What job is this that you can't bring your food with you? I've worked in some pretty remote places in some pretty shitty environments all the way to middle of a metropolis with a bunch of suits and I've been able to always plan ahead and bring something to eat if I can't go out.

If you can't heat your food up then don't pack something you need to heat up. If your food needs to be warm to eat and it doesn't go inside a Thermos then don't bring it or learn to eat it cold.

Life's hard. Deal with it.

There seems to be a strange subconscious myth, in the US anyway, that you must have a "hot meal" every day or you are being nutritionally deprived somehow. I say subconscious because no one ever defends the point directly or explains what the benefit is.

This comes up a lot in political discussions of child hunger and school lunch programs. "X millions of children don't get even one hot meal a day!"

It's more about what cold meals stereotypically are--some processed cereal, two slices of wonderbread with some bread and ham in them--that drive that rhetoric. Sure, a cold corn and arugula quinoa salad is certainly much healthier than the vast majority of meals, hot or cold. But on average hot meals are likely slightly better.

You got me - I have never been poor and have always found time to eat healthily. But let me explain my thinking:

If I wanted to make more time -

- I would give up all TV.

- I would give up all internet, magazines and newspapers, except when commuting.

- I would approach all my neighbours to see if I could car pool to get to work quicker, or if my kids could car pool with theirs to get to and from school without needing me.

- I would try to move into a smaller, cheaper house that has a quicker route to work.

- I would try to move into a smaller, cheaper house that takes a little longer to get to work then cut down the hours I work.

- I would try to switch jobs to reduce my commute time.

- I would try to spend less money on clothes, kids toys, holidays, movies, furniture, TVs, etc and cut down the hours I work.

I think the vast majority of people in the UK - even poor people - have at least one of the above options available to them.

Have you ever tried to feed kids brussel sprouts? That alone would require more effort than it was worth to cook them.

I'm not poor, but I've definitely gone through a rough period or two in my past. During those periods I managed to eat pretty healthy, but it required a fairly decent amount of planning, and there were days when I had to make due with a cup of rice or nothing at all to make the budget work. I am talking about situations where I did not have enough money in the bank account on the day rent was due, and the credit cards were already maxed out. I was working, but the work was intermittent and unreliable (and very labor intensive). So I had time to ride my bike to multiple stores and get the cheapest food, and I had time to cook meals. I lived in a single room, shared house, so couldn't 'downsize' my living any more than it already was.

Once I got a 'real' job, things obviously improved dramatically, but keep in mind I had a college degree, so that was an easy transition to make. I look back fondly on that period, but have the luxury to do so because I always knew that it would be a temporary situation.

For the 'real' poor, they often live in areas where riding a bike to multiple stores to get the best deals is impossible. They often have to settle for fast food because their kids are hungry now, and they don't have enough money in the bank account to invest in groceries (i.e. spending $100 on groceries isn't possible, while spending $10 on fast food is, even if groceries are the better long term investment). Their employment situation tends to be fairly unstable, i.e. they work a lot some days/weeks, and little to no work on others. This means that they have to spend a LOT of effort trying to find work (and obviously, they are not getting paid while they do this).

Just to go through your points: - TV is often the cheapest form of entertainment for their kids. So if they get rid of the TV, then what? Take the kids to Laser Tag? - I didn't have internet when I was poor, somehow I have a feeling a lot of poor people are in the same boat. -From my experience, almost every one is using public transportation. Cars are a huge risk and require significant financial overhead. One mechanical issue could break the budget. Carpooling is very much a middle class luxury. - They probably live in subsidized housing already, so moving is not really something they can control. - They also probably have very limited employment options, which is part of the reason they are poor to begin with. Also see my previous comment on unstable work situations. -I think one of the biggest misconceptions about the poor, is that people see that they have a TV or an xbox or some kids toys and assume that because they can afford those 'luxury' items, that they must be able to afford other things. But the fact is, these durable consumer goods are fairly cheap when compared to the ongoing costs of shelter, food, insurance, etc.. But more importantly, credit companies and payday companies and financing schemes are overwhelmingly targeting the poor. They do this because they know they can get away with charging unreasonable rates. Often this results in a poor person making a few bad financial decisions, and subsequently getting trapped under the weight of the consequences (maxed out credit cards, debt collectors, etc..)

The fact is, on a micro level, any individual is capable of escaping poverty. If they work hard and make good financial decisions, and don't run into any bad luck, they can do it. But on a macro level, the poor as a whole face systematic pressures that make it very difficult to escape poverty. One or two financial missteps can put them in a hole that is nearly impossible to recover from. Telling people to 'work hard' or 'eat healthy' or 'be financially responsible' ignores the systematic pressures that they face that make all of these things extremely difficult if not impossible.

The eating at work part doesn't need to be a factor. Just eat dinner. You don't really need 3 meals a day.