"White Trash" and The Politics of Food

Why are some foods seen as "trashy" while other foods are fancy? Join me as I explore what makes some foods "trash," and what the existence of "trash foods" says about our society.
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[@justink1800]

“i want you to think of the trashiest food you can imagine” “i can’t think of anything” -starts listing off the food i usually eat “ah yeah, that’s why”

[@grimsage5809]

I'm only really surprised ramen isn't in the bunch. 5 to a dollar and its pasta.

[@twm0904]

Literally

[@luk5859]

@@grimsage5809 I guess you mean instant Ramen, not Ramen.

[@grimsage5809]

@@twm0904 Fair difference to make, yeah.

[@SaraWolffs]

@@grimsage5809 I suspect it's not just price but association as well? I associate ramen with students, maybe struggling artists or someone penny-pinching to get a business off the ground. It's cheap, but not a high-fat high-sugar low-status staple. Just... incredibly cheap. Another consideration is that while it's cheap, it uses "primary" agricultural products, mostly wheat flour. The white trash foods listed are remarkably often animal-derived, and the only way you can get animal products really cheap is if they are leftovers: rinds, and the scraped-off-bones bits of meat which don't look appealing and so get turned into sausages of all kinds. You don't raise a pig for the rinds, you raise it for the ham which you can sell at a premium, and the skin is pretty much waste which you deep fry to sell to the poor. Something similar goes for the RC Cola, which I expect is based on corn syrup, which is pretty much a corn subsidy waste product.

[@notablegoat]

Rich people: Eat this trash Poor people: Alright we will figure out how to make this taste good Rich people: Wait now I want it

[@MrCash-lm1xz]

@James Henry Smith ?

[@wvu05]

Rich people: And I will price it out of your range of affordability.

[@Zephur0s]

@James Henry Smith ....

[@restitvtororbis5330]

@James Henry Smith I guess so, but I don't think he mentioned black or white. I suppose that in a way, trash food, white or otherwise, became the soul food in an age where the cheapest foods are the most processed and unhealthy, and the original soul food became popular, ingredients went up, and many who ate soul food cause they could afford it were priced out of it .

[@Nostripe361]

That’s basically the history of Southern bbq. Slow cooked unwanted meats to make them taste better

[@nexussum4146]

“Suddenly what I ate wasn’t weird anymore” every East and South Asian kids felt this in our souls 😭😭😭

[@nanaah4602]

also west asians

[@beebus__]

And Columbians now that Encanto came out and everyone thinks it's cool to eat arepas

[@benw9949]

I remember seeing a Thai friend at the school cafeteria. He had leftovers from home or an Asian restaurant, wrapped in aluminum foil. It was rice and vegetables and whatever meat and spices, I couldn't tell what dish, and I don't know Thai food well enough. I had had either a school lunch or a sack lunch sandwich from home, typical white American solution. I remember telling him his food looked way better than what I had had. Luckily, he didn't feel obligated to share, since I had already eaten and we were just saying hi. But that has always stuck with me. What he may have felt was embarrassing, leftovers, I thought looked great. Of course, he may have been proud of his food too, I hope so. What he had was genuinely tastier and healthier than either a sack lunch sandwich (processed food), or the school lunch (OK but overcooked, bland, not as tasty or healthy as it could be). We graduated and moved on, lost contact. But that memory, seeing how good his food was, stuck with me. I live in a big city, very ethnically diverse, people from all over the planet, both visitors, immigrants, and native-born but many sources. (And I find myself asking why I haven't tried more Asian and Indian food. I should fix that.)

[@benw9949]

Years ago when I was working with my mom, we went out for lunch to a local Chinese buffet after one of our favorite Chinese restaurants had closed down. As we were leaving the buffet restaurant, it was the heat of summer and we heard the back door to the kitchen was open. Instead of Chinese, we heard rapid Spanish from the cooks! :D We both had a good laugh about it. (Hey, we like Mexican food too.) But there was more to it. The restaurant was run by Chinese immigrants, and those Spanish-speaking cooks were also immigrants. Both groups were struggling to get ahead and help their families and others to immigrate. So two "minority" groups, sizable in my city, were helping boost each other into middle class American citizenship. The food was pretty good, and we ate there several times. I don't recall if my mom and I really discussed it, but we both knew that was the situation. That the food wasn't just Chinese-American, but Asian-Latino-American :D was fine: It's what makes America at our best, people from all over making something new and better from all those different sources. -- That is a truth all those MAGA nuts will never understand. I LIKE the variety of my city. I like that there are people from all over. My city wouldn't thrive without that, both multi-generation native-born folks, and brand-new residents.

[@2RatsInATrenchCoat]

I read this exactly when she said it

[@crunchy_kitkat]

i remember growing up with a single parent eating things like green bean casserole and hamburger soup. as a kid in highschool, the whole kahoot thing was taking off, and my teacher asked everyone to pull out their phones. i didn't have one, and the teacher looked at me and said "what you don't have a phone? oh your parent's must love you" in a sarcastic voice. talking down to me for not having this device, as if it meant i was unloved. i corrected her and said "parent, i only have one" and suddenly it was all apologies. but would it even have mattered if i had two? do people hate poor people that much, that they would ridicule a kid for being poor and not having the devices that all their peers have?

[@stargazingstar3239]

This is part of the reason why the school I went to in highschool started issuing out laptops to every kid.

[@IAmBuddythedecibwave]

If lazy-brained fools would quit associating poverty with becoming a criminal and made any effort at all to understand why crime is higher in poverty stricken areas (The real reasons why, not THeY're PoOR sO TheY JUsT DOn'T CARe LolLOl) maybe they'd invest more time into thinking before they blurt out discriminatory, braindead remarks.

[@quinlanmccormick35]

I never had the stigma like you did but I didn't get a phone till I was in 11th grade and I also had a single parent grew up below the poverty line fuck people who talk down on people for not being born into money it's bullshit

[@Axioanarchist]

"Do people hate poor people that much?" Yes. Yes they do. Because our society has trained people that outside inherent traits - skin color, sexuality, gender identity, ancestry, etc - the worst thing you can be is poor, and every poor person is a threat to you as a thief, attacker, or worst of all an usurper who will take your place as Not-Poor if you ever become poor.

[@lapislazarus8899]

Hells yeah! Cock's comb soup, questionable vegetable material, all swimming in hot chilé that makes you temporarily blind if you rub your eye... This is my childhood wrapped up in a newspaper!

[@eliVaughan]

"I want you to think of the trashiest food you can imagine." *glances down at cheapest instant hotcoco mix i'm eating directly out of the can, dry* "Hotpockets!"

[@eliVaughan]

How do i do this you don't ask? a very tiny spoon

[@eliVaughan]

oh crap i just noticed the tiny spoon earing, that was not a reference to that. i really do have a tiny spoon.

[@caseyw.6550]

10/10 😆

[@stm7810]

but water stretches that out longer.

[@Xondar11223344]

Pizza Pops! (In Canada)

[@cayleybaker2011]

My idea of “trash food” isn’t casseroles or canned food. When I think of trash food I think of food with no nutritional value like Doritos or pop. I hate how being economical or poor is seen as trash. I hate the idea of calling people trash.

[@Li_Tobler]

!!! This This is the only comment here that SPOKE to me I'm from eastern Europe myself and we don't really have a "white trash" concept around here. Maybe it's because we're pretty much 99% white country anyway so why would we call our own a WT? Lol idk But hearing that term for the first time made me so sick and petrified, I was kinda shocked that this is so engraved in people's minds somewhere :(

[@ryanmiller3330]

There's pain in this comment

[@alexv2553]

Most people think about this like you, but if you frame it that way it's not a social justice issue so it has to be reframed purely in evil classist terms

[@thejesusaurus6573]

@@alexv2553 what the fuck are you talking about

[@ah5721]

Instant Ramen

[@TheNomad546]

In a similar vein to this, thrift shopping has gone from a necessity for lower income families to a treasure hunt for resellers. Instead of providing good quality preowned clothing at reasonable prices to people who simply cannot afford new or high quality items, thrift shops now adjust pricing to reflect this new secondary market. People have been generally looked down on for wearing preowned clothing. The quality of the garments is irrelevant to this shaming, the stigma has been attached to the method of obtaining the item. The bulk of thrift items are still considered trash, but now there are people going into thrift stores with the explicit purpose of finding the good items to sell for a profit. Instead of lower income folk getting access to essential things within their budget, people with means are coming in and swiping up all the decent quality 'bargains' and driving up prices.

[@inkbloodart]

Honestly this has always been the way, it's just more transparent now with online secondhand shops and crafttok/tube. I still remember doing a thrift tour of a new city, and running into a consignment shop owner at the Value Village, arms bursting with garments. I knew she owned a consignment shop bc I had walked out of her store the prior day, because it was too expensive.

[@greenfacere210]

This.

[@ryeking9287]

I vividly remember going thrift shopping with my mom and older sister as a child. I didn't understand it at the time, but my sister was so embarrassed to be shopping there, and was afraid one of her classmates might see us in there

[@safir2241]

its looked down upon to wear second hand? what?? i got some all leather boots that would cost 200$ new, for 30$. same idea with some sports shoes (sports shoes here cost 100$, and i eat through them with violent movements in a year or so)

[@pandakatiefominz]

I don't think thrifting hasn't become popular only because of "trendy resellers" but also because there has been a growing push towards ethical buying, especially in clothes. Buying clothes second hand means you aren't contributing to fashion waste or fast fashion. There's a whole class of people who are not wealthy enough to be able to afford higher-end more ethical clothing pieces, but are wealthy enough that they can *choose* to buy second-hand, instead of it being their only option, but I don't think these people should be shamed for choosing to go thrifting instead of supporting unethical clothing practices. And of course there are people who have a very specific sense of style, which is easier to nourish in a thrift store than standard retailers

[@hannah-qg5fl]

"When someone wears the costume of 'poor person,' they aren't breaking boundaries or ending stigma. They're just perpetuating classism." damn there it is

[@GotAbductedOnce]

Alternate title: "The Gentrification of the Lobster"

[@OpqHMg]

I liikee

[@eank3429]

Sounds like a Tom Scott video

[@nzuckman]

Consider: the lobster

[@nelsonth]

Something very similar happened with the caviar

[@samgay9571]

I live in Maine. You can still get Lobster for cheaper then hamburger in the summer. Of course, then you'd have to eat the things..

