Class Poor

• Foraging for Food is making use of nature’s bounty, free for the taking, with gratitude. Be sure you are a pro or are foraging with a pro. You want to pick healthy not deadly items.

• Farm your own chickens for eggs, cows for milk and goats for milk

• Make Your Own Essentials and Seasonal Treats with fermentation, canning and other wholesome preserving techniques.Here is a great alternative. It is the Afro Jam story. I just love their graphics.

nutrition crisis
A Detroit Urban Farm Preserves Black History In Jam Form by Martina Guzman

• Kill Your Own Food-This is a controversial but reasonable alternative. It is probably the cleanest source of animal protein, fish and fowl. It certainly is much harder to obtain than at the supermarket. But you know exactly where it comes from. It also brings us much closer to nature in relationship with the animal that has died for us to survive.

nutrition crisis
Why We Should All Be Ethical Carnivores Now by Louise Gray from Slow Food USA

The Issue of Hunger
In addition to the existence of a nutrition crisis, there are people who go hungry in this country. Each of these crises is unique. Here is a short list about hunger and health:
• hunger is the result of a lack of food
• health is the result of a lack of healthy food
• accessibility and availability are issues
• poverty and homelessness can be a contributing factor
• food waste is a very serious contributor to food insecurity

nutritional crisis
Food Insecurity and Food Waste Are Opposite Sides of the Same Coin from The John Oliver Show

 

 

 

 

Sources & Resources
10 Steps to Starting A Community GardenUPDATE: Man Who Broke Into Restaurant, Ate Food, Urinated in Garbage Can Won’t Face Charges

Trump: 43 million Americans on food stamps By Nadia Pflaum from www.politifact.com

Why we should all be ethical carnivours now

The Slow Food Movement

Slow Food Manifesto

Joy Bilee Farmg

The Homestead Hippie

Homesteading on Facebook

Cambridge Sustainable Food

Grow Your Own Food from Food Scraps

A Detroit Urban Farm Preserves Black History In Jam

Food Waste In America According to the John Oliver Show

Millenials Fuel UK Food Waste Mountain

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POOR MIDDLE CLASS THRIFTY SHOPPING TOOLS

 

Thrifty Shopping Tools
Poor middle class thrifty shopping tools are part of my financial survival toolkit. My toolkit is filled with tools that I have discovered and tools that others have shared with me. By participating in this process, we are all part of a financial survival support community.

This blog post is part of the series, The Poor Middle Class Crisis. Most of the thrifty shopping tools that I describe in this post and have added to my Poor Middle Class Financial Survival Toolkit come directly from a dear friend of mine, Danny Eitingon. He is very much part of my financial survival support community.

Using The Financial Survival Toolkit
Thrifty shopping tools from a financial survival toolkit can help many other poor middle class people survive, as well. Sharing this information is how we can help each other to survive. Not only do I welcome and appreciate input to fill my toolkit with but we also all benefit from sharing tools with each other. This give and take can helpful for everyone. In fact, it is why I call this exchange a financial survival support community.

poor middle class thrifty shopping tips
The Financial Survival Toolkit for All My Finaincial Survival Tools Is from the Viper Tool Storage Company

 

A Financial Survival Support Community
Thrifty shopping tools are intended to help Poor Middle Class people. In addition, these tools are prudent for use by people who are still middle class. Becoming an educated consumer is especially important now. We can all benefit from being part of a financial survival support community. We take tools when we need them. Then we add tools when we can spare them. The following tools that have been shared with me and added to my Poor Middle Class Financial Survival Toolkit.

Product Tools
Shop at Dollar Stores
• Shop at the dollar store for short-life items. For example, you can buy soap, napkins, toilet paper, shampoo, paper towels, etc. There are many perfectly decent products, including environmentally friendly ones, that really do only cost a dollar!

Save on Gas
• Go to Gas Buddy to find the cheapest gas in your neighborhood.

thrifty shopping tips
Not your usual ‘Piggy Bank’. This is one made out of a plastic laundry liquid bottle. From diytag.com

Alternatives to Expensive, New Furniture, Household Items and Clothing
• Consider a buckwheat mattress
• Acquire wooden furniture like tables, dressers, desks from places like the Salvation Army
• Shop thrift stores for good quality, second hand, even vintage clothes

Buy In Bulk
• If you are shopping for a large family or need large quantities and have the storage space, join Costco, Sam’s Club or BJ’s for less than $50/yr. You can save hundreds, possibly thousands per year buying in large quantities or bulk.

Buy Store Brands
• Try store-brand rather than name brand products. Many are significantly cheaper. In addition, quality is very often not compromised. This is especially true with cleaning products and other household items.

• Recycle soda bottles, cans and water bottles
You will be surprised by how much change you can accumulate using this simple thrifty shopping tip.

Services Tips
Negotiate on Utilities
• Contact your Internet service provider, telephone, and other utility providers every six months. That way you find out if the they are offering less expensive plans than you currently have. Sometimes, you can achieve significant savings by contacting your utility companies on a regular basis. Try to negotiate more economical plans.

thrifty shopping tips
Credit Cards from Linkedin.com

Compare Credit Card Rates
• Check your credit card companies on a regular basis. See if they’re offering new cards with lower interest rates or better rewards programs than the one you have. Banks will not automatically transfer your account to a lower-interest or better reward credit card. Instead, they will let you cancel your existing card and apply for a new one.

Join Credit Unions
• Join credit unions instead of banks. Their interest rates and fees tend to be significantly lower than banks. Credit unions offer the same exact products and services as banks. In fact, credit union customer service is often significantly better.

Get Online Savings
• Subscribe to online savings (21st Century coupon clipping)
Many companies offer discount programs if you provide them with an email address or text number.

thrifty shopping tips
Shop At Home – Coupons and Discounts

Save on Car Insurance
• Shop around at least once every 12-18 months for cheaper car insurance. This is especially important if you have an excellent driving record and/or are a senior. Significant savings can be realized by changing car insurance from time to time.

Compare Service Contractor Costs
• Always shop around for service contractors of any kind, e.g. plumbers, carpenters, electricians, car repair, etc. The competition among trade contractors can be fierce, but make sure you check out their reviews before hiring one. Angie’s List or similar services can be very helpful in this regard.

Subscribe to Consumer Reports

• Subscribe to Consumer Reports to check out their product reviews. Their research on the quality and value of appliances, electronics, and cars is really reliable. It can save you a lot of money in the long run.

thrifty shopping tips
The January 2017 Issue of Consumer Reports

 

 

 

Sources & Resources

My Financial Survival Toolkit

Amazon Prime

Consumer Reports

Credit Unions

Comparing Car Insurance Rates

Gas Buddy

Buy In Bulk

The Elite Core Alliance-My 1Dollar Business

Bitcoin

Shop At Home – Online Coupons and Discounts

Product Expiration Dates Why buy an expensive one if it is supposed to be replaced so soon.

Senior Discount Ultimate Guide from Deal Hack

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