Poverty Activist Rips Guy Who Thinks Families Can Live On Plain Pasta

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        Poverty Activist Rips Conservative Who Claims Struggling Families Can Simply Live On Plain Pasta
    

        Ockra/Getty Images; Mike Marsland/Mike Marsland/WireImage/Getty Images; @KEdge23/Twitter
    
By Katie KrahulikApr 13, 2022
Katie Krahulik
Katie is a New York-based freelancer, currently pursuing her JD at Pace Law School. She is a lover of French bulldogs, unheard of music and breakfast. In her free time she likes to run, play guitar and listen to Celebrity Memoir Book Club.
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As if he were asking for the storm, Kevin Edger—who bills himself as an opinionated political and weather enthusiast—was dished out a major deluge. 
Edger retweeted a report from the BBC about a nurse who said she skips meals occasionally to afford to feed her kids. He added his unqualified criticism of the working mom.  
In his tweet, Edger wrote:
“Yet you can buy a big bag of dried pasta, that would feed a family, for about £0.50p [$0.65]…."“If you shop and cook properly, you can eat healthy meals really cheaply.”Then to further denigrate the woman featured in the BBC report that focused on the cost of living, the working poor and food insecurity, Edger added:
"I would love to see how she spends her salary...”Yet you can buy a big bag of dried pasta, that would feed a family, for about \u00a30.50p\u2026.\n\nIf you shop and cook properly, you can eat healthy meals really cheaply. \n\nI would love to see how she spends her salary\u2026https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-61062263\u00a0\u2026
 — Kevin Edger (@Kevin Edger)
        1649680698
His comments were widely ridiculed for their arrogant tone and for completely missing the point of the BBC report.
 Also coming to the working mom's defense was Jack Monroe, a noted cookbook author and expert in eating affordably. Monroe provided Edger with the nutritional facts of his plain pasta suggestion.
Monroe responded:
"Hi Kevin, THE literal expert on budget cooking here who has spent the last decade on the front line of food poverty in this country.""500g bag of budget pasta, 29p.""That’s 5 meals of 100g plain pasta, no butter, no salt, no sauce, no nutrition, and a whole 155 calories a meal!"She continued:
"That’s only 456 calories a day, but hey, it’s not like nursing is physically demanding, on your feet all day, shift work, is it?""Operating at a deficit of 1,544 calories a day is perfectly sustainable in your head, right?""I sure hope so, because I’ve got a challenge for you pal!"That\u2019s only 456 calories a day, but hey, it\u2019s not like nursing is physically demanding, on your feet all day, shift work, is it? Operating at a deficit of 1,544calories a day is perfectly sustainable in your head, right? I sure hope so, because I\u2019ve got a challenge for you pal!
 — Jack Monroe \u267f\ufe0f\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08 (@Jack Monroe \u267f\ufe0f\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08)
        1649692622
She then challenged Edger to follow his own suggestion. 
No tea, no coffee, no squash, no energy drinks, just this MAGIC PASTA that you think is the answer to everything.\n\nCome back to me on Wednesday and let me know how things are working out for you. \n\nAnd the * in the previous tweet? If they don\u2019t have the Smartprice pasta, well\u2026
 — Jack Monroe \u267f\ufe0f\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08 (@Jack Monroe \u267f\ufe0f\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08)
        1649692863

@BootstrapCook/Twitter
Monroe added of the people who agreed with Edger's hot take on food poverty:
"All these absolute wet wipes in your replies saying how EASY it is to cook healthy meals on a budget - pals I’ve been waiting ten years now for someone else to come along and help take some of the weight off my shoulders here, and yet here I am, working 100+ hours a week…""...helping people like Rebecca day after day, while people like you sit in your comfy lives telling us all how you’d be so much better at being poor than we are.""SO DO IT THEN.""Show us all how it’s done and I look FORWARD to your bestselling cookbook on the subject. Best of luck! 😌"helping people like Rebecca day after day, while people like you sit in your comfy lives telling us all how you\u2019d be so much better at being poor than we are. SO DO IT THEN. Show us all how it\u2019s done and I look FORWARD to your bestselling cookbook on the subject. Best of luck!
 — Jack Monroe \u267f\ufe0f\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08 (@Jack Monroe \u267f\ufe0f\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08)
        1649693400
Her tweet brought attention to the conversation, getting over 40,000 likes.
In response, Edger limited who can comment on his expert opinions.
@KEdge23/Twitter
Before that, one person replied:
"I hope none of these people criticizing our nurse's plight are ever in need of care from a frontline health workers exhausted from poor diet and too tired to give them the care they need.""Our key workers should not have to stress about how to put a basic meal on the table."I hope none of these people criticising our nurse's plight  are ever in need of care from a frontline health workers  exhausted from  poor diet and too tired to give them the care they need. Our key workers should not have to stress about how to put a basic meal on the table.
 — Doodum@jsy#FBPE (@Doodum@jsy#FBPE)
        1649741617


