The 'Poor People Foods' That Were Taken Over By Rich Folks

As positive as social media influencers and rich lifestylists are supposed to be, there have been some serious drawbacks to their roles on the internet. Some examples are over-consumption, vapid consumerism, and quite possibly hate comments.

But a key drawback is the price of food and ingredients, especially those that used to be cheap staples in many households, but which are now far too expensive to even think about adding to the grocery shopping list.

Pondering, Redditor ilikethecold_65 asked:

"What 'poor people food' was taken over by rich people?"

Expensive Serving Bowls

"Pho used to be cheaper until word got out."

- OnionTruck

"Same as Banh Mi. I live in Melbourne, Australia, and historically, you'd be able to get them for five to seven dollars, but now it's anywhere from 11 to 15 dollars per bowl."

- nearlyheadlessbicpen

If It's On Wheels, It's Expensive

"Food trucks!!"

- AJTHolt

"Very true. There is a burger truck in my area that serves almost 20-dollar burgers. They're decent burgers but not 20-dollar-decent. F**king wild."

- Meattyloaf

"I know, right?! It feels like you pay a premium just because they're food trucks."

- Able-Highway9925

Paying for the Vibes

"Burgers in general, I think."

"When I was growing up, burgers used to be the cheap feed you get at the local shop or fast food joint."

"Nowadays, I see rich people eat huge, fancy burgers with wagyu, truffle, artisan bread... all that jazz."

- KoalaBJJ96

One More Major Christmas Expense

"Beef brisket comes to mind."

- Rankorous

"Yeah, I think my parents spent 90 dollars on brisket for Christmas dinner one year. Probably the most expensive Christmas dinner I've ever eaten, but it was delicious."

- Josette_A

"I just bought a brisket on Sunday. It was 170 dollars. I nearly fainted."

- Tired-of-the____

An Old Family Favorite

"Ox tails."

- Rudy_Ghouliani

"Ugh, I used to have ox tail soup in winter when I was little. It's so expensive now..."

- Marchingkoala

"We used to have ox tail soup when I was really little in the 70s and early 80s and we were dead broke. We also had crawdaddies, catfish, canned mackerel, and chuck roast, which were all hugely cheap back then."

"Some things we used to eat like chicken livers might still be cheap today but our stores never carry them anymore."

- onehundredlemons

The Butcher's Secret

"Skirt steak. It used to be a really cheap cut because it was tough and people wanted other easier-to-prepare cuts instead. I'd buy it because I didn't have much money."

"But then it became the trendy thing to be like, 'It's the butcher's secret!' because it turns out it's really flavorful; you just need to know how to cook and cut it to make it less chewy. And now skirt steak per pound is one of the more expensive cuts."

- captmonkey

Seriously, What Happened?

"Quinoa. What happened?"

- Apprehensive_Can_503

"Yeah, and now they have expensive bags and dishes of half quinoa, half rice."

"THEY'RE CUTTING QUINOA LIKE DRUGS, lol (laughing out loud)."

- chadhindsley

How the Tables Have Turned

"Brown bread. White flour used to be far harder to get, so white bread was expensive, and poor people ate the brown."

"Once white was mass-produced, it switched, and poor people ate the white while rich folks got the healthy whole wheat."

- really_McNamington

Prices to Go with Menu Preferences

"Chicken wings."

"They used to be so cheap when I was a kid we’d use them as crab bait when fishing off docks. Now they’re stupid expensive for one of the s**ttier parts of the chicken."

- fritoprunewhip

"The upside: now that wings are ridiculous, boneless skinless chicken breasts (the stupid pricey thing about five years ago) are dirt cheap. I get them for 1.89 dollars per pound. Wings can go for 8.99 for a freaking POUND, or more!"

- Magpiewrites

The Fanciest Breakfast Around

"Avocado toast. My grandfather used to talk fondly about only being able to afford cassava bread and avocado in his youngster days, and now it’s a whole fancy thing."

- aggibridges

"It left a while generation unable to afford houses, I hear."

- mCharles88

The Cheaper, the More Authentic

"Tacos, honestly. I used to be able to get three tacos for like five dollars downtown less than ten years ago."

- glitterpumps

"I went to a new taco restaurant once, ordered like three tacos and a drink and it was 20 dollars. I never went back. Gimme my cheap, authentic tacos!"

- strawberryshortycake

A Glorified Comfort Meal

"Fish and chips. It's a hunk of white fish with a potato for a side. Minimal seasoning, fried in whatever oil you have around, and served on a piece of yesterday's newspaper. Twenty years ago, it cost five dollars, and now it costs 25."

- HatfieldCW

Popular Southern Staples

"Southern food anywhere except for the South (of the United States)."

- 3-raccoons-in-a-suit

"I moved out of the south and to the northwest. Southern food had a big moment in the food scene, but it was expensive. No child, cheesy grits, red beans and rice, and fried okra are poor people food... I should not be asked to pay 15 dollars for a small bowl of grits."

- any_name_left

The Expensive Places Aren't Serving the Right Crunch, Either

"Fried chicken. Now you got boujee-a** chicken places charging 15 dollars for three tenders, lol (laughing out loud)."

- HummusAndMatzah

"The grocer near me sells eight pieces for five dollars on Mondays (dark meat only), and it's better than 99 percent of chicken places around."

- Z3r0c00lio

The Power of Transport

"Lobster was considered poor man’s food. It was so widely available but not as appealing as fish. It is in all senses an overgrown insect that rich people way back in the day considered to be repulsive."

"It wasn’t until the invention of the railroad as well as clever sales tactics that the tide turned on the view of lobster as an upscale meal."

- AveratV6

"Lobster used to be cheap because there was an abundance of it and you couldn't really transport it away from the coastal regions where they were caught without it going bad. A large supply with not that many people to eat it means lower prices."

"Now you can transport lobster thousands of miles inland. That costs money and demand goes up which means prices go up."

- _Connor

"I grew up in New England (late 90s, early 2000s) and I didn't know lobster was expensive. I could get a lobster roll from the local fish shack for, like, six dollars."

"I was very confused as a kid watching movies and TV where lobster was considered some fancy food."

- DrunkenOnzo

"From Nova Scotia, there was a time when poor families could only afford to send their kids to school with a lobster sandwich for lunch, and they'd hide while they ate it."

"Now we ship it all over the planet."

- HeyCarpy

It's amazing how times have changed, and the foods we eat have shifted to reflect how our values, priorities, and money management have shifted. Not to mention socioeconomic shifts, like the development of railroads.

Hopefully, we can also afford to purchase the ingredients for that meal that we loved when we were kids, even if we can only afford to make it every once in a while.