History Main / PovertyFood

* In ''VideoGame/TheHayseedKnight'', Ader starts the game in such dire financial straits that his only reliable meal each day is a pile of tiny, raw potatoes, which he treats like delicacies. Once his UptownGirl paramour Sep starts to [[ThroughHisStomach supply him with sweets and wine]] whenever they meet, he loses his taste for them.

Subtroper of FoodAsCharacterization. Compare MockMeal, EatTheDog, NoPartyLikeADonnerParty. See MessOnAPlate, MysteryMeat, and NondescriptNastyNutritious when the focus is on the visual and tasting experience of the food rather than the social implications of a dire meal. See FrozenDinnerOfLoneliness for when lonely characters eat convenience food. Contrast FoodPorn and GrapesOfLuxury. Often used for PovertyForComedy. In a bleak, dystopian totalitarian state that rations food, this may lead to characters craving tasty, fresh BlackMarketProduce.

* ''Fanfic/RocketshipVoyager'', which is rife with {{omage}}s to classic ScienceFiction, includes a reference to zymoveal, a Poverty Food from Asimov's ''Literature/TheCavesOfSteel'' (see below). Paris ate it as a child, when his father was unemployed, and learned to doctor it with hot sauce.

* Historically, lobster was considered poverty food due to its high protein content, to the point that ordinary Americans used to eat them three times a week, and were served to prisoners. Rail transportation, canning, and the increase of prices from demand and supply has turned lobster into a high-class delicacy by the time TheGildedAge.
* In modern Germany, canned ravioli fill the role ramen has in the USA, and pretty much signal that you have hit rock bottom.

[[folder: Theatre]]

* In ''Film/TheLittleRascals'' short "Mush and Milk", the gang are all living in a boarding school run by an old man who serves mush and (spoiled) milk every day because he doesn't have any money. He's waiting for his pension to come in. Once his pension comes in he treats the kids to a high-class meal...which turns out to be porridge.

* In ''Runaway'' by Creator/WendelinVanDraanen, Holly remembers that when her mom was still alive, they'd always get two boxes of KFC for Thanksgiving dinner. One time, when she asked if they could roast a turkey next year, her mom told her that turkey was actually tough and dry and that nobody actually wanted to eat it, but it's implied she was just trying to make Holly feel better about not being able to afford it.

[[folder:Fangiction]]

[[folder:FanFiction]]

* ''Fanfic/RocketshipVoyager'', which is rife with [[{{Homage}} homages]] to classic ScienceFiction, includes a reference to zymoveal, a Poverty Food from Asimov's ''Literature/TheCavesOfSteel'' (see below). Paris ate it as a child, when his father was unemployed, and learned to doctor it with hot sauce.

* ''WebComic/SamAndFuzzy'': PlayedForLaughs after Sam loses his taxi driver job, and sinks into a deep depression. After refusing to leave the apartment for over a week, even to buy new groceries, he's reduced to serving "flour paste" for dinner.

* The {{Satire}} news website ''The Website/BabylonBee'' [[note]](basically, the [[TheMoralSubstitute Christian]] version of ''WebSite/TheOnion'')[[/note]] tells of [[StarvingStudent a college student]] who [[http://babylonbee.com/news/college-student-tithes-ramen/ places a packet of ramen noodles into the offering plate at church]]. He considers it a worthy offering because it's all he has.

* ''WebVideo/TastingHistoryWithMaxMiller'': Max tends to prepare meals eaten by the royalty and the very wealthy since those are more interesting to make and recipes for to poor didn't get written down as much. Despite this, he still features a number of foods for those of little means.
** The Roman Gladiators had [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3KANWtAHDc&t=2s&ab_channel=TastingHistorywithMaxMiller Puls]], a porridge made of barley and fava beans. The dish formed the staple of a gladiator's diet, save for [[PrisonersLastMeal the meals before games]]. This had the side effect of making gladiators become flabby and [[GassHole flatulent.]] [[note]] Max points out the flabbiness was probably an advantage in a gladiators line of work, since the fat would shield their vital organs[[/note]]

** [[DownPlayedTrope Downplayed]] with Spartan [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqQzWg9pXmg&t=15s&ab_channel=TastingHistorywithMaxMiller black broth]]. Despite its recipe calling for large amounts of blood, [[ForeignQueasine the poor reviews of contemporary greek writers]], and the [[TheSpartanWay reputation of the Spartans]], Max says the broth is decent aside from its [[TastesBetterThanItLooks horrid appearance]].

** [[AvertedTrope Averted]] in the case of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPi0RiAsegQ&ab_channel=TastingHistorywithMaxMiller gruel]]. Despite being synonymous with this trope, gruel is really just the word for a thin porridge. Prior to the 1800s gruel was eaten by all social classes. Recipes could be very fancy, using ingredients like spices, cream, or brandy.
* A RunningGag among the ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' fandom is that Reimu's shrine gets so few donations, she eats ''grass'' growing through the flagstones.

* ''Literature/IHaveNoMouthAndIMustScream'': The main characters are forced to subsist on whatever disgusting scraps they can find, and even that is rare. Explicitly mentioned are some sort of worms, as well as "manna" that tastes like boar urine, and the plot revolves around the group trying to find a cache of canned food somewhere beneath the North Pole. The MasterComputer AM could easily provide them with any food imaginable but only gives them near-inedible things out of sadistic cruelty since its intent on torturing the characters for all eternity, and keeping them on the brink of starvation is just part of it.

* In modern Germany, canned ravioli fill the role, ramen has in the USA, and pretty much signal, that you have hit rock bottom.

Poverty Food is usually portrayed as an unappetizing, bleak and gloppy substance. TruthInTelevision in the sense that mush-like meals are cheap and easy to make while still being sufficiently nutritious. If it's not gruel, expect poor people to chew on (dried) bread or eat instant ramen; a mostly [[{{Eagleland}} U.S.]]-specific food is [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_cheese "government cheese"]], originally created to deal with milk surpluses, which is usually the first thing handed out to food-stamp and Social Security beneficiaries.