The go to advice for anyone offering "helpful" tips to people struggling to afford food seems to be "EAT PASTA PEASANTS. LOVELY, PLAIN FILLING PASTA."\n\nYou may get rickets or stunted growth from malnutrition. But you won't die of starvation, so what are you complaining about.
 — Rebecca Jules (@Rebecca Jules)
        1649693124
Another person commented:
"The more important question Is why is he angry at the Nurse and not angry at the fact that she has to skip meals or, as he says, should just eat pasta."The more important question Is why is he angry at the Nurse and not angry at the fact that she has to skip meals or, as he says, should just eat pasta.
 — Gaz Watkins (@Gaz Watkins)
        1649743180

Excellent thread again, Jack. Ppl like Kevin do my head in.\nCan we just accept that a country where there's an article about nurses going hungry is newsworthy and relevant is a country where something has gone wrong? Implying that a nurse is misspending her salary is so nasty.
 — ThePoliticalDiva (@ThePoliticalDiva)
        1649748235

Someone else noted:
"He doesn't have any concern about feeding those in food poverty in the great way you do Ms Monroe.""He is simply a gadfly wishing to make trouble (while being utterly clueless regarding the facts about nutrition)."He doesn't have any concern about feeding those in food poverty in the great way you do Ms Monroe. He is simply a gadfly wishing to make trouble (while being utterly clueless regarding the facts about nutrition).
 — Andy Birss (@Andy Birss)
        1649739908
Another person wrote:
"This really isn’t about food or budgeting. It’s about denial of poverty by defining is in terms of peoples deficiencies.""Social Darwinism, you get to the place in society you deserve, your worth is your wealth.""Toxic blaming scapegoating."This really isn\u2019t about food or budgeting. It\u2019s about denial of poverty by defining is in terms of peoples deficiencies. Social Darwinism, you get to the place in society you deserve, your worth is your wealth. Toxic blaming scapegoating.
 — George Hotchkiss \ud83d\udcda\ud83d\ude4f\ud83d\udc15\u200d\ud83e\uddba\ud83e\udd43\ud83c\uddef\ud83c\uddf2\ud83c\udff4\udb40\udc67\udb40\udc62\udb40\udc73\udb40\udc63\udb40\udc74\udb40\udc7f (@George Hotchkiss \ud83d\udcda\ud83d\ude4f\ud83d\udc15\u200d\ud83e\uddba\ud83e\udd43\ud83c\uddef\ud83c\uddf2\ud83c\udff4\udb40\udc67\udb40\udc62\udb40\udc73\udb40\udc63\udb40\udc74\udb40\udc7f)
        1649743492
Perhaps she could forage in grass verges to make a sauce? Look for roadkill for some protein? \nBoil the pasta from a fire from gathered twigs. She could get the children involved, it would be joyful and a suitable activity for the poor. Numpty.
 — Liz Keat RN, SCPHN, QN wasnt at a party at no 10 (@Liz Keat RN, SCPHN, QN wasnt at a party at no 10)
        1649747319

We really are living in a Dickensian world, where the Tory classes think giving people Gruel is OK whilst they live lavishly.
 — Kev (@Kev)
        1649748360

I can figure out how to do healthy OR I can figure out how to do cheap. But healthy AND cheap is a tall order. Living off plain pasta is not exactly 'nutritionally balanced'!
 — Dr Chin Shady \ud83c\uddee\ud83c\uddf2\ud83c\udff4\udb40\udc67\udb40\udc62\udb40\udc77\udb40\udc6c\udb40\udc73\udb40\udc7f (@Dr Chin Shady \ud83c\uddee\ud83c\uddf2\ud83c\udff4\udb40\udc67\udb40\udc62\udb40\udc77\udb40\udc6c\udb40\udc73\udb40\udc7f)
        1649718388
Edger has yet to reply to Monroe or agree to her challenge.
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As if he were asking for the storm, Kevin Edger—who bills himself as an opinionated political and weather enthusiast—was dished out a major deluge.

