Barbara Ehrenreich, in her book Nickel and Dimed, brings attention to and informs readers of the issues she faced throughout her experiment regarding nutrition and health - an often overlooked byproduct of poverty.
Ehrenreich often speaks of dietary and nutritional matters throughout Nickel and Dimed because that issue becomes a byproduct of working low wage jobs which she experiences directly. For example, in Florida, Ehrenreich mentions how her daily lunch consists of the same, small sandwich every day, and her midnight snack after returning from work and journaling at the end of the day is almost always wheat thins. This is certainly not the worst case scenario, but it is certainly not a healthy diet. Her situation worsens dependant on her location and job, for example, in Minnesota working at a Walmart, Ehrenreich can no longer afford a sandwich and is living solely on fast food. One of her fellow low wage workers, Melissa, is concerned enough about Ehrenreich´s diet that she spends money from her own scanty saving to buy her one. Ehrenreich continues to highlight this issue because diet can commonly be an overlooked corollary of poverty. …show more content…
It is often thought that those in poverty are struggling simply because they do not have jobs and cannot afford necessities, which leads to the assumption that having a job solves all or most of the problems. However, most of those in poverty in America have jobs, but still find essentials such as groceries, rent, and transportation unaffordable. For example, Ehrenreich references a study conducted by the U.S. Conference of Mayors which found that 67% of the adults applying for emergency food aid have jobs (219). This is what Ehrenreich was referring to when she said what is arguably one of her most iconic statements - ¨Wages are too low and rents are too
Ehrenreich often speaks of dietary and nutritional matters throughout Nickel and Dimed because that issue becomes a byproduct of working low wage jobs which she experiences directly. For example, in Florida, Ehrenreich mentions how her daily lunch consists of the same, small sandwich every day, and her midnight snack after returning from work and journaling at the end of the day is almost always wheat thins. This is certainly not the worst case scenario, but it is certainly not a healthy diet. Her situation worsens dependant on her location and job, for example, in Minnesota working at a Walmart, Ehrenreich can no longer afford a sandwich and is living solely on fast food. One of her fellow low wage workers, Melissa, is concerned enough about Ehrenreich´s diet that she spends money from her own scanty saving to buy her one. Ehrenreich continues to highlight this issue because diet can commonly be an overlooked corollary of poverty. …show more content…
It is often thought that those in poverty are struggling simply because they do not have jobs and cannot afford necessities, which leads to the assumption that having a job solves all or most of the problems. However, most of those in poverty in America have jobs, but still find essentials such as groceries, rent, and transportation unaffordable. For example, Ehrenreich references a study conducted by the U.S. Conference of Mayors which found that 67% of the adults applying for emergency food aid have jobs (219). This is what Ehrenreich was referring to when she said what is arguably one of her most iconic statements - ¨Wages are too low and rents are too