Module 5 Discussion Post - Soci 2100 PDF

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Week 6 Discussion Post...

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How is poor bashing used in public debates about healthy eating and other social issues? The best definition of ‘poor bashing’ is from a book written by Jean Swansen. She said that, “Poor bashing is when people who are poor people are humiliated, stereotyped, discriminated against, threatened, shunned, despised, pitied, patronized, ignored, blamed, and falsely accused of being lazy, drunk, stupid, uneducated, having large families and no looking for work” (Swansen, 2011). Poor bashing is unfortunately a very common thing in our society, it is a common belief that people living in poverty are just lazy, drunks collecting EI, workers compensation, or welfare as an easy way to get out of working. When is reality, it is the only way of them surviving. In a world like the one we live in, it takes money to make money making it hard for anyone to get ahead in life. For someone who can’t afford a car to get them to and from work, they have to rely on public transportation which in itself can be very expensive or find a job within walking distance which eliminates many of their options. When it comes to a family living in poverty the question about what the children are eating is inevitable. The Healthy Eating Alliance recommends specific foods that Canadian children should be eating on a daily basis; some of these foods include, fresh and dried fruits and vegetables, fruit smoothies, corn bread, low-fat high-fiber muffins, yogurt, chocolate and flavoured milk, cheese strings, cottage cheese, nuts and trail mix (Rankin, 2016). These foods, as healthy and good as they are, are extremely expensive and on a budget of just $541 a month it cannot be done (Rankin, 2016). Parents of families living in poverty are often blamed and attacked for their food choices being too unhealthy and causing their children to be overweight, but to look at grocery store prices you can get a box of macaroni and cheese for only $0.50 and it can cost up to $8.00 for a bag of frozen vegetables and another $12 for chicken breasts. Living on such a strict budget, you take advantage of as many cheaper choices that are available. Many Canadians’ don’t take every factor into account before they ‘poor bash’ people living in poverty. It is very easy to judge other people’s food and eating choices when you never have to clip coupons or hunt for a bargain in order to fulfill the dietary recommendations put forth by the Healthy Eating Alliance or even to afford to pay your rent or light and heat bills. I feel that people need to be more educated on the facts about poverty and welfare assistance, if this were the case I feel that there would be a lot less judgement, ignorance and negative stigmas surrounding people living in poverty. References: Etmanski, A. (2014, December 14). Jean Swanson - Standing Up to Poor Bashing, 11th, On Poverty. Retrieved from http://aletmanski.com/series/on-poverty/jean-swanson-standing-up-topoor-bashing/ Rankin, A. (2016, June 08). Dont blame the poor for bad food choices. Retrieved from http://www.peicanada.com/eastern_graphic/article_7ce00ee8-2ce7-11e6-8850d307dc9fdb5f.html...