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I've lived in a large city pretty much my entire adult life so far (mercifully I'm moving out in a couple of months), one that is not unlike NYC in a lot of ways. I don't think this is that much of a real problem. Most apartments in those cities have at least a stove/oven. In most of those cities, old unkillable appliances that are decades old but still very functional are in circulation and if you know a few people you can generally get one for free (if you supply the labor of moving it) or very cheap. If not, you can get a cheap single burner resistive cooktop, I see one for 15$CAD on walmart from a brand (not a good brand, but a brand). You can probably get one cheaper in a pawn shop, or if you take a trip to chinatown and look around the stores there. The small, cramped, cluttered stores especially. Pots, pans, utensils, plates, again go to Chinatown and check the stores there. I'd bet for 10$ you can leave with a pot and a pan and at least one plate and one set of utensils. Or a dollar store will have some. If you want better quality, head to a thrift store and get a second hand one. As for doing dishes, I've lived 20 years without a dishwasher, it's fine really. My guess is that the entire set of what you need to cook a basic meal can be had for under 50$. I wouldn't be surprised if you could get all of it under 40$. A cooktop (portable if need be), one pot, one pan, a stirring spoon, a spatula, a cooking knife (doesn't need to be chef's knife), a plate, a bowl, a fork, knife and spoon.
The problem, and I agree there is a problem and it's not the availability of fresh food, is motivation management. Ultimately cooking is, most days for most people, not motivating. There's other things they would rather be doing, and if there isn't they likely have little energy left after their day to put into it. I don't want to say the poor are uniquely lazy, it's not that simple. I'm pretty lazy quite often too. But poor people live in an environment that doesn't help them be very motivated either. Some people are uniquely self-motivated; great for those people, even if they start at the very bottom of the economic ladder, they tend to be able to climb up a few rungs over their lifetime and that's great. Most people aren't like that. They need to have grown up in a good nurturing environment that kept them focused on doing annoying things even if they are annoying to do to keep doing it as an adult. If when you were young your parents (if you're lucky enough to have grown up with both of them) worked double-shifts at the depression and alcoholism factory, your chances aren't great.
So the problem is not that people don't have enough spoons, but that they don't have enough spoons?
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This is so foreign to me. I love to cook, if I’m busy and stressed cooking is a nice relaxer
It was like that for me before. My wife and I would regularly do our "date nights" by cooking a blue apron together. With three hangry kids running around it changes things. My one year old is nearly inconsolable if there is not food waiting on the table as soon as she gets home. My two older kids will just fight and then raid the pantry for junky snacks that ruin their appetite for anything vaguely healthier later.
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I guess mileage may vary. I have not lived in a large city like that. The friends that I had who lived there had all those complaints. And maybe yes it doesn't take much to do a setup to allow for cooking. But it is a one time hurdle that still has to be jumped over, so I'd at least add it to the behavior stack.
I had been about to write a whole thing about the hassle of cooking. I ran out of time and wrapped up the comment. So I heavily agree with you. I have a family of 5 and I am the primary cook in the house. We still end up eating out 2 to 7 times a week (I know that is a big variance, but lots of variance in my life right now). The home cooked meals are as simple and time saving as I can make them. I'm throwing pasta in a big pot, putting pre-breaded frozen chicken in an air fryer, and using microwave ready vegetable packs. And sometimes I'm skipping those second two things. On the harder side sometimes I am making meal kits from hello fresh that take like 1.5 hours. I'm trying to make this as easy on myself as possible and it is still a huge mental strain and stressor all week every week. At this moment I am typing this comment rather than figuring out what I'm gonna do for dinner tonight since the fridge is barren. I do actually enjoy cooking and making things, but that is something i want to do once or twice a week when I have lots of spare time.
My brother in Christ, you need to embrace crock-pots.
My oldest daughter has the most annoying preference where she doesn't like different kinds of food items touching each other on her plate.
By making five fully separate food items I can usually satisfy all the kid preferences and still make something a little different for the adults.
My wife and I certainly love crockpot items, and I use them all the time for making host size meals
Yeah, poor kids in the Bronx don't have those sort of preferences, or if they do they get beat with the cooking spoon till they don't.
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Is she picky otherwise? I've wondered about this preference and how it relates to a desire for order versus a meme picked up. Because the meme is out there, it is not uncommon.
Also, come on. Gumbo is clearly one ingredient with rice as the other. Be reasonable!
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I second the crock pot and more generally, large batch cooking (though I suppose a lot of stuff is batched when it's for 5) as much as possible. There are lots of beans/rice/meat/vegetables that are set & forget and will make your house smell amazing when you get home. An oven roasted chicken on a bed of vegetables also goes a long way.
Also pressure cookers like Instant Pot can give you comparable-ish results to a crock-pot in a fraction of the time.
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