er.. that isn't really how poverty works. calorie dense food is abundant, fast, and cheap, and it doesn't require storage or appliances or a gas hookup or utilities, etc.  of course, that doesn't mean that poor people have an excuse to be FAT. it is 100% possible to eat shitty food and not OVEREAT shitty food. a big problem is that even a lot of thin poor people eat this way because of convenience/access, and they suffer from malnutrition, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, depression, etc. eating shitty food doesn't involve living beyond your means or abusing the system, and i'm frankly not willing to agree that poor people are lazier or stupider than other people. poverty isn't a cycle you can just break out of by buying fresh vegetables and having a good attitude. there's no excuse for being fat, but in america we've made damn sure that the cycle of poverty is nearly impossible to break, and that poor people don't have time/money/access/etc. to cook healthy meals. p.s. i came from a poor family who ate healthy meals/whole foods. i know there are exceptions to the rule. my parents are both immigrants, but have advanced degrees and weren't poor in their countries of origin. they are a rare success story. so, i know it's possible to be poor and healthy, but data doesn't support the idea that it's easy or likely to be poor and healthy.