[@jonesthemoblin1400]

"Imagine the trashiest food you can" Taco bell dorito tacos "Would you eat it." I mean... yeah. "Now imagine a person who would eat that food. What do they look like? How do they act?..." I feel attacked

[@SoulDevoured]

LOL

[@astolat2262]

Underrated

[@AlexiaM]

I had the same thought process about hot Cheetos and velveeta 🤣

[@ganymedeanoutlaw]

They have a taco where instead of a tortilla it's fried chicken now. It's ok.

[@user-vm5iu4bm8k]

But the doritos shell tacos are like one of of the best things at taco bell.

[@SwipSedai]

I didn't know casserole was "trashy" until right now. I always knew I was poor but I never considered how many things that are completely normal to me would be looked down on by other classes.

[@orui9197]

It isn't in the normal parts of the world. I never heard an Italian say that lasagne is trashy😂

[@darianbarber3763]

@@orui9197takes too much work, American + Italian genes = lots of spaghetti, goulash, & just pasta and butter

[@amw6846]

It's funny -- my parents, moving up the social ranks, abandoned casseroles. I've brought them back because they're good, I just stay away from the creamed soups, making my own.

[@saraa.4295]

Just do what the french/swiss do: call them gratin, and it sounds fancy ;)

[@cyropox8235]

I don't think anyone thinks casserole is trashy. As someone from the upper class surrounded by white trash, my community was very judgemental of white trash growing up, and I have never heard anyone make fun of casserole. When the people I know made fun of white trash, the jokes were about meth labs exploding in trailer parks. I've never heard of someone making fun of their food choices.

[@sptony2718]

It's kinda interesting, Anthony Bourdain wrote in one of his books, that rich people don't have taste. When they came into his restaurants, they would often just aim for the high prices. They would have a steak "well done", meaning they would basically get the charred sole of a shoe for as little as 500 bucks. Caviar also used to be eaten by fishers who couldn't afford to buy the fishes they caught. Same with salmon, which used to be so abundant, it was considered poor people food.

[@johnwalker1058]

I remember seeing a food taste test video where a person ate a pizza that was super expensive because of the way it was made, including the toppings that were used for it. Throughout the description of the process, not much was discussed about taste quality, rather there was mostly just flexing on the fact that there were ingredients like caviar and edible gold foil in the toppings.

[@jooot_6850]

I should make a restaurant specifically to catch “big fish”

[@mushroommunk]

@@jooot_6850 It's absolutely doable and a thing. "Salt Bae" does just this. Gold foil coated tomahawk steak for $2000 just because people will buy it, and only cost him $300 in ingredients. So, as a random internet stranger, I fully support your grift.

[@sptony2718]

@Alias Fakename "Caviar again? Can't we have shrimps for once?"

[@justicedinosaur7302]

I don't think there is any correlation between how wealthy you are and taste, so people with taste would naturally fall randomly on the wealth spectrum, of course

[@grnteabug]

As a Chinese kid who was made fun of consistent for the school lunches I would bring, I feel this so much. It especially hurt when I saw one of my childhood bullies tweeting out that she was eating szechuan food and how exotic it was.

[@theeleventh805gamer7]

Filipino here, hate how sometimes people think they’re special because they just tried sweet purple yams (ube)

[@senadarakic1813]

Hi, I’m from Eastern Europe and I would get made fun of for bringing Nutella filled crepes and pomegranates 😂

[@grnteabug]

@@senadarakic1813That sounds delicious to be honest

[@amndbloom]

@@senadarakic1813 that would be a really rich kid lunch where I'm from haha

[@seancallahan1312]

@@senadarakic1813 This trips me out. When I was a kid, we were dirt poor surfers (only got good boards and wetsuits from winning contests and getting sponsored, or selling a lot of weed). But punk rock surfer kids always ended up with rich girlfriends. And in every one of their houses: Nutella. This was the early 80's, and no one I hung out with or anyone in their families ever went to Europe. Wayyy too expensive. Nobody traveled anywhere, except to the next town, when we ran out of food and went to eat at my aunt's house. But these rich girls all went to Europe every year almost, and their families got onto Nutella there. It meant "rich people" to us. Funny how shit gets twisted around. Like the Lobster change-up from poor to rich people food that she talked about early in her video here. I still remember eating Nutella on the porch by the pool, looking down on the city from that mansion up in the hills.

[@maximilian420]

All of the foods are also available at dollar general, which is the only “groceries” in a lot of food deserts. Just something I immediately noticed

[@ah5721]

I noticed dollars genernal near me is mostly processed foods that aren't healthy. However if you look you find eggs milk and some organic things in mine 🤷‍♀️

[@maddiegrace9787]

yes this whole video I was thinking about the food I sell there frequently (I work at DG). But yeah I know some DG's have more fresh stuff than others, but my store just has milk and eggs.

[@vipse6586]

This comment was exactly what I was looking for - where I live theres many scattered little towns that only have 1 dollar general, and my city is the only one with walmarts and more than an hours drive from these towns. It doesnt help that big companies like that drive out any local grocers taking away the possibility of nutritional food if there was one

[@safir2241]

@@vipse6586 jesus... an hour drive for a proper grocery store?

[@ericakusske3321]

​@@safir2241 I've got a 40 minute drive to get to a major grocery store. Our local dollar general has eggs, milk, yogurt, a small selection of fruits and veggies, the little local independent grocery store has a bit more fruits and veggies, but the price at both is 3x Kroger prices. So I go to town every couple of weeks to stock up on things that I can get to last that long.

[@JS-L90]

There's ableism and classism with a lot of the food ideas. If you're working long hours or are disabled, you may not have the energy/ability to cook elaborate meals. I love how you point out the problematic attitudes/practices behind food tourism. The food/culture is treated as a commodity while the people are still ridiculed. It's taken a couple of decades for me to be confident enough to own and reclaim some of my culture while daring anyone to mock it.

[@Nostripe361]

I never thought of casseroles as cheap. They were just traditional southern cooking to me.

[@teaartist6455]

The connotations may vary by country or even just region. Where I live casserole is mostly seen as slightly old-fashioned.

[@NewtNotNoot]

I grew up in Maryland, and definitely thought they were just a Midwestern thing.

[@soupnazikitcheneverett]

Casseroles and canned foods were middle-class staples from the 1950s until the late 1990s. Truly poor people did their own canning and made soup from scratch. Then the Food Network changed everything, canned became lower class. Casseroles and canned food became "White Trash" only recently. It's old fashioned, that's all.

[@woodykrska9947]

And pigs in a blanket to right?

[@woodykrska9947]

@@NewtNotNootthe are that as well.

[@Branflakies]

Lobster became popular the same way ribs and other originally “poor people food” did, poor and black people made it taste good and so rich people realized wait I like that too and now formerly undesirable food is crazy expensive

[@annadesn665]

So right! I remember when I moved to Canada from Eastern Europe 10+ yrs ago and I was surprised how everyone loves ribs and how expensive they are! Back home these are almost the cheapest meats and barely anyone wants to eat it!

[@Praisethesunson]

Dipping in melted butter isn't much of a method of making a undersea bug taste good. A pencil could be dipped in melted butter and taste pretty good(if still too pointy)

[@chocokittybo]

@@Praisethesunson well there's your problem, you're not supposed to sharpen the pencil before eating it

[@thevirtualtraveler]

Same with creole food. Look at how expensive it is now, especially in New Orleans. But originally, it was what the poor people ate in that region.

[@enginerdy]

@@thevirtualtraveler They didn’t call it a po’ boy ironically

[@gwendolynnorton6329]

You will probably be shocked by this. I grew up in Alaska in the 1970s and 80s. Back then getting fresh food from “outside” our name for anywhere outside of Alaska, was not consistent, reliable, or cheap; and frankly often rotten by the time it got to us. The large military presence in Alaska ensured a nearly endless supply of canned goods, but for fresh food we hunted, gathered, fished and to a small extent, due to the very short season, grew our own food. Alaska is dark all winter long and with an abundance of moose, as well as icy, slick roads, well, you get the picture, dead moose on the roadway routinely. Every town had a road kill list, it was a list of every family in town. When your name came up the state troopers would call you when there was a dead moose in the roadway. You would then gather you family, friends and neighbors. You’d go clean up the road way and spend the next day cleaning, butchering and packaging moose to go in the freezer. I grew up eating Road kill on nearly a daily basis.

[@kguyton1]

What a great story. And I guess since it was cold, the meat wouldn't spoil before it could be collected. It's actually kind of ingenious. (Best not say that or some rich asshole is going to "gentrify" it.)

[@BlueEyesWhiteDragonStan]

That's badass

[@riverAmazonNZ]

Fantastic not to waste that fresh meat!

[@riverfoster7404]

Was it only done for moose or could you sometimes get fucked over by your name coming up for the rotation on a small mammal instead?

[@ghostybees6322]

I hope this doesn't come off wrong- but as someone with absolutely no experience eating roadkill or moose- I'd love to try this some day. Specifically from someone or someone's family that know what to do given a dead moose, because if I tried to prepare that I might poison myself.

[@dallasshumaker6148]

I didn’t realize how poor I was until I went to deliver Christmas presents to poor families with my Church youth group. The rest of the kids couldn’t believe people lived in those conditions. I was just as surprised by their shock at a place that was in my mind normal.

[@cheesehoard]

As someone who grew up in poverty--literally living in a junkyard, this hits home so hard. Thanks for sharing this!

[@lisasimpson8895]

interesting how this is so very american. in other countries, home cooked meals are the cheapest. few people can afford buying pakcages and packages of processed food. even things like a package of doritos is a luxury to many.

[@FM-er6xy]

Yeah as a paraguayan the "cacerolle" sounded a lot like a less moist version of a guiso, a meal I personaly eat twice a week

[@thetheodora2371]

i was thinking the same, where i'm from in europe processed food is something associated with camping, having stashed in your summerhouse / cabin, in your pantry for emergencies... most people cook at home, at least from what i've experienced, and people around me. and all that american fastfood? it's expensive for a lot of people to go to mcdonalds, when i was a kid that was something special to be deserved once in a while. for the price of one proper meal you can cook for a family of four!

[@lisasimpson8895]

@@thetheodora2371 this is my experience too. trashy fast food is an expensive treat.