Edger retweeted a report from the BBC about a nurse who said she skips meals occasionally to afford to feed her kids. He added his unqualified criticism of the working mom.

In his tweet, Edger wrote:

“Yet you can buy a big bag of dried pasta, that would feed a family, for about £0.50p [$0.65]…."

“If you shop and cook properly, you can eat healthy meals really cheaply.”

Then to further denigrate the woman featured in the BBC report that focused on the cost of living, the working poor and food insecurity, Edger added:

"I would love to see how she spends her salary...”

Yet you can buy a big bag of dried pasta, that would feed a family, for about \u00a30.50p\u2026.\n\nIf you shop and cook properly, you can eat healthy meals really cheaply. \n\nI would love to see how she spends her salary\u2026https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-61062263\u00a0\u2026
— Kevin Edger (@Kevin Edger) 1649680698

His comments were widely ridiculed for their arrogant tone and for completely missing the point of the BBC report.

Also coming to the working mom's defense was Jack Monroe, a noted cookbook author and expert in eating affordably. Monroe provided Edger with the nutritional facts of his plain pasta suggestion.

Monroe responded:

"Hi Kevin, THE literal expert on budget cooking here who has spent the last decade on the front line of food poverty in this country."

"500g bag of budget pasta, 29p."

"That’s 5 meals of 100g plain pasta, no butter, no salt, no sauce, no nutrition, and a whole 155 calories a meal!"

She continued:

"That’s only 456 calories a day, but hey, it’s not like nursing is physically demanding, on your feet all day, shift work, is it?"

"Operating at a deficit of 1,544 calories a day is perfectly sustainable in your head, right?"

"I sure hope so, because I’ve got a challenge for you pal!"

That\u2019s only 456 calories a day, but hey, it\u2019s not like nursing is physically demanding, on your feet all day, shift work, is it? Operating at a deficit of 1,544calories a day is perfectly sustainable in your head, right? I sure hope so, because I\u2019ve got a challenge for you pal!
— Jack Monroe \u267f\ufe0f\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08 (@Jack Monroe \u267f\ufe0f\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08) 1649692622

She then challenged Edger to follow his own suggestion.

No tea, no coffee, no squash, no energy drinks, just this MAGIC PASTA that you think is the answer to everything.\n\nCome back to me on Wednesday and let me know how things are working out for you. \n\nAnd the * in the previous tweet? If they don\u2019t have the Smartprice pasta, well\u2026
— Jack Monroe \u267f\ufe0f\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08 (@Jack Monroe \u267f\ufe0f\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08) 1649692863

@BootstrapCook/Twitter

Monroe added of the people who agreed with Edger's hot take on food poverty:

"All these absolute wet wipes in your replies saying how EASY it is to cook healthy meals on a budget - pals I’ve been waiting ten years now for someone else to come along and help take some of the weight off my shoulders here, and yet here I am, working 100+ hours a week…"

"...helping people like Rebecca day after day, while people like you sit in your comfy lives telling us all how you’d be so much better at being poor than we are."

"SO DO IT THEN."

"Show us all how it’s done and I look FORWARD to your bestselling cookbook on the subject. Best of luck! 😌"

helping people like Rebecca day after day, while people like you sit in your comfy lives telling us all how you\u2019d be so much better at being poor than we are. SO DO IT THEN. Show us all how it\u2019s done and I look FORWARD to your bestselling cookbook on the subject. Best of luck!
— Jack Monroe \u267f\ufe0f\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08 (@Jack Monroe \u267f\ufe0f\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08) 1649693400

Her tweet brought attention to the conversation, getting over 40,000 likes.

In response, Edger limited who can comment on his expert opinions.

@KEdge23/Twitter

Before that, one person replied:

"I hope none of these people criticizing our nurse's plight are ever in need of care from a frontline health workers exhausted from poor diet and too tired to give them the care they need."

