Let them eat (organic) cake, or maybe get takeout
Posted
Apr 23 2008, 12:08 PM
by
Donna Freedman
I had to laugh when I read a recent Seattle Times article, "The crunch of rising food prices." There's nothing funny about its subject: Americans are paying a lot more for groceries. It was the newspaper's choice of real-life examples that caused my sardonic chuckle.
One was a woman who spends a total of $700 a month at three different supermarkets to feed her family, which includes two small children. Presumably she's a stay-at-home mom; her husband is a technical analyst for an engineering firm. The article noted that she's "disappointed that she can't afford to buy organic milk and produce as often anymore."
The other interviewee, a single mother of four, is director of development for a major nonprofit organization. Not only did her kids have to do without skiing and movies this winter, she needed to eliminate takeout food two nights a week. "Long term, who knows? We might have to plan meals based on what's on sale in the store," she said.
Welcome to the real world, ladies. And hey, Seattle Times: Do you ever talk to people who don't look like you?
Voluntary vs. involuntary simplicity
First, let me say that I am not dismissing these women's concerns per se. They're caring parents who want what's best for their families. But they have a lot more wiggle room than many Americans.
The first not only has the luxury of cruising three different markets, she also has as much as $700 to spend each month. Contrast that with a Smart Spending message board thread called "Family of six grocery bill," started by a woman who spends $450 a month for food, toiletries and paper products for her six-person household -- and she lives off the beaten track, so food isn't cheap.
Or look at it this way: Someone earning the federal minimum wage of $5.85 an hour might also have about $700 a month -- to live on.
As for the mom who had to nix movies, skiing and takeout: Yes, your kids will miss these activities, and heaven knows takeout is easier than cooking when you're a working parent. But apparently you still don't have trouble paying for groceries, because you were quoted as saying you had to "cut back on" meals away from home, rather than cutting them out entirely.
Oh, and planning menus based on supermarket sales? A lot of us do that automatically. I refer to it as being a "frugalvore."
The hardest hit are invisible
When I wrote the "Surviving (and thriving) on $12,000 a year" article for MSN Money, some people claimed this was a scam. Nobody could really live on that little, they said.
How out of touch are some people? Don't they know that some Americans live on less?
Well, of course they don't know, because journalists tend to divide people into two groups: the ones who look like them, and Those Other People. The ones who look like them have decent salaries and health insurance. They've never had the utilities turned off. When they worry, it tends to be about things like "Which college will my kids attend?" or "Can I retire early?" They can afford to have one parent stay home with the children; even when it's a sacrifice, the fact is they can afford it. When they embrace frugality it's a trend, not a necessity.
Those Other People are the ones who get interviewed while waiting in line at food banks, day-labor companies and Toys for Tots holiday giveaways. They don't make much money, their jobs are not secure and they can't afford homes of their own. It doesn't take much to unbalance their budgets; a sick kid or a minor car repair can mean the difference between making the rent and resorting to a payday loan. Frugality is not a lark, but a survival strategy.
People in the first group tend to be the ones who get interviewed for articles about issues like child rearing, mortgages, schools, health care -- and rising food prices. The second group gets thrown in as a contrast: Do you visit the emergency pantry more this year?
I sure would like to see a feature about how the latest surge in bread prices has hit Joe Lunchbox. Or some articles about "two-career" couples whose service-industry paychecks barely cover rent and utilities. I'd even settle for the clichéd "heat or eat?" interviews with seniors.
"Disappointed that she can't afford to buy organic milk and produce as often anymore"? Some people can't buy any milk or produce. Nobody's writing about them, though.