[@thetheodora2371]

@@lisasimpson8895 also an interesting thing to note, the prices of international fast food chains don’t really change in other countries that much! from what i can see the bigmac meal costs about 6 usd in america, and here it’s about 5.3 usd when i convert it… and our minimal wage is half of what it is in the US

[@lisasimpson8895]

@@thetheodora2371 that explains a lot hahaha

[@kericmason]

My great grandfather sat alone at lunch time because he had a lobster tail in his lunch while the rich kids had peanut butter sandwiches... He was embarrassed.

[@exxology1]

Wow to be fair tho he might also get picked even today since seafood is just too stinky for a kids lunch..

[@TheDanishGuyReviews]

To be fair, l never have PB because it's more expensive than, say, cold cuts.

[@wvu05]

@@TheDanishGuyReviews Really? It's the opposite here.

[@TheDanishGuyReviews]

@@wvu05 I guess it might last longer, but it's also almost 3 times the price as well.

[@wvu05]

@@TheDanishGuyReviews Oh, my! Here, you can get a 26 ounce (~730 g) jar for about $4 or $5, and cold cuts cost about the same for a fraction of the size.

[@crocopie]

I watched this for the second time. And I want to cry. To some extent, Filipino food is treated the same way as white trash food, if not worse. From travel bloggers, to academics, and even some locals themselves, our food was stamped "The Worst Food in the World". Some respected food critics would dispute this, and two American presidents have hired a Filipino as their head chef. But considering centuries of colonialism, some of our own people have deemed their local cuisine as "poor people" food and are embarrassed to serve them to foreign guests. Times are changing for the better now, and Filipino fine dining has grown a little bit...until covid came. We shall see what happens when this pandemic is over.

[@artless3438]

That is horrific and incredibly disrespectful. Sorry to hear that.

[@Albin9197]

WORD. Food is all a matter of opinion and taste of course, but I am TIRED of white people touting their food and their culture as superior, always. I'm Filipino too and I had to deal with this while spending my teen years in Canada. Now I live in a different city in Canada, and while younger white folk are a bit better now about respecting my culture (still not great though tbh, ignorance/exoticism is still there), the old white folk are the WORST cause they just talk about anything foreign as like "oh so shocking can you believe that? Asian ppl eat dogs did you know??????"

[@SmokeyChipOatley]

I know I’m super late to the party but I just wanted to add my quick comment. I grew up as a Latino kid in Southern California but had never had the pleasure of trying Filipino cuisine (there wasn’t a big Filipino community in my town). That changed when I started dating a half Filipina/half white girl and I was literally blown away by everything I tried. Her parents would take us to different authentic Filipino restaurants in the San Fernando valley, especially those with a focus on food from her dad’s hometown of Cebu City. We always thought it was funny how the waiters would try to speak Tagalog to me after speaking with her dad. Even now years after that relationship ended I still go out and seek all of the wonderful foods I was introduced to even if it’s way out of my way. I think it’s a travesty how Filipino cuisine has been largely overlooked compared to their neighbors. In my opinion, it is not only as good as but better than all of the other more popular Asian cuisines.

[@xyldkefyi]

I find the aversion to casserole extremely interesting because in Germany they are a cultural staple with a long tradition. Every region has their own style of casserole and making one is part of the traditional housewife like baking apple pies is in the US. Also a tip for everyone: Casseroles are an amazing dish for having a group of friends over. Prepare it beforehand and put it in the oven when the first people arrive. It'll be done once everyone is there and you can spend the whole time with your guests without disappearing into the kitchen.

[@atherisGAY]

Yeah! I don't think Europe considers casseroles as lower class food.. there are so many forms of casserole all over Europe, very long traditional recipes. It's good eating.

[@orui9197]

@Jon Hudson you didn't realize? So you never heard of lasagne???????

[@ClayDress]

One side of my family is Illinois German and the other is southern as far back as I can tell. I've always eaten casserole, of many different kinds. Green bean, chicken, leftovers, etc. It's a staple on both sides of my family

[@hollyrose9336]

This is how I feel about all Cajun food. It’s suddenly this expensive food when forever it was literally whatever we pulled from the mud

[@SynMonger]

I've lived on Zatarains dirty rice and Zummo boudain forever. Bout as trashy as it gets judging by this video

[@ruthking2002]

Seriously, I remember going to a restaurant in San Francisco and seeing a bowl of jambalaya on the menu for 20 bucks, whereas you could get a huge portion of that anywhere back home for $8. It's just funny seeing it sold as a fancy food in a classy restaurant, when it's usually something you get when you can't afford the fancy food on the menu.

[@sissymarie2912]

This is something that's interesting to me. My brother in law once told me that I made the best gumbo he'd had outside Louisiana, and I literally just threw together what I had available and kept adding stuff until it tasted "right". I feel like that's just how cuisine in general works. It's people working with what they've got and finding ways to make it taste good.

[@SarifaXionic]

As someone from New Orleans this aggravates me to no end.

[@traviswonders]

SE Texas born and raised. In Portland, Oregon I was served a "crawfish platter" that had FOUR crawfish on it, some loose corn (not on the cob) and a small cup of that they called dirty rice. It was 14 dollars. I asked where the rest of the crawfish were, as they had the four arranged in a + pattern on the plate. A woman told me, a guy who grew up at crawfish boils that "Crawfish is a delicacy in the south" and "this is how they eat it down there". I about died.

[@allnaturalfigjam310]

That lobster story reminds me of a similar (but sadder) one from my home state: Tasmania, Australia. When white colonisers first arrived, the indigenous people ate a lot of seafood, including something the English called "muttonfish", which the English thought was gross so after the invasion they "allowed" the indigenous people to take as much as they wanted. However, when the English finally figured out how to cook muttonfish they discovered it was actually delicious, and so they started regulating it, and telling indigenous people they couldn't fish for it any more. We still fish muttonfish here. Now we call it abalone.

[@theRiver_joan]

It figures that the Brit’s didn’t know how to cook properly 🙄

[@vylbird8014]

@@theRiver_joan British cooking is actually very diverse. Because of all the new recipes we learned of as we plundered the world, adapted a little, and adopted as our own.

[@rosemali3022]

Oh! Like in Island of the Blue Dolphins. Thanks for the story :) I can't believe they took fucking fishing away from you. Colonizers suck.

[@allnaturalfigjam310]

@@rosemali3022 Oh actually I'm not an Indigenous Tasmanian... unfortunately that makes me one of the colonisers :'(

[@rosemali3022]

@@allnaturalfigjam310 You can't help what your ancestors did, and you seem to be doing your part to spread the knowledge. That's all any of us can really do. (Other than being a staunch anticapitalist, which I do also reccomend lol).

[@madisongreener1392]

I was talking to my husband about this video and gave him the examples of trash food (pigs in a blanket, RC Cola, casseroles) and he just replied, “Oh, you mean delicious food?” 😂😂

[@synsio_]

"Think of the trashiest food you can imagine." "unseasoned half-cooked chicken, raw steak, washed eggs." "*proceeds to list actually edible things* "oh"

[@revelle8605]

Affording food when you're poor is HARD. Especially when you're disabled and have too much pain and fatigue to do cooking or food prep. The worst thing is when folks richer than you tell you about their diet, how it's "totally affordable," and how you won't be healthy and ethical if you don't eat like them; when in reality, their diet is far too expensive for your poor ass, and inaccessible in terms of the time and energy required for cooking. I hate how people gloat about their expensive diets and healthiness, and shit-talk about folks who eat things like processed foods. Like, do you think I eat ramen with chicken nuggets in it because I love it and think it's healthy? No, it's just one of the few hot foods that's both affordable and requires little enough effort for me to put it together. The level of arrogance people reach when they talk about food is astounding. I've gotten to a place in life where I've realized, I'm sick of how people treat poverty like it's a crime. I've started being open about how poor I am. I'm not going to pretend anymore. It's my belief that society won't stop demonizing the poor until we are vocal and unashamed of our poverty, and demand to be treated like human beings. If folks think I'm trash because my appearance is unkempt, or I eat cheap stuff, or my tiny apartment is messy, then they can take that opinion and stuff it. I and my fellow poor folks are doing our best with the hand we've been dealt in life. If this country, the US, is going to systematically impoverish people to make them easier to exploit, then I will be loud and visible and unashamed, so they have to look it in the eye.

[@SoulDevoured]

Amen Harold. I'm not quite in the same boat but I've decided to stop hiding the fact that I have disabilities and am in pain all the time. We won't fix anything if we don't talk about it. I don't do this because it's fun or because I'm "just weird." I do this because I'm trying to cope in a world that wasn't built for me.

[@revelle8605]

@@SoulDevoured Ahh, best of luck! You deserve to be treated well, and to live in a world that's good for you.

[@thedudecalledalan9095]

Who talks shit about poor people Im guessing it's through social media, because how often do you meet cuckholds that openly judge and mock you in public I hope i never have to deal with them and hope i never get sucked into social media and its toxicity

[@justmadethistocomment9505]

@TheDudeCalledAlan I have some privelage, but have you ever warn safety yellow in public? You encounter a palpable shift in tone from some people for nothing but your wardrobe. And that's just one type of signaling. It's not just an online thing.

[@Lambda_Ovine]

And then they go "You can buy fruits and vegetables very cheaply from the super market, they cost literal cents." And it's like, sure, you asshole, I'm sure you just buy vegetables in bulk and just eat them raw like apples, just munching on that onion, instead of having the time and resources to prepare them into an actual meal that you're willing put in your mouth, or have someone else that gets payed minimum wage to do that for you... It's so easy to, after your shift of your second full time job that you need to do to pay rent, to just not need a quick and cheap way to introduce calories into your system for the next day of intensive work, and there's definitively not 4 McDonald's opened 24/7 within walking distance and they do not bombard you with advertising all day long because you're their target demographic, and you definitively have the time and energy to prepare something delicious and fully notorious with all the fresh vegetables that you just bought when you're in that situation...