"Our key workers should not have to stress about how to put a basic meal on the table."

I hope none of these people criticising our nurse's plight are ever in need of care from a frontline health workers exhausted from poor diet and too tired to give them the care they need. Our key workers should not have to stress about how to put a basic meal on the table.
— Doodum@jsy#FBPE (@Doodum@jsy#FBPE) 1649741617

The go to advice for anyone offering "helpful" tips to people struggling to afford food seems to be "EAT PASTA PEASANTS. LOVELY, PLAIN FILLING PASTA."\n\nYou may get rickets or stunted growth from malnutrition. But you won't die of starvation, so what are you complaining about.
— Rebecca Jules (@Rebecca Jules) 1649693124

Another person commented:

"The more important question Is why is he angry at the Nurse and not angry at the fact that she has to skip meals or, as he says, should just eat pasta."

The more important question Is why is he angry at the Nurse and not angry at the fact that she has to skip meals or, as he says, should just eat pasta.
— Gaz Watkins (@Gaz Watkins) 1649743180

Excellent thread again, Jack. Ppl like Kevin do my head in.\nCan we just accept that a country where there's an article about nurses going hungry is newsworthy and relevant is a country where something has gone wrong? Implying that a nurse is misspending her salary is so nasty.
— ThePoliticalDiva (@ThePoliticalDiva) 1649748235

Someone else noted:

"He doesn't have any concern about feeding those in food poverty in the great way you do Ms Monroe."

"He is simply a gadfly wishing to make trouble (while being utterly clueless regarding the facts about nutrition)."

He doesn't have any concern about feeding those in food poverty in the great way you do Ms Monroe. He is simply a gadfly wishing to make trouble (while being utterly clueless regarding the facts about nutrition).
— Andy Birss (@Andy Birss) 1649739908

Another person wrote:

"This really isn’t about food or budgeting. It’s about denial of poverty by defining is in terms of peoples deficiencies."

"Social Darwinism, you get to the place in society you deserve, your worth is your wealth."

"Toxic blaming scapegoating."

This really isn\u2019t about food or budgeting. It\u2019s about denial of poverty by defining is in terms of peoples deficiencies. Social Darwinism, you get to the place in society you deserve, your worth is your wealth. Toxic blaming scapegoating.
— George Hotchkiss \ud83d\udcda\ud83d\ude4f\ud83d\udc15\u200d\ud83e\uddba\ud83e\udd43\ud83c\uddef\ud83c\uddf2\ud83c\udff4\udb40\udc67\udb40\udc62\udb40\udc73\udb40\udc63\udb40\udc74\udb40\udc7f (@George Hotchkiss \ud83d\udcda\ud83d\ude4f\ud83d\udc15\u200d\ud83e\uddba\ud83e\udd43\ud83c\uddef\ud83c\uddf2\ud83c\udff4\udb40\udc67\udb40\udc62\udb40\udc73\udb40\udc63\udb40\udc74\udb40\udc7f) 1649743492

Perhaps she could forage in grass verges to make a sauce? Look for roadkill for some protein? \nBoil the pasta from a fire from gathered twigs. She could get the children involved, it would be joyful and a suitable activity for the poor. Numpty.
— Liz Keat RN, SCPHN, QN wasnt at a party at no 10 (@Liz Keat RN, SCPHN, QN wasnt at a party at no 10) 1649747319

We really are living in a Dickensian world, where the Tory classes think giving people Gruel is OK whilst they live lavishly.
— Kev (@Kev) 1649748360

I can figure out how to do healthy OR I can figure out how to do cheap. But healthy AND cheap is a tall order. Living off plain pasta is not exactly 'nutritionally balanced'!
— Dr Chin Shady \ud83c\uddee\ud83c\uddf2\ud83c\udff4\udb40\udc67\udb40\udc62\udb40\udc77\udb40\udc6c\udb40\udc73\udb40\udc7f (@Dr Chin Shady \ud83c\uddee\ud83c\uddf2\ud83c\udff4\udb40\udc67\udb40\udc62\udb40\udc77\udb40\udc6c\udb40\udc73\udb40\udc7f) 1649718388

Edger has yet to reply to Monroe or agree to her challenge.

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