The internet is rife with simple, budget -friendly cooking tips. As a food writer, Ive certainly endorsed things like bulk-buying grains, roasting sheet pan after sheet pan of vegetables on a slow Sunday afternoon, and relying on prepared foods like rotisserie chicken when you just dont have time to cook. The (mostly white, mostly middle-class ) food reformers who sell the idea that a return to home cooking will solve many of our health problems insist that healthy, budget-friendly cooking is absolutely in reach for everyone, so long as you plan, prioritize and make time.

The often overlooked reality is that its actually not simple for many people, especially low-income parents and other caregivers. Obstacles like unpredictable shift work, unreliable appliances, lack of easy access to fresh food and the very high expectations of modern parenting can make budget cooking (and thus, any fresh home cooking) downright unreachable. For those folks, theres simply not enough time to prep inexpensive staples from scratch, and not enough money for time-saving market solutions afforded to others.