[@raydgreenwald7788]

We could also talk about wolfberries being like $3 a pound when you get them in Chinatown, but then being $15 an ounce when they're sold is goji berries at whole foods

[@findingfrugal2093]

YES! The day I found out that those expensive ass tiny nuggets of deliciousness were being repackaged in little bags and sold to me at a premium because yet another white person decided to prey on the cultural ignorance of their fellow white people, rename them and give them "superfood" status I was so pissed. I really wish (as a white person) I'd been first shown them in their cultural context rather than as something completely devoid of any historical use because while they are pretty tasty on top of oatmeal it pales in comparison to goji/red date tea or gogi/ginseng/ginger chicken soup. It really opened my eyes though and I look at food/ingredients in a completely different way.

[@stitches318]

Yes! I have an Asian Market across the street from me in the same building as a gourmet grocery store. In the Asian Market I can get a huge jar of Kimchi for like 8 bucks. In the gourmet grocery they sell tiny jars of Kimchi for 10-20 dollars. Lol

[@lindsayhenderson6719]

I didn’t know I ate trash until this video. oh boy

[@uraumi478]

Gotta love the gentrification of minority cultures~ Seeing the same people who called my homemade potstickers gross then eat at PF Changs is a big oof

[@sparklejuice]

I'd like to take this conversation to the next level, and hopefully you guys feel less upset about being "ripped off". Those goji berries also carry the same double pricetags right here in Asia (Singapore). In most places you can get them for the reasonable price, but some shops that identify as upmarket, sophisticated and higher-end will jack up the prices to five times more. And the funny thing is - you'll still get people who willingly choose to pay that premium. And these are locals, who know of the better-for-value alternatives. So the conclusion to draw here my friends, is that some people spend money for social signalling. They're not paying $x because they think item is worth $x. They pay $x because they think THEY are worth spending $x on.

[@sarahsmith7548]

I didn’t know “trashy food” was a thing and honestly couldn’t think of what would be considered trash food. Then she started listing all the things I grew up eating (and still do) and it clicked. Ooooh, right. Well, at least the trailer I grew up in was a double-wide and both my parents loved me lol

[@isaacthemonke233]

Here's a "white trash" recipe for anyone who wants to try it: "The Alabama Possum's Delight": Get rice (any kind will do) and put it in a medium or even large sized pot Take 2 cups of water and pour it into the pot Set the stoves' eye to 2 or 4 Wait for the bubbles to appear and set it to low/simmer. Place the lid over the pot and let the rice cook for about 15 minutes. (Sprinkle some salt, pepper, and whatever seasoning you like) Get a skillet and pour three teaspoons of olive oil or veggie oil. Set stoves' eye to about 4 Take a can of spam (two cans could work too) Remove and cut the meat in thin slices, enough for everyone. (Incase you're eating with company) if alone, thick slices are good too. When the skillet heats up, place your spam slices to about five or even seven (depending on your skillet size) Cook one side for 2-5 minutes, then flip it over and repeat the process until it's golden brown or a little burnt. Don't worry, it can bring in the flavor. Then place in a bowl with a folded paper towel at the bottom. (To catch the grease so you'll have little to clean up) Once you've fried all of your slices your rice should be done Grab a plate (it can be paper, we ain't cooking for the King) If you have more than one plate, you can double stack to keep it steady Drink wise, It can go well with soda or sweet tea. For sauces, standard hot sauce will do just fine It ain't much, but it's filling, affordable, and if your heart's in the right place, it'll taste just fine

[@darianbarber3763]

my family would just do chicken & rice occasionally with broccoli mixed in

[@chloeedmund4350]

That sounds delicious actually.

[@sandypalafox1122]

I’m latina and grew up in the ‘ghetto’ and I can honestly say I though casseroles were a rich white people thing lmao I never saw it as a poor thing. I guess we have a very different perception of poor. Loved this video though learned a lot. Edit: also Slim Jim’s were also a very expensive thing for me lmao

[@kandy1643]

Same I always thought of casseroles as something your higher middle class white aunt brings to thanksgiving. I also never got to eat slim Jim’s very often because of how expensive they are lol

[@FM-er6xy]

Yeah here slim jims are a rich thing people with landrovers that go camping a lot eat

[@kandy1643]

@officialmer yes I understand that, never said it wasn’t cheap. I just never saw it as “trash” food

[@ah5721]

Thats crazy. When Iwas a kid my mom made Casseroles all the time to finish the food off we grew up on food stamps

[@anaestrada6906]

Same! I think that poverty in first world countries and in Latin America is just insanely different.

[@zoewww]

i NEVER appreciated how my mom made me a meal every day and how we had a family dinner every night. i always wanted junk food when i was young and was mad i was fed healthy, home cooked meals. today i’m so thankful to my mom she’s helped me maintain good eating habits to this day thank u mom ❤️

[@Tethloach1]

It is good to know that some parents are good. My mom cooked good food until she didn't, It was time for me to move out at that point.

[@taejaskudva2543]

I think that's just the nature of kids to want junk food, but there's also a huge issue of marketing that faces children, not adults. A parent sees the commercial one time; the parent hears the kids wheedle and plead endlessly for days when the kids sees the commercial. There was a Lunchables commercial obviously targeting kids, not parents, that absolutely drove me insane for depicting the kid consistently disappointed with the mother's sack lunch, but cheering like he was pulling the sword from the stone when one day he saw Lunchables inside. The commercial ends with the kid's voiceover of, "Thanks Mom," while camera focuses through the bus window on the mom's smiling face on the front porch. It literally made me grind my teeth for how they were programming children's desires.

[@artless3438]

Literally same. The way I was always jealous of Lunchables even when I had amazing sandwiches everyday. It's embarrassing to think about because I was so spoiled

[@121996yana]

As a child of ex-soviet immigrants I was raised on the concept of loving food, especially easily accessible and easily made food. When you asked me to imagine trashy food that I would never eat I honestly couldn't think of anything. When you started talking about casseroles and candy potato I got nostalgic because so much of the food I grew up with was made from similar ingredients. And in my country, eastern-European and Russian food is considered kind of trashy, weird (and it kinda is but I get to make fun of it because i actually tasted most of it), unsophisticated and with very bland taste. I totally felt everything you said in this video. This was very interesting, thank you for this video and for sharing your perspective.

[@hgsiewert7636]

The discussion at 17:30 is EXACTLY what happened to grunge music. It was music made by outcasts, for outcasts, and then Nevermind blew up and suddenly it was cool; the people who liked that music from the beginning were suddenly surrounded by all the people that bullied and made fun of them literally months earlier. I'm not a music historian, but this exponential growth in popularity is most likely what led many of the central figures of that genre towards self-destructive behaviors and in some cases suicide.

[@witch2019]

Food deserts make me scream. There's such an issue here in Detroit about the lack of freaking grocery stores. Whole Foods opened up in a wealthy part of the city, but far from the sprawling residential areas. It wasn't until Meijer opened up on 8-mile that everyday people had a big box grocery store to go to.

[@Endmass]

and that Meijer is less than great, compared to the burbs. One of the reasons why mutual aid in Detroit taking off - a lot of orgs compared to just a few years ago.

[@hoshisabi]

Detroit has some strange racial politics in general. I used to live in a suburb of Detroit that originally was part of Detroit, but broke off to be its own township. (Redford Township). They regularly would refuse to pave the roads, despite the fact that dirt roads were really ... "odd" here in a suburb so close to a major metro area. It was claimed that it was in the hopes of not having "newcomers" move in. (the unspoken fact was that the newcomers might be POC, as my high school was nearly all white, but across the borders in EVERY direction, white people were in the minority.) This was back in the late 80s, early 90s, and it was like our high school was frozen in time in the 50s. It was an odd place.

[@devonwelch8014]

Not to play devils advocate, but it’s just not profitable to put grocery stores in extremely poor areas. Less money is spent by customers, more coupons, and rampant stealing. They’re needs to be some kind of incentive, maybe increased tax breaks to entice grocery stores to open up in these areas.

[@hoshisabi]

@@devonwelch8014 It's a cycle. There's lots opportunity for many things there, which contributes to poverty, which lessens the opportunity. Those businesses also provide jobs as well as provide lower cost food than the convenience food which is all that is offered. Something does need to be done. But this is a case where capitalism doesn't care about the people who suffer because of the feedback loop. But government is there to protect citizens from things like this.

[@heath6802]

I misread this as food desserts and was like “But dessert makes us happy??? I don’t understand??? What do grocery stores have to do with not preferring sweets???” And then reread and felt like a big dumb idiot

[@preciousinfinity]

Simple foods with a long shelf life are also good for disabled people, as we often struggle or simply can't prepare meals from scratch. So not only is this classist it's also ablest...just throw all the isms on the pile!

[@teslashark]

The food distribution services for disabled and elder homes deserves to be subsidized!

[@Nostripe361]

This reminds me of when a bunch of people were complaining about precut vegetables and how lazy people bought them. They didn’t think about disabled people or those who just don’t have the time to make their own food from scratch

[@lapislazarus8899]

It's quite the accomplishment for my amputated self to get to the grocery store and figure out how $24 worth of EBT will last me a month.

[@RoselynTate]

The worst is when, as someone disabled and chronically ill, you find out that a very particular kind of diet is actually what would help with managing symptoms, only to realize that it eliminates many of the kinds of long shelf life and easy to prepare foods you had previously relied on, and that there aren't easy replacements for those kinds of foods.

[@teslashark]

@@RoselynTate Food deserts, man, food deserts

[@happycamperds9917]

I remember I used to eat green bean casseroles, pigs in a blanket, and all that stuff a lot as a kid but as I grew older my Mom stopped making them very often. This video makes me realize, that combined with her improved cooking skills, it's probably because my family was more well off in my adolescence than my grade school years.

[@SceneKidsTryToHard]

You mentioning cow tails brought me back immediately to my poor, rural childhood in north florida. I haven’t eaten one in years but I could almost feel the outer gelatinous coating

[@ZosKia523]

It's funny to see how much oxtail sell for now$$$

[@safir2241]

oxtail is fucking delicious

[@klausoshaunacey8429]

I made sloppy Joes and fries for my roommates and I for dinner one night and they were like “um... I haven’t had that since I was a kid. I’ll find something else for dinner.” And I felt genuinely offended

[@slamislife74]

That is so mean!

[@klausoshaunacey8429]

@@slamislife74 I don’t think they were intending to be mean, it was just kinda hurtful. Like what, you’re too good for sloppy Joe’s? We’re all broke college students.

