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Comment by nmodu | Hacker News Reader

> Food is dirt cheap compared to housing, especially if you shop smart.

Don't be ridiculous. Have you ever tried to buy food on a minimum wage budget? If you want to eat anything that has even a modicum of nutritional value, minimum wage won't get you much.

I'm not suggesting that expensive/organic food is worth it's price. Nor am I suggesting that minimum wage should be raised to the point where everyone could afford to shop at Whole Foods. But if you honestly believe that the author is wrong when he writes "it's still difficult for people working low wage jobs to afford food", then you need a reality check.

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If you want to eat anything that has even a modicum of nutritional value, minimum wage won't get you much.

Sure it will; it just won't get you much in the way of enjoyable food. People mostly don't like living on beans and lentils; but you can get sufficient essential nutrients from unappetizing foods like that for a few dollars a day.

Please note that I am not saying anyone should have to live on beans and lentils; I'd be no good at it myself. But we should be clear that the problem is not "getting enough to eat"; the problem is "getting enough to eat with some kind of decent quality of life".

I've lived almost my entire adult life on a minimum wage budget (and/or close to it).

I think it really depends a lot on where you live. I live in NYC now, and fruits and vegetables here are about 75% cheaper than when I lived in the midwest. I can get a pound of blackberries for $2, when I'd pay probably double that for just a few ounces of them in my home state. Takeout is almost as cheap as cooking (filling, tasty meal for $4-5), which helps drives down costs when you're exhausted and don't have any more energy left to make something.

Whole Foods? Jesus Christ.

If you want cheap, healthy food, try shopping in some of ethnic stores in lower income neighborhoods. That's what I do. I can walk out of the local Asian grocery store with enough food for 2 for a week and it costs me about $50. It's mostly vegetables.

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