Remarkable

In this cnn.com story about how people are dealing with gas prices, we have this quote:

"We have stopped spending on things that aren't necessities, and we've been forced to halve our grocery bill. The kids no longer get fresh fruit or vegetables and no longer get turkey sandwiches. Now we buy only canned goods and the cheapest lunch meat possible. With the price of gas up, everything else is up... except for our wages."
-- Christine

Now I understand that a lot of people are poor and that any rise in prices makes it tougher for a family to survive. But I have to confess that this sounds to me like America at its worst. Here we seem to have Christine making a concious decision to place driving over buying decent food for her family. No doubt Christine is not a wealthy woman. But are Americans so adverse to carpooling that they are willing to sacrifice nutrition for driving? Or do we just not even know what carpooling is?