[@shaunbarber2325]

That BITCH doesn't understand food

[@AlexiaM]

Damn sloppy joe’s are good af 😩

[@Lae-zel_enthusiast]

I fucking love sloppy joes, that person was just a prick

[@michiganscythian2445]

One my friends said something to the effect of “everything that a peasant ate in the 1600s is trendy now”. Artisan sourdough bread, craft beer, cheese, “pot greens” like radicchio and arugula, beets

[@anname2678]

Sourdough bread is trendy? It's the most normal and boring bread where I come from. The most popular one I know is gray bread even the name is boring!😂

[@LancesArmorStriking]

@@anname2678 People got tired of white bread, and wanted to be 'different from everyone else' by 'connecting with nature' (avoiding doing anything in common with the poor, basically). So yes, bakeries and 'whole food' in general now are trendy

[@landon.packrat3281]

Thank you. I never understood this particular human interaction, so I never got why people gave me odd looks when I ate cheap food. (Or why I got pushback when suggested eating it as a way to cut expenses in a fiscal emergency.) I've found soup gets around this behavior. I just say, "The broth is homemade." and suddenly I'm a foodie. All I did was save my bones and boil them.

[@leevc2037]

I told my mom about this video and about the history of Lobster. She told me that the same thing happened to a food called "Ox Tail". Ox tail was a very popular and CHEAP meat dish that alot of Black and Dominican families [like my family] would cook. She was able to get like a whole big bag of them for cheap. BUT, once the wealthy people discovered how good Ox Tail was, they started buying it up and suddenly it got more expensive, to the point where my mom and grandma were only able to buy like a 1/3 of what they used to get for DOUBLE the price. Really messed up.

[@sarahMuahahaha]

As a poor white southerner who also grew up eating those delicious morsels of heavenly meat... I flipped my $hit when I saw the prices sky rocket. I can't afford that 😢

[@DoomWaffle]

As someone from Appalachia who spent the first half of my life trying to erase any vestige of where I came from and my culture so people wouldn't think I was ignorant and backwards, and as someone who has spent the second half desperately trying to get it all back, this really means a lot to me.

[@daisyslusher1281]

This video hit home for me as well, and I’d also like to highlight the music. I guess I’m so used to hearing the music my family plays as part of the comedy in videos (“people acting silly, let’s put a royalty free banjo song in the background”) that it brought me to tears hearing it used in a serious setting.

[@CCSI322]

Florida Man 👞👞

[@HaShomeret]

I once overheard a upper class person try to explain to a lower class person why a yogurt is healthier then a chocolate pudding. The lower class person pointed out that both had 28 grams of sugar and 2 grams of protein so there wasn't really a difference. This broke the upper class person's brain.

[@athenaconde2955]

I mean it depends on the type of yogurt. Like Greek yogurt will have much more protein and fats than the normal Yoplait yogurt

[@vylbird8014]

General rule: If a food is labeled 'low fat' it's probably full of sugar, and vice versa.

[@lolwut6635]

But also, it's better for your gut.

[@briannaadhikari8155]

I literally only grew up with homemade "curd" which is usually served savory. Then went to a friend's house and discovered yoplait and chobani... how did western capitalism manage to fuck up yogurt so bad...

[@marthahawkinson-michau9611]

My mother-in-law only buys the excessively over processed yogurts like yoplait and activia. She doesn’t usually remember to eat them either.... I won’t actually bother to eat them until they are at LEAST six months after the sell by date. I grew up eating actual yogurt that didn’t have sugar in it. The yogurt my mother-in-law buys just tastes like pudding to me. It starts to actually taste like real yogurt if I let it ripen in the fridge six months to a year. I’m keep wondering why she doesn’t just buy pudding and actually eat it. I also wonder why she doesn’t let me pick out yogurt I actually like.

[@CairoCreations]

I did not come from a “white trash” family. We were middle class and lived in the suburbs but still at the edge. A close enough drive to the sticks for me to spend a lot of my time and have friends there. I grew up with “trashy” foods though and even now I find myself making them a lot. Not only because I love them and grew up on them but because I can’t afford a lot of the more “rich” dishes I ate as a kid. (Hey I’m a broke kid who graduated collage with a bachelors in graphic design and an associates in animal behavior. I work for 29K /yr at an animal shelter and have a dog of my own to look after.) We always made this really delicious chicken and rice dish. We would buy whole chickens then what we didn’t use for other meals we would shred and cook in our instant pot with butter and cartots and rice and milk and peas and broccoli and if we had any we’d use heavy cram and it was always my favorite dish, still is. I still make it all the time and I remember the first time I made it for my friends they laughed at me for making “trash food” and I didn’t cook it for like a year after. It is good though, I can’t believe I ever stopped eating it because I was embarrassed.

[@flamethefurry3516]

I’m gonna be honest, I have never associated certain foods with “oh this person who eats it is trash”. I just see foods on merits of nutritional value and taste, which is really all that should matter. I grew up in a nice neighborhood in an upper middle class family and have always enjoyed a lot of these foods without thinking much of it. But a problem with america is lots of people are obsessed with class.

[@Frenzywonder]

I had an """interesting""" childhood in the sense that we were kinda poor, but my dad worked as a sous chef. So while I did eat cheap food, he also gave us amazing culinary experiences. I mean one day I eat reheated kraft's mac and cheese and the next he whips up carpaccio or cassoulet.

[@nottheborg836]

same same same! I was a pretty poor kid but my dad was a head chef for 10 years and won himself a michelin star so we would have pretty crazy variation in meals over a week lol

[@desotaku5202]

Me too. Today looking back, im almost moved to tears when i think what awesome dishes my mom cooked with sometimes less then 100€ for the whole month. Limitations increase creativity (dont know how to translate this into english well) she always said.

[@joannalewis7699]

@@desotaku5202 Necessity is the mother of invention?

[@desotaku5202]

@@joannalewis7699 sounds right😅 In german it is "Not macht erfinderisch"

[@Tethloach1]

My mom cooked good food until she didn't, it was time to move out at that point. No good food, meant time to leave home. It is hard to know what parents are like for other people, if it is a zero sum game, where all parents are the same regardless of what they do. I know my parents aren't great but, I know it could have been worse, much worse. Hearing some of the things other people have to go threw makes me glad for what I had. I wish it could have been better as well, but oh well.

[@tiffanyferg]

Growing up, neither of my parents cooked much. We never sat down together to have family meals. So my “trash” diet was mainly just processed food, anything microwaveable, and lots of cheap fast food. Editing to add: I’m also interested in the class-related implications of home cooked meals vs relying on “junk” or fast food. Obviously there’s a massive stigma against buying or consuming too much junk food or fast food - it’s certainly seen as trashy. For my parents I think it was a combination of lack of time, energy, and cooking skills. They were self employed, raising four kids, so I can’t blame them for choosing whichever food options were quick or easy. As an adult I’ve had to unlearn a lot of these habits though. I’ve had to learn basic cooking skills and resist the urge to get takeout too frequently. There were so many foods, especially fruits and veggies, that I never tried as a kid, so I’m slowly trying to adjust my taste preferences as well. It’s a work in progress. Anyway thank you for this very thought-provoking video and congrats on the recent success! I’m a thought slime viewer but found this vid through the algorithm. I subscribed and am looking forward to watching more of your stuff 💛

[@safala]

Never thought I’d find you here as this is a growing channel, but I guess YT recommendations blesses even the best.

[@louv9969]

Finding Tiffany commenting on 3 of my most recent recommended videos really reassures me that I'm on the right side of KZbin

[@hardlo7146]

@@safala She oftens watches small channels like these, even giving them shoutouts often. It's how I found D'Angelo for example, and now his channel is gigantic. Tiff is great.

[@firecracker3911]

❤️❤️❤️

[@tonycampbell1424]

I spent years teaching myself how to cook, in part just to . . . I don't know, put space between myself and where I came from. Frozen fish sticks. Anything that could go from a freezer to a deep fryer to a plate. Mountains of mashed potatoes. I didn't eat spinach prepared any way but canned until I was an adult. Credit to my parents, we did eat some kind of vegetables every day at least. They were almost always limp overcooked canned vegetables, but God love em for tryin. Honestly, I miss a lot of it. Tuna casserole still slaps. Venison was like, my favorite as a kid, that and catfish from the creek. Oh, and blackberries that we would go out and gather in the summer. Being insanely broke wasn't *all* bad, looking back. A lot of the food was a hot mess (government issue giant can with *PORK* on the side, impact font, black on white comes screaming to mind), but there was nothing pretentious about it at least? No idea what the point of this comment was. Chalk it up to algorithmic engagement. 👁👁👁👁👁👁👁👁👁👁👁👁👁👁

[@cadenrowan7986]

That transition was MASTERFUL! One of the best transitions I've seen in a youtube video. Really engages the audience, turns everything on it's head, beautiful.

[@horror990]

As a Pennsylvanian, when you mentioned potato candy, so many fond memories lit up in my brain of the holidays (where my grandpa would ask my mom and I to make it) that I got some tears in my eyes. My dad and I still go out digging for leaks and foraging for berries. Both of which we use for eating. My mom makes "leak dip" which is chopped up leaks, jar cheese whiz and some other stuff. I've even made quite a bit of violet syrup and have been debating drying out dead nettle, henbit, and ground ivy for seasoning.

[@danielberglund8186]

I'm vibrating into oblivion for the color sorted books.

[@june_could]

thank u for this comment

[@D0N0H0]

Can't unsee...

[@kellyloganme]

Right? Those immediately caught my eye as well and then I looked at my books and thought, what if I sorted them by color, how nice would that look, but then would I do that just inside the subject categories, but it wouldn't be as dramatic as the set in her shot, but if I was going to choose books to have out like that, could I choose a set with those dramatic colors that would still represent books I wanted out for public consumption or would I need to choose books I wouldn't normally put out that don't represent ideas I want to portray just for the color some marketer choose to make the cover like Cokie Roberts' autobiography that has that dramatic blue-almost-purple? So yeah, that was a second and a half of thought I was carried away by....

[@craniifer]

Lowkey one of my favorite things about ASOIaF. Line em up, and most of the books are a rainbow.

[@Li_Tobler]

@@craniifer those are asoiaf?? DAUYYYM thanks for letting me know!

[@9313James]

As a non American casseroles and pigs in blankets being seen as trashy is wild.

[@davelewis8270]

I thought the same thing. We only have pigs in blankets at Christmas. Its special occasion food.

