So, the comments on this (correct) tweet make it clear that people don't really understand what 21st-century poverty looks like. This is going to be a thread of indeterminate length. https://twitter.com/raynefq/status/1283132759024603136

In order to eat a balanced healthful diet, there are three factors involved:

1) Money
2) Access
3) Time

The wealthier you are, the more likely you are to have all three. The poorer you are, the less likely you will have more than one (if you're lucky).

So. Working poor people often live very far from where they work. Some spend up to 4 hours a day commuting to and from work.

That's a lot of time. Commuting is exhausting & not active. By the time you finally get home, you likely don't have a lot of energy for food prep. Maybe you scored a deal on a bulk pack of something frozen or otherwise processed that's maybe not terribly nutritious, but filling.

Maybe you grabbed something from a fast food place with a coupon on your way home. Couple slices of walk-in pizza, for example. The goal is to stay upright long enough to deal with household duties (which may include parenting), so you need fuel, and any quick fix will do.

Maybe your neighbourhood exists under food apartheid (formerly known as a food desert): low-income neighbourhoods have less access to grocery stores. In many communities, Dollarama has stepped in to fill this void.

If you're poor, this commute to work is often done on transit. Which means you likely don't have a car, which means you can't drive 20 minutes to nearest grocery store. So, you go to the walkable Dollarama for staples. Not a lot of selection for produce or low-processed proteins.

Ingredients to make meals? Can absolutely be cheaper than prepared and processed foods. But, without the time and energy to prepare the ingredients, your produce rots before you have a chance to eat it. Your "cheap" food becomes expensive because it went uneaten.

(through no fault of your own, because you are doing your absolute best!)

In order to cook with "whole" foods, you need the money to pay for the ingredients, the time and energy & space to prepare the food, and reasonable access to purchase it in the first place. You may be able to manage with two out of the three. If you only have one? Not happening.

Now, what about this neighbourhood again?

Well, a lot of low-income neighbhourhoods don't have sidewalks. No safe place to for longer walks or runs. No cycling infrastructure. And, you're commuting up to 4 hours a day, sedentary.

If you're Black, Indigenous, visibly Muslim, you may avoid doing exercise outside because of legitimate fears of neighbour and/or police violence being used on you simply because you dared to be not white and outside.

Exercise inside?

Maybe. But if you're poor, chances are you don't have space to exercise inside your home. And you can't afford a gym membership.

Being thin, and fit, and healthy is absolutely a sign of wealth in 21C Canadian society.

I hope this helps you see that more clearly.

Apologies for hijacking, @raynefq. This is one of those topics I just can't walk past without saying something.