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Those who are able to take advantage of shopping in bulk and have the appropriate equipment choose eating enough over eating well by selecting a limited diet with few variations. Among college students in the U.S., for example, it's not uncommon to try surviving for a month on something like macaroni and cheese or ramen noodles. Both store well and can be purchased very inexpensively. Some try to ease the meal's repetitiousness by adding sauces from ketchup and other packets obtained for free at fast food restaurants.
Eating fast food on a regular basis is another strategy for eating enough, since some of these places offer very cheap meals for around a dollar, not including beverage. Those who panhandle for their income also find that begging with this objective in mind sometimes gives them a slight edge in terms of charitable donations. Passersby are not only more likely to approve of them begging to purchase food (as opposed, for instance, to alcohol or hair dye), but are more likely to feel instrumental as givers when the cost of the objective is defined. Strangely, there is something about the immediacy of this food that encourages giving behavior, as panhandling outside of a grocery store is not considered acceptable. Begging as a strategy for eating enough can take on a number of appearances. The most common is begging for food money, which, as mentioned above, is most effective when the person begging is standing near a fast food place. More controversial variations on this are begging for food objects themselves or begging for work-for-food opportunities, which are discussed below. Many beggars understand that the factor that prevents people from giving is their fear that the money will be spent to support a vice, such as drinking or drug use. One way to overcome this objection is to ask for food directly, either by asking grocery shoppers to donate a food item or for restaurant goers to donate an item from their meal. While some beggars use this strategy as a manipulative device, figuring that people would rather give money than go through the trouble of shopping for them, others do genuinely beg for food in earnest. Some beggars even suggest that the person dine with them to ensure that their money is going where it's supposed to be. The most creative example of this form that I've heard of comes from the writer Henry Miller (1934), who wrote about offering weekly dinner companionship in exchange for a free meal. On Tuesdays, for example, he would arrange to dine with one lonely individual, on Wednesdays another, and so on. The downside to this, he reported, was that the conversational exchange was often tiresome and tedious. Go To Page: 1 2
The copyright of the article Dumpster Diving and Ramen Noodles: Poverty and Hunger (II of III) in Anthropology is owned by Valerie Borey. Permission to republish Dumpster Diving and Ramen Noodles: Poverty and Hunger (II of III) in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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