[@m3llo8an4t0s]

Yeah it's like, a children's birthday staple around here.

[@nr5076]

I think pigs in blankets is a bit like sausage rolls? I wouldn't say greggs is classy

[@envexenveritas]

@@nr5076 Living in the south greggs was a treat. Although that's probably because you can trace the north/south divide by number of greggs per city which just leads to the classism of the north/south divide in the first place.

[@nr5076]

@@envexenveritas clasy and a treat are also different things, Brighton rock, trifle, angel fluff or a battered sausage are all treats but it isn't food you'd find in an expensive restaurant

[@deefpaladin]

I came back to this video, because I struggle a lot with cooking because of my disabilities. And your list of features of trash foods is honestly kind of ideal as a starting point.

[@painter-midge]

This video has really made me grateful that I have a mom who has the time & energy to cook for us, and does it well. I see all these comments about living off of the bare minimum, and I just wish I could have y'all over for dinner and make sure you're nourished. Hunger by necessity is something no one deserves to experience, least of all growing kids. I'm also really grateful to have access to the resources to cook for myself (at least at my parents' home), and it pains me that I took for granted the fact that I can just... cook shit... and have access to ingredients. Like, I have celiac disease and sensory issues with taste/texture, and it's absolutely a luxury that I can afford to feed myself and stay healthy on my gluten-free diet. And it shouldn't be a luxury, but it'd be naive of me to stick my head in the sand and ignore my privilege here. Idk where this comment is headed; I guess, to the people who can sit down for a home-cooked meal with the family, please be thankful, because it might have never occurred to you that people have it any way else (it sure didn't occur to me for most of my childhood, but then again I am a bit hollow in the noggin lmao)

[@molybd3num823]

same

[@wvu05]

It's the same reason why being heavy used to be the socially desirable state: because rich people could afford to eat enough to get fat. Now, fattening food is cheaper, so it has inverted.

[@maheenm.k1015]

Not to mention the beauty standard for weight is reversed. It's weird how beauty and status standards never contradict each other.

[@stevenmackintosh8160]

Fattenig food is not cheaper that is a myth.

[@wvu05]

@@stevenmackintosh8160 Each of the last three years, I have taken part in a Lenten Food Stamp Challenge at my church. We limit ourselves to the food stamp budget and donate the difference between that and our normal food spending to an anti-hunger charity. Each of those three years, I gained two or three pounds in a month and a half. Try the challenge for long enough to see a difference and see what happens to you.

[@KC-ep6sg]

@@stevenmackintosh8160 Canned food, frozen food, and fast food is way cheaper than buying fresh fruits and vegetables or nice restaurant dinners, not to mention cooking a fresh meal costs a lot of time too when many people are working too often to have the energy to plan and cook meals. There are also food deserts, urban areas where there won't be fresh produce for miles, and the only groceries you can get are from the Dollar Tree or Walmart. Not everyone can afford Whole Foods, if there even is one close enough to shop at. What planet do you live on where that isn't true? I'll gladly move there.

[@stevenmackintosh8160]

@@KC-ep6sg Canned and frozen food is not less healthy than fresh thats another myth. Sometimes fresh is cheaper than frozen or canned it depends on the type of veg or fruit. Yes cooking takes time but thats not anything to do with expense. Its more a skill that unfortunatly most people dont have. I grew up eating trash food, but in adulthood learned how to make really easy cheap healthy meals; its not hard when you know how.

[@ardengoss2275]

My mom used to make "nine can soup", literally just nine cans of beans and vegetables mixed together. it would feed us for about a week, and it was actually pretty good.

[@rebeccawilliams5337]

Ooh that reminds me of "foil packets"!! Can of french onion soup, bunch of canned veggies, any cheap meat, roll it up in foil and throw it on the fire (or oven) for a while

[@3DPT]

Rebecca Williams that's a classic camping meal... chicken, rice, green beans and foil, you have an idiot proof meal scouts could cook without tasting like burned tires...

[@skinni_the_P00hBear]

Omg I did this last spring! I was getting ready to move out of my dorm and I had to get rid of a bunch of food to avoid wasting it, so I got my last cans of tomato soup, threw in diced tomatoes, black beans and corn, and chili seasoning and random spices. There was probably other stuff I cant remember lol, but that was some pretty good soup. I didnt even get to finish it all before moving out 😭

[@iluan_]

I do that for myself (with less cans).

[@radicalplanning]

I’m the first person in my family born outside of WV and have been going up all my life. I did cry when you brought up tater candy. I am also looking at my pantry filled with cans and dry goods in a different light this evening. Thanks for this fantastic video.

[@steveafulton]

Potato Candy sounds amazing. After my mom made juice from concentrate we were not allowed to fill a dixie cup with it. We just put a small amount in the bottom of the cup and then filled the rest with water. I did not realize this was weird until a friend came over and after I offered him a cup of this diluted mixture he said "noooo gross!!!

[@p0ot]

My mom served us fried chicken hearts once, and I think it almost broke her heart. None of us kids really understood what was so difficult for her, with a bit of ketchup, we thought they tasted fine. Thanks for helping me consider how poor we were back then, and how hard that must have been for my folks, trying to be "independent" and "successful". EDIT: Mom would be mortified that I shared this story, so don't tell her.

[@Waitwhat469]

@Stirgid Lanathiel Man good fried gizzards are awesome tasting!

[@jaimebibelot4398]

Nothing wrong with hearts and gizzards

[@beryll3556]

I am from a Russian family and for us it is kind of normal to eat chicken hearts and other organs like livers etc. For us it's not considered cheap "trash" food I think the reason is that my kind isn't wasteful we just eat anything from the animal and I see that as normal Its kind of interesting to see the difference in different cultures

[@kdandsheela]

Chicken hearts are delicious!!!

[@tirzahsackey1429]

Fried gizzards and hearts are sooooo good, like the judgement is soo annoying

[@Saltpork305]

The trashiest food I can imagine is a meal of vienna sausages, generic saltines and those hostess frosted mini donuts. My dad was an over the road trucker when I was young and I would go with him in the summer. The healthiest things we had were hardboiled eggs and gatorade. Everything else was either truck stop food or stuff like what was above. As a kid I loved it, looking back, he was in his 40s and ate this way and as someone getting close to 40 myself that kind of breaks my heart. No one taught him nutrition.

[@tombirmingham7033]

man i loved those little powdered sugar donuts in the bag. Economically with bad parents, i would have those for breakfast whenever they came home late. also, same, no one taught me nutrition as a child. didn't get in shape and healthy till i was 43.

[@boomoon584]

Same with my dad. He drove long hours, and was a construction worker. Had to get 4 heart stints put in at 50. He didn’t understand the food he ate was unhealthy.

[@BenjaminWalburn]

my family has "sausage stuff". You take a tube of ground sausage and cook it, then mix with pasta and golden mushroom soup. It's very tasty, especially if you like a little heat, and for $5 you could feed a family for days.

[@Icheasea_T]

My dad grew up on trash food. His parents lived through the Great Depression and had 8 kids. Plus my grandma was not a talented cook and had to feed all those kids. Fried baloney is delicious by the way

[@testosteronic]

Ok, just learnt that Americans use the word "casserole" for something completely different. We use casserole to mean like a stew. What you described sounds like "pasta bake" to me.

[@shodan6401]

Yeah, "Pasta Bake" perfectly describes the dish. That is a much better name. Pasta, mushroom soup, canned tuna fish, perhaps some peas or other vegetable, with or without cheese, crumble some crackers or potato chips on top, and bake in the oven until the top is lightly browned and crunchy. Pasta bake. Or for Americans, casserole.

[@CommunistCatboy]

Same, I was sitting here wondering what she meant by casserole, and when I got it, I was surprised it's considered trashy in the US

[@raraavis7782]

In German, we call this type of dish 'Auflauf' (literally run-up). Which is kind of funny, because the original meaning, dating back to the middle ages (which is also still in use today, though), is 'an often spontaneous/unplanned assembly of (potentially angry/upset) people'. Well, ok, the human kind of 'Auflauf' doesn't always have negative connotations, but the word is more likely to be used, to describe an angry mob than a happy crowd. It's usually potatoes or noodles and meat and/or veggies, covered in cheese and baked till 'golden brown and delicious'. There are sweet varieties too, though. And it's not all a 'white trash' food here, but rather a popular family dish...something you could even serve to guests, without anyone blinking an eye.

[@jaminwaite3867]

All the casseroles I grew up on were made with rice

[@nailno1006]

They don’t always involve pasta, sometimes they have rice or nothing like that at all. Green bean casserole for instance is just cream of mushroom soup, fried onions, and a bunch of green beans. It’s not soupy, it’s extremely thick, so it’s a casserole not a stew. It’s the way it’s made and texture for the most part that makes a casserole.

[@ash1rose]

This is VERY similar to how Black culture is exploited, and I think it just shows a pattern of how more privileged groups will try on the mantle of more marginalized ones "for the lulz," knowing full well they can cast it off whenever they want and not have to deal with the fallout of the mockery.

[@CobaltContrast]

Having vegan chicken and waffles... sets it down. Ah no. What have I become.

[@alexwr]

Forgive me, but how is that culture exploited? I can't think of any examples off the top of my head of definitive exploitation.

[@emilyb3875]

@@alexwr Cajun/creole food, all types southern bbq originated with how slaves slow cooked the scraps they were given into something delicious, many fashion trends like hoop earrings, acrylic nails, hair extensions, silk hair wraps. Also a lot of my white friends never listened to rap music until Eminem and then it was "like omg my favorite genre, saw raw and edgy" (that was a very 2006 argument and I don't know how old you are so you might not remember a time before rap was mainstream) but that's just a couple examples from the top of my head

[@CobaltContrast]

@@alexwr Google taco bell. Mexican culture is exploited just as much as black culture.

[@destroymalefeminists]

doesn't take long for a victimized black person to come on a video about a white person and make it allll about them 🤡

[@alejandrorodriguezlopez5266]

here in mexico we have 'maruchan', which are instant noodles with dried vegetables. Years ago, "tacos de suadero" (suadero is the cow stomach) were tied to poor neighbourhoods, now it is pretty expensive and in almost every grill restaurant. And of course I eat them regularly, I am poor, Maruchan is a way to eat something out of necessity and suadero became a little luxury to keep you sane.

