Feds teach people how to shop for food

[mjr]

Seriously? Seriously!?

Apparently so.

But...why? I've pretty much known all of this since I was a teenager...and I'd guess most of you have, too.

Have we really lost the ability to grocery shop without government help?

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/ma...rticle/2591583

[Greenday]

I mean, there's plenty of people who are impulsive buyers so having a list would help them stay on task. And to be honest, I've never used a list before in my life when grocery shopping. The store is like 5 minutes away so I'll get enough for the week and that's it.

[mjr]

I mean, there's plenty of people who are impulsive buyers so having a list would help them stay on task. And to be honest, I've never used a list before in my life when grocery shopping. The store is like 5 minutes away so I'll get enough for the week and that's it.

People are going to buy off-list anyway. Happens all the time.

[Shangri-laschild]

I manage the media page for my police department. My predecessor and I have posted a wide variety of things including:
Information about police
The daily weather forecast
Helpful tips about not getting your computer hacked
Events going on at the college (especially if it's stuff that I've gotten a lot of switchboard calls about)
Phone scams going around including some that are really mostly obvious to a lot of people but still seem to be causing a lot of trouble overall
Tips about not driving into flooded areas

I have never once thought that people have lost the ability to answer the phone or drive without my help. It has nothing to do with that. It's about posting helpful tips that will be useful to some people. I know how to organize a shopping list however I'm bad at remembering to do so. A post like that for me wouldn't be insulting, it would help me remember to get that taken care of so it's useful for more than just people who don't know how to shop. For all you know this is a question they have gotten a lot. Or one that they have seen asked a lot. Or it's just a random tip. I could see it being especially helpful for people who have recently moved out and never had to deal with this stuff. Either way it's not a huge deal.

[ben_who]

My first boyfriend had never lived away from home when he moved in with me. After a few weeks, I found myself needing to get to work with nothing in the pantry for dinner, and I wouldn't be back until the shops closed. I gave him fifteen dollars - my LAST fifteen dollars until payday, two days away - and told him to pick up some things. (This was in 1998 dollars, when a dollar a meal would have fed you, if not lavishly, then at least adequately.)

I got home from work to discover that he'd purchased Pocky, some kind of cookies, and a tin of dried beef, and nothing else. The money was gone. I knew he'd never done his own shopping before, but I had no idea that supermarkets were such a foreign concept to him. I'd met people who didn't understand, say, comparison shopping, or buying generics, but this guy didn't even understand how money turns into food.

I know it's anecdotal, and my ex was certainly a special case. (In more ways than one, some of them utterly bewildering.) But one of the things I had to learn as I grew older and more politically active is to pick your battles. I get that "the government" is your boogeyman, and you're maybe more sensitive to what you perceive as its abuses, but if the last eight years of outrage outrage outrage have taught me anything, it's that when EVERYTHING is a scandal, NOTHING is a scandal.

[mjr]

and told him to pick up some things.

Ok...but did you tell him what to pick up?

I get that "the government" is your boogeyman, and you're maybe more sensitive to what you perceive as its abuses,

I've read "Nineteen Eighty-Four", so yeah, I have some concerns. And it's not that the government is my boogeyman. It's a "too big" or a "nanny state" government could arguably be a concern.

It's not about being a boogeyman. It's about the following:

I knew he'd never done his own shopping before, but I had no idea that supermarkets were such a foreign concept to him. I'd met people who didn't understand, say, comparison shopping, or buying generics, but this guy didn't even understand how money turns into food.

When I was a kid, I was in supermarkets with my family. My 11 year old knows certain things about buying food at the supermarket.

This is what I mean when I say "Really? Really??" in my original post. MY generation (at least where I grew up) went to the supermarket with our parents, for the most part, or our parents explained things to us.

I guess that doesn't happen anymore.

[BlaqueKatt]

This is what I mean when I say "Really? Really??" in my original post. MY generation (at least where I grew up) went to the supermarket with our parents, for the most part, or our parents explained things to us.

I guess that doesn't happen anymore.

there's a TON of parents that do EVERYTHING for their kids, so yeah it's becoming common for young adults to not know anything about how to be a productive member of society.