[@doctorelfinstone1414]

I’ve had an odd, paradoxical relationship to “trashy” food. Being largely raised by a single mom the “trashy” stuff is all we could afford so that stuff is deeply familiar to me. (Plus me being on the spectrum meant that there were only so many foods that didn’t cause me sensory issues and most of it was the “trashy” stuff). But my Mom (despite being very low income) was very snobbish and/ or classist about a lot of things; and over the past few years I’ve realized that I regrettably absorbed some of that snobbishness and classism from her, and have been putting in a concerted effort to break myself of those prejudiced opinions. But those classist attitudes that I’d absorbed/internalized weren’t (as mentioned before) so much to do with *what* was bought so much as *where* it was bought. Like I’d be totally fine buying and eating ravioli from a can, just as long as it was from a grocery store that middle/upper middle class people shopped at ( like Publix or Whole Foods). And conversely, I’d feel a sense of shame/“dirty” for buying even the highest quality food from “poor people” stores like Walmart. My mom’s death a few years ago significantly reduced my income (we lived together) and basically forced me to shop more at the “poor” stores and unlearn/confront that bias I had; and getting into watching leftist content like this also has helped me unpack and ‘deprogram’ that predjudice. Now not only do I *have* to shop at the “poor” stores I honestly prefer them now. Both ALDIs and Walmart Neighborhood Market have really good quality food at amazing prices (especially ALDIs). And I’ve also discovered that my favorite dishes are ones that blur the lines between “trashy” and “sophisticated”; such as “trashy” recipes made with gourmet ingredients, or conversely “fancy” food made with “trash” ingredients. Like if y’all want to try something amazing and affordable ( and are still somehow reading this) try this ramen recipe based on a “trashy” dish my mom would make me all the time: boil some instant ramen noodles (the kind that comes in packs not in cups)and a hot dog (pref Hebrew national) in water. When noodles are done pour noodles & broth into bowl, remove hot dog and cut into slices, place back in bowl & arrange on top. Top noodles with about 1 tbsp of butter, canned sweet corn, dried chives, salt & pepper to taste. And enjoy! Anyway, love the video; this is like my third or fourth time watching it but this time I felt like I had something to share.

[@jasmithcomposer]

The Eyeballs say hello!

[@zoe_bee]

👁👁👁

[@peytonpascual53]

🧿🧿🧿🧿🧿🧿🧿🧿🧿🧿

[@kreechrr]

👀👁👀

[@Rex-hx5fz]

👁👁👁

[@NDM800]

Eyeballs? I think you mean the solidarity corner 😛

[@thiscontent9621]

Everybody hates a tourist, especially one who thinks it's all such a laugh.

[@jacobwhitley1820]

“I’ll see what I can do”

[@pjo5214]

Laugh along with the common people. Laugh along, even though they're laughing at you.

[@roxane1237]

You got no money?

[@sentienttapioca5409]

Yeah, and the chip stains and grease will come out in the bath.

[@brandon.mullins]

I found myself chuckling at this video because I definitely would eat the food that I had picked out as a "trashy food." That chuckle turned into a full belly laugh when I saw the Velveeta cheese that I took a picture of and uploaded to Wikipedia on your trashy foods list. So I can say I literally ate that trashy food.

[@ltrigga219]

Oh man, so many triggers about the history and sources of nutrition science. I dunno how it took me this long to find your channel, but as a fellow English degree holder I love your style of video essay, and your selection of topics. Can’t wait to watch How Food Companies Lie, and the rest of your catalogue of awesomeness. Keep up the great work!

[@Head_Turnah]

"Suddenly what I ate wasn't weird anymore." Facts, and this is exactly how many rich people view Black Culture(s) too.

[@Aima952]

I was literally just waiting for the comparison to black-face... Not disappointed by what I got instead but the missed opportunity to brush on intersectionality was about the only con-crit I could offer her.

[@kitbracadabra]

@@Aima952 ?????

[@jesusnice850]

@@kitbracadabra People looking for shit will find... shit.

[@jadefalcon001]

Cultural Strip Mining is definitely a thing. American mainstream is very good at it. It's like the Borg, almost.

[@NoName-sp5dp]

@@jesusnice850 read a book. Basic knowledge

[@Rumade]

People have this perception of frozen and canned vegetables as being "lesser" than fresh, but it's nonsense. Freezing and canning makes vegetables accessible, reduces some of the huge amounts of food waste worldwide, and preserves nutrients.

[@swedneck]

adam ragusea made a great video on it, frozen food has gotten waaaaay better the past like 20 years, to the point that stuff like frozen meat and vegetables is essentially fresh.

[@mscout1]

A dietitian I talked to told me that the way they do Individually Quick Frozen foods these days, they are safer, fresher, and retain more nutrients the the "fresh" veggies that were picked pre-ripe and shipped on a truck

[@Rumade]

@@mscout1 it's true. Modern freezing techniques are amazing.

[@aurelianjustice9622]

They do add quite a lot of sodium and unnecessary shit to canned veggies, and canned fruit is basically candy. Certain frozen foods are contested to potentially be better than fresh because of how well it preserves nutrients though.

[@aislingokeeffe6195]

@@aurelianjustice9622 I seem to remember that professional chefs use frozen peas for their fancy dishes because it makes them much better to work with for complicated cooking styles

[@ArekusaSan]

The first thing that popped into my head was a deep-fried bologna sandwich, and I would absolutely try it. I only associate it with “the trashiest food”, because it reminds me of late hot summers at the pop-up carnivals I would work at, where everything is tacky and overpriced and it’s a treat! This video made me realize I grew up in a weird situation. See, I was raised in Kentucky by two parents who didn’t come from Kentucky. My mom grew up overseas in Central America, while my dad was raised by two parents who resided in the Pacific Northwest for a long time. We rode the line of lower middle class pretty hard for most of my life, as I got to watch my classmates and neighbors get to do things like cruises and have multiple toys that I could only dream of, yet my situation always outweighed a lot of the kids my parents helped who were impoverished. My mom did her best to research what foods were healthy and how to have a balanced diet, so a lot of what I ate did not look like the packed lunches of other kids. We did not have “white trash” food, because it was unhealthy, yet I didn’t start to see it as “white trash” until I got older and saw the association between the food and the assumption of the people who ate it. I had to be told this, because even the kids who were going on a cruise trip once a year still ate those kinds of foods. Sure, their families tried to get them a form of a balanced meal, but both rich and poor kids were coming into school with Vienna sausages, RC Cola, and bologna sandwiches in their lunches. This wasn’t the case for everyone, and there were often times where the difference between the rich and poor kids was something like the branding of certain foods (brand name vs. generic label), but this food was so common to everyone I knew growing up that the fact casserole is included boggles my mind. I thought that was a standard US culture thing!! Why is it being so disrespected like this?? Casseroles are fantastic and I will fight anyone who tries to write them off for being “white trash”.

[@jessica.L.edwards]

Listening to this literally as I finish up cooking a thrown together meal of bbq lil smokies, Mac and cheese, and canned beans. I’m well-off, have an awesome summer garden, but sometimes you just gotta make those meals from your childhood!

[@ubernerrd]

I've actually thought about writing a "white trash cookbook" consisting of meals I ate growing up. Tuna casserole, hamburger helper, hot dogs/chili dogs, baked beans with ham, minute rice with canned chili, and more that I can't think of right now. I still make a lot of these things today because they are cheap and easy to make.

[@paige6180]

Yes, anything that is quick or made with ground beef

[@JessiDeerSims]

Ramen with cheese spread

[@ubernerrd]

@@JessiDeerSims I used to get chicken cheese ramen in Korea, pretty good stuff.

[@schiffelers3944]

What is holding you back?

[@ubernerrd]

@@schiffelers3944 Laziness.

[@briennekennedy373]

As a broke college student, lemme give a quick casserole tip: if you want to amp up the flavor for free, cook it in a shallow dish instead of a deep one. You get more caramelization on the top, and I personally love the texture a lot more that way.

[@ergotoxicosis]

As someone with sensory issues who is a picky eater but loves crunchy textures, thank you!!!

[@welshlady212000]

I find the bigger the gap at the top, the softer the meat.

[@serpentscoil326]

My dad grew up poor in the Midwest and my mom grew up poor from the Pacific. Both raised me on foods they were raised on. I felt this with the "trash" food. Another phrase I have often heard "Champaign Taste on a PBR Budget" and I thought about specific beverages have its class implications. PBR can be seen as "trashy" but early 2010s hipsters made it fashionable. Finally slim jims are amazing.

[@ecl4396]

Fairy Bread I've been wanting to try it for ages, but I've never had wonder"bread", sprinkles, and margrine all at the same time It sounds absolutely disgusting in a completely rational and palateable way

[@leo9597]

i love it! my family said they prefer it rolled up and then cut into slices if you think the texture sounds bad

[@SybilNix]

“The trashiest food you can imagine” Immediately my mind went to those orange cheese puffs. Not Cheetos. Those cheese balls. With Cheetos texture (I assume??). The ones that come in a biiiiig bucket-like jar

[@sprnkles]

Yeah I second this, hated those

[@dangerousish7837]

God those are so awful

[@lunarm0th690]

I love those things omfg, they're weirdly delicious

[@a-bird-lover]

we have this brand of popcorn here that's like those but no cheese, just butter and salt. They're fricken delicious and I love them

[@nailno1006]

@@a-bird-lover that sounds amazing where is it sold

[@ryancurrier6845]

Brings to mind a line from Frasier where snobby Niles says to elitist Frasier when trying to convince him to give fast food a whirl, "oh come on, you've sample the peasant cuisine of france, italy, and Spain. Why ignore the peasants in our own back yard."

[@ctlvrx]

I like the quote from Daphne, who said Niles would eat a worm if it had a french name.

[@wvu05]

@@ctlvrx Well, I'm sure he's probably eaten escargot at least once.

[@strawbself]

my favorite dinner that my mom made our family of 6 growing up was poppyseed chicken casserole. it has chicken, cream of chicken soup, sour cream, seasonings, broken up ritz crackers, and poppyseeds and it still makes my mouth water to think about. we would usually have it with rice and broccoli which are still two of my favorite foods. i had no idea that casseroles or that specific casserole were “trash” foods, i genuinely thought it was the most fancy meal we ate on a regular basis and asked for it on my birthday several years in a row. i now see that it was both an easy and cheap meal my mom could make that would feed all of us (and that all of us liked!!!) without having to expend so much energy and it makes me love the meal even more. it’s a quintessential part of my childhood and adolescence, a core and shared memory of my family, and my ultimate comfort food.