[Kheldarson]

there's a TON of parents that do EVERYTHING for their kids, so yeah it's becoming common for young adults to not know anything about how to be a productive member of society.

Not only that, but there may just be things that your parents never taught you because it wasn't a thing your family did. Like drive a manual. Or plant a garden. Or go camping. Or whatever. You got to learn somehow right?

[mjr]

Like drive a manual. Or plant a garden. Or go camping. Or whatever. You got to learn somehow right?

And yet the Feds don't have a "Here's how you drive a manual" website, or a "here's how you plant a garden/go camping" website.

[mjr]

there's a TON of parents that do EVERYTHING for their kids, so yeah it's becoming common for young adults to not know anything about how to be a productive member of society.

And so it's the federal government's responsibility to teach these kids these things because?

I'd wager that most "young adults" have relatives (i.e. parents) who are connected to the Internet and know how to use email. It never (apparently) occurs to them to send a quick email:

"Hey mom. I need to grocery shop. Can you send me a list so I have an idea of what good items to buy are?"

[Kheldarson]

And yet the Feds don't have a "Here's how you drive a manual" website, or a "here's how you plant a garden/go camping" website.

The DMV? https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/de...t_facts/ffdl22

USDA? https://www.nal.usda.gov/home-gardening

[mjr]

The DMV? https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/de...t_facts/ffdl22

USDA? https://www.nal.usda.gov/home-gardening

Doesn't the "ca" in your first link stand for "California"?

I'll give you the USDA, but gardening IMHO is much more difficult than shopping for groceries.

It's what's called a "life skill", is it not? Did parents just forget to teach their kids these things? And even if the parents aren't in the picture, I'm sure they have a relative/guardian/trusted friend to help them.

It's really not hard to make a grocery list.

You look around your house, in your pantry, etc. See what you need, write it down, and your list is done.

It didn't take me a website to do that.

[Kheldarson]

It's what's called a "life skill", is it not? Did parents just forget to teach their kids these things? And even if the parents aren't in the picture, I'm sure they have a relative/guardian/trusted friend to help them.

It's really not hard to make a grocery list.

You look around your house, in your pantry, etc. See what you need, write it down, and your list is done.

It didn't take me a website to do that.

There's a lot more to effective grocery shopping than making a list.

And not everyone has trusted family or friends to teach them.

Stop assuming that your life experiences are the be all and end all. It's rather annoying.

[mjr]

There's a lot more to effective grocery shopping than making a list.

Like? Honestly, do you know ANYONE who plans out their meals week-to-week? I don't.

And not everyone has trusted family or friends to teach them.

That's probably a relatively small number though. Wouldn't you say?

Stop assuming that your life experiences are the be all and end all. It's rather annoying.

Hey, I'm not the only one who does that. Life experiences are what it's about. It's partially how we form our opinions and our outlooks on life. You can't tell me your life experience didn't somehow influence how you perceive the world and the people in it. It's partially why I'm somewhat Conservative, and have a somewhat sarcastic and cynical side.

Yes, not every experience is like mine. My experience is uniquely my own.

All I know is that nobody I know needs a website to tell them to make out a grocery list.

Bottom line is: How much do we really want to rely on gov't, especially at the Federal level, to make those sorts of decisions and choices for us?

[Kheldarson]

Like? Honestly, do you know ANYONE who plans out their meals week-to-week? I don't.

My mom did. We were a family of six.

That's probably a relatively small number though. Wouldn't you say?

So we let the minority flail? I seem to recall that our government was established with an ideal to protect the minority...

Hey, I'm not the only one who does that. Life experiences are what it's about. It's partially how we form our opinions and our outlooks on life. You can't tell me your life experience didn't somehow influence how you perceive the world and the people in it. It's partially why I'm somewhat Conservative, and have a somewhat sarcastic and cynical side.

Yes, not every experience is like mine. My experience is uniquely my own.

Yes, everybody has their own experiences. But most people, when in debates that affect more than their particular SES, will accept that not every decision and action is about their particular SES.

Bottom line is: How much do we really want to rely on gov't, especially at the Federal level, to make those sorts of decisions and choices for us?

What choice? Giving an info tract is not making a choice or a decision. It's giving information. No more, no less.

It'd be like me getting upset because the WIC office gave my kid a book about healthy eating.