[@not8brand]

woah...this hit me in all the feels..."trashy" food brings me right back to my childhood and growing up poor...such a visceral experience because it's tied to the food i regularly ate...and how it made me slowly realize that i grew up poor by other people's reactions to my experiences and taste's...great video

[@lasshaley]

When she said “picture the trashiest food you can think of” my mind immediately went to Joy from My Name Is Earl squirting ketchup onto a plate of spaghetti in lieu of marinara sauce.

[@bethsharma4766]

Yes!! Also same recipe on Honey Boo Boo.

[@DavidJamesHenry]

Honestly I almost can't stand marinara sauce after being raised on ketchup

[@MCArt25]

this is doubly funny because where I live ketchup is actually much more expensive than plain tomato sauce

[@garethbaus5471]

@@MCArt25 depends on the marina but that is generally true pretty much everywhere.

[@noone-um4hk]

I grew up in appalachia Ohio, you listing off "trash" food reminded me of my childhood. Casserole, pepperoni rolls, and canned food was eaten regularly. My wife was born and raised in China, and also grew up poor. Even though we would be considered upper-middle class now, our kids have grown up on the food of both of our childhoods. I don't care how well-off I become, pepperoni rolls and casserole will always be some of my favorite food.

[@stargazingstar3239]

This is what my parents did which is why this video confused me so much, lol

[@RS-ny8my]

As a foreigner, this is all quite intriguing. For me, I'm quite privileged, my family was never poor and got much wealthier later in my life. But a lot of the foods that remind me of home are ones that were cheaper, sold in hawker centers and by the street. Back home I never really sensed stigma towards cheap foods. It seemed like these foods were enjoyed by everyone, regardless of class. There is this type of instant noodle in Indonesia called Mie Goreng (Fried Noodle), or Indomie, by Indofood. And that kind of food is not just one of my favorites, it makes me feel connected to home even when I'm across the world, in America. Going out and buying food from street vendors, or maybe a local noodle place - that's where the best food was to be found. Of course, there were still expensive restaurants, inaccessible to the poor. But cheap foods were never really 'trash foods', at least not in my experience.

[@CrytuLyd]

Lmao I was today years old when I found out that mullet and gar are trashy 😭 We had "Garbage Noodles" when I was a kid. Basically, any leftover vegetables or meats in the fridge that needed to either be eaten today (or sometimes yesterday) or thrown in the garbage, mixed with a bag of egg noodles and a $1 jar of alfredo sauce. Never the same twice, but always good. And pricing poor people out of the foods they depend on once those foods become popular is Too Real. We used to eat oxtail & collards and oxtail stew all the time when I was little because it was cheap and easy to make. You could get a pound of oxtail, the good meaty ones, for a couple dollars and feed a whole family for $10. Then the price skyrocketed around when I started middle school and we couldn't afford it anymore. Now I have to pay $20 just for a pack of 6 scrawny tails. And beef tips, which used to be $1-$2 a pound, are $8-$9 a pound where I live now. We'd get those and roll them in some breadcrumbs, pan-fry them, and toss them on some pasta with brown gravy and peas. Takes 5 minutes, costs

[@jessicasalamon8822]

This story plays out over and over with poor people all over the world. Quinoa is a good example. If people aren't ready to unpack these biases then how do we ever get to the rest?

[@sarahwarnock2707]

Wow quinoa too?! I like ALL the trash foods!

[@JeanPKlaus]

Ramen is a similar story

[@prosquatter]

@@JeanPKlaus Ramen is still dirt cheap.

[@JeanPKlaus]

@@prosquatter My point was that Ramen is dirt cheap, but ALSO gourmet. Think about any restaurant in America that sells Ramen comparatively in Japan at a low price of the equivalent of 5 dollars being sold here in America for 13 dollars and treated gourmet or fine dining.

[@prosquatter]

@@JeanPKlaus There will always be an ''upscale'' restaurant version of mundane foods. There are hamburgers that cost $100 in fancy restaurants, but a burger at your local fast food joint is still cheap. Problem arises when a staple food (like quinoa in Jessica's example) rises so much in price, that people who originally depended on it can no longer afford it. Same for lobster in Zoe's story.

[@stefan1024]

trashiest food: eating uncooked instant ramen as "chips".

[@abelerculano7565]

Hey don't call me out man.

[@honor9458]

😳 oh

[@darja6713]

But the lil packet of cancer seasoning tasted so good with that crunch 😩😂

[@countryurbannationaltreasu5474]

@@darja6713 all about the seasoning 😂

[@unfriendlyasianhottie]

That’s not trashy! Everyone does it 🥺 especially Asian kids growing up, I know black folks do it too

[@morrigan104]

trash food: eating icing straight out of the tub Also a childhood staple of mine, since sweets were expensive. Eventually, we just started making poor quality buttercream icing at home instead lol

[@cookiestuf232]

This is a really wonderful and informative video. You posed a lot of questions that have made me realize that I do assign morality to food and question whatever opinions about food i hold. Thank you so much!! Youve gained another follower today 😃

[@bucks6360]

Your days of underexposed content are numbered mortal, beholdeth a horde of eyeballs coming to observe!!!

[@sheko1615]

+

[@adamazzalino5247]

I came here from a zone...a zone made of eyeballs.

[@lucacaccamese3417]

The eyeballs guide, and we must follow

[@xKrawford]

the occular guides do good! this video is excellent, I'm so excited for the next part!

[@Kelly_Jane]

This does explain why the video has shown up in my recommendations. Must have missed the shout out.

[@finni1569]

I will never forgive whoever decided casseroles are trash. Literally why, they're so good??

[@MK_ULTRA420]

The 50s and 60s in America were a culinary dark age with the combination of microwaves, jell-o and canned food so it likely happened then. Not all moms are good cooks :(

[@toxicat]

casseroles are terrible.

[@findingfrugal2093]

I'm with you Finni, a well made casserole can be amazing comfort food. I'm not talking about the 5 cans of condensed soup varieties though which is what most people have experienced lol

[@KyrenaH]

@@toxicat Casseroles are delicious and can feed an entire family.

[@toxicat]

@@KyrenaH yes, sure, if you're terrible at cooking

[@isaacdelarocha1160]

I am from Mexico, in here avocado used to be super cheap, like, a common joke was that you were so poor that your "torta", a kind of sandwich, only had avocado and salt, so yeah, an avocado toast was a very cheap food here. But since it became a hit in Europe and USA they are so expensive and we use avocado for a lot of food, like avocado "salsa" is one of the most popular, now most places use zucchini to make it, and "guacamole" (avocado smashed with onions and tomatoes) used to be a cheap snak that some places gave for free, not any more.

[@timmcardle2233]

Once again thank you. Your videos broaden both the intellect and humanitarian instincts. I also appreciate you sharing where you came from. You helped make me less cynical and that's saying something.

[@Hildegardvonblingin]

KZbin suggestions brought me here. This was a thought-provoking video! Trashiest food I grew up eating: Bean salad. Heinz beans served cold with mayonnaise, diced tomatoes, and Kraft parmesan. It’s more like soup. I liked it and was used to it, though I don’t eat it much anymore. Most people in my adult life have found it horrifying. 😂

[@pellaw8011]

hildegard!!!

[@astrasillage]

Tbh that doesn't sound that bad, I'm gonna try it. :D

[@nomanejane5766]

💯

[@Agaettis]

Aww naw I've had that, we tried to make it a little healthier with onion celery and diced boiled eggs, more like an egg salad with beans

[@nobbynoris]

Love your name!

[@TheDaniel9]

The "trash food" that comes to mind immediately is TV dinners. I ate them all the time as a young kid because my parents worked offset schedules so that we would always have a parent at home. This had the side-effect of often neither of them having time to cook every night. I stopped eating them when we kids were old enough to cook and my Dad's hours changed so he was home a little more. Now I'm lucky enough to have the money and time to cook or eat out. The thing that makes me think of it as "trashy" is that it feels disposable. It always feels like just a step beyond a nutrient sludge that might satisfy your needs, with little regard for enjoyment. It takes no effort and you gain no real enrichment. I don't look down on those who eat them though. Especially with my past experience, I know why people get them and they are necessities for some. Something I've come to realize is that sometimes money isn't as important as time and having a lack of one often comes with a lacking in the other.

[@riverAmazonNZ]

Yeah, you need the TV with the TV dinner to take your mind off what you’re eating

[@elsagrace3893]

I’m horrified that we accept as normal any of the following situations. Having a family is a luxury,. 2 parents working to support a family. The complete illusion that there isn’t enough time to cook for a family (created by corporations who steal your productivity for themselves from your babies) The lie that there isn’t enough money to be paid to afford nourishing food, water, shelter and education. Big thanks to Politicians for perpetuating these lies to benefit their donors stealing your life for their profit.

[@zakosist]

I had to google what a TV-dinner was. I thought you actually worked on TV and got served dinner at the workplace and wondered why is that trashy?

[@TheDaniel9]

@@zakosist Funny enough, I have been served dinner at work while working on a TV show. I used to work in VFX and this is somewhat common during crunch. :D

[@TheeCoolOne]

Found my new fav KZbinr! I’m learning a lot from your videos Zoe.

[@elainelouve]

I watched this 1 year late, but thank you for discussing this topic! I'm not American, but recognize this issue. Like when my friend posted on their Facebook feed mocking people who eat at the gas station diners. It's pretty much the same thing if you go and eat out at a hamburger place. Also the term "trash food" is very commonly used, mostly for unhealthy snacks and other foods. But then again, I've seen normal foods like casserole labeled as "comfort foods", and so many recepies in the magazines etc. will be using expensive ingredients and are more complicated to make. The biggest stigma out of healthy options is on ready made meals though, especially the cheap and simple ones. Those were originally developed and marketed for blue collar families, as the mothers needed to work, and ready made meals meant that the working mothers got more free time. Nowadays men do a lot more housework, but most of it is still on the women's shoulders. Anyway ready made meals are great even if you don't have kids, and I wish I could eat more of them, but with IBS and allergies it has become extremely difficult.