6 ms·

Well, if you consider that is much cheaper to eat trash than healthy, and that food companies' only interest is in maximizing profit, you have what we have.

by kwanbix 1mo ago

WalterBright 1mo ago
I don't buy that. You can buy a steak and a potato for two for less than a bag of Doritos. A banana costs far less than a candy bar. A bag of mixed nuts will provide many meals. Price out a bag of rice, a bag of beans, etc. > food companies' only interest is in maximizing profit Pleasing your customers is how profit is maximized. Besides, I bet if you were faced with two stores, one that charges $x for A, and another that charges $(x-1) for A, you'd patronize the latter store.
- dbalatero 1mo ago
  Where are you getting a steak and potato for 2 for less than a bag of Doritos? Is it a 50 lb bag of Doritos?
  - jambalaya8 1mo ago
    Maybe it's 4oz of very lean tough steak and a single small russet potato with no fat, and the two mentioned are five year olds.
  - to11mtm 1mo ago
    .... At least 10 to 15-ish years ago, I would actually be closer to agreeing; You could get Cube or Chuck steak for 3-5$ a pound and potatoes were cheap as hell too. Toss some diced onion in and You'll have a good dinner. How do I know? Well I grew up in a family where for... reasons[0] we were not that well off for quite a while. Cube Steak was one of the big things we did for a family meal that Dad cooked. (Chili was his other favorite to make, which was also cheap to do for how much food came out of it...) However the current prices of beef, I feel like you'd need to have a long standing personal relationship with a local butcher or rancher to make this true. [0] - My mother's over-propensity for being truly Christ-like in her charity to family and others, also sending myself and my three siblings to Catholic school to avoid the then-absolutely-failed Detroit Public school system were major factors.
    - folkrav 1mo ago
      I'm québécois, my grandma came from a big family (12 siblings IIRC). She used to cook with ground beef all the time cause that's what her mother cooked with too - it was THE cheap source of protein. Meat loaf, shepherds pie, meat pie, beef and cheese macaroni, the whole shebang. Nowadays, when I cook any of those meals, it's cause I feel like eating that specific thing, but it often turns out to be the most expensive meal of the week.
  - WalterBright 1mo ago
    I can buy the day old steaks for $5-6, and a potato is maybe 50 cents. Doritos are $6.49. A Hershey's chocolate bar is $3.99-$4.99. A banana is maybe 50 cents.
  - tolien 1mo ago
    A quick search has Walmart selling a 14.5 oz (411g) bag of Doritos for $5 [0], which according to the back of the packet is 15 servings. Obviously that's comparable to a single piece of beef and a potato (/s) While we're at it, on the $5 Hershey's bar - Walmart has a 7.56 oz (214g) one for $4.52 [1] which claims to be eight servings so again obviously just like a single banana. [0] https://www.walmart.com/ip/Doritos-Nacho-Cheese-Tortilla-Snack-Chips-Party-Size-14-5-Ounce-Bag/433078517?classType=REGULAR&athbdg=L1300 https://www.walmart.com/ip/Doritos-Nacho-Cheese-Tortilla-Sna... [1] https://www.walmart.com/ip/Hershey-s-Special-Dark-Mildly-Sweet-Chocolate-Giant-Candy-Bar-7-56-oz-25-Pieces/555582083 https://www.walmart.com/ip/Hershey-s-Special-Dark-Mildly-Swe...
  - WalterBright 28d ago
    Today I bought over a pound of steak for $5.57. Of course, it was on sale.
- folkrav 1mo ago
  > Pleasing your customers is how profit is maximized. If you ignore everything like, including but not limited to, market capture, addictive products, lock-in, information asymmetry, planned obsolescence, dark patterns, captive markets, artificial scarcity, seldom-lucrative-yet-important services and any externality, very true!
phil21 1mo ago
I don’t consider that since it’s simply not true. When I grew up relatively poor we never ate out or ate junk food because it is ridiculously expensive in comparison. We made our food from cheap ingredients. To save money. Yes it takes more time and is far more work and is less convenient. US society has valued convenience over everything else for a few generations now. Cheaper it is not. And it holds true today with my own grocery shopping. Cooking meals and being smart about grocery shopping is far cheaper per meal than buying premade junk. The few times I do have a cart full of products from the middle aisles I am astounded at how expensive it is.
- to11mtm 1mo ago
  ... It can cut both ways, and depends a lot on the 'level' of poverty and specific circumstances, although the calculus has shifted over time. If people are working crazy hours, sometimes it's a struggle to even get time to properly shop for groceries, let alone cook. There's varying degrees of that too; i.e. I remember the 3-4$ frozen pizzas that could be used as a dinner and leftovers; And yes, at least back then, We could instead buy some chicken, rice, and a can or two of soup or stock to do something way healthier, at the same overall cost per meal... But it would take an hour or so to properly prepare instead of just tossing that 3-4$ frozen pizza into the oven and letting it do it's thing. Then throw into the mix where both partners due to work and/or school aren't even home till 8PM, and one of them has to wake up by 7AM to get to work the next morning [0] I've lived that situation, although thankfully that wasn't every night and we could balance between the healthy self cooked option and the junkish-food-pizza. But I've also lived the situation where both parties are working late, or the commute is so bad, you're glad you advanced enough you could afford the more expensive, but at least then managable 'taco bell' option. But then there's the sort of 'generational passing on' where we now have multiple generations raised on carry out, fast food, or microwaved meals. Sometimes where they were never given the teaching or responsibility of cooking because (for reasons similar to above, including more affluent cases) the general concept of 'a home cooked meal' becomes the exception case rather than the norm [1] [0] - You don't want to eat too late for other health reasons of course... [1] - And yes, that group really does tend to be less healthy overall from my personal experiences, even if their dining tastes are 'expensive'.
lotsofpulp 1mo ago
This is not true. Legumes/dairy/spices/vegetables are cheaper than boxed foods. Only question is do you want to spend 1 hour making it and cleaning up.
- kwanbix 1mo ago
  You are missing the protein.
  - lotsofpulp 1mo ago
    Eggs and legumes and yogurt and milk and tofu have protein. And chicken isn’t that expensive.

Well, if you consider that is much cheaper to eat trash than healthy, and that food companies' only interest is in maximizing profit, you have what we have.

by kwanbix 1mo ago

Well, if you consider that is much cheaper to eat trash than healthy, and that food companies' only interest is in maximizing profit, you have what we have.

WalterBright 1mo ago

I don't buy that. You can buy a steak and a potato for two for less than a bag of Doritos. A banana costs far less than a candy bar. A bag of mixed nuts will provide many meals. Price out a bag of rice, a bag of beans, etc. > food companies' only interest is in maximizing profit Pleasing your customers is how profit is maximized. Besides, I bet if you were faced with two stores, one that charges $x for A, and another that charges $(x-1) for A, you'd patronize the latter store.

dbalatero 1mo ago
Where are you getting a steak and potato for 2 for less than a bag of Doritos? Is it a 50 lb bag of Doritos?
- jambalaya8 1mo ago
  Maybe it's 4oz of very lean tough steak and a single small russet potato with no fat, and the two mentioned are five year olds.
- to11mtm 1mo ago
  .... At least 10 to 15-ish years ago, I would actually be closer to agreeing; You could get Cube or Chuck steak for 3-5$ a pound and potatoes were cheap as hell too. Toss some diced onion in and You'll have a good dinner. How do I know? Well I grew up in a family where for... reasons[0] we were not that well off for quite a while. Cube Steak was one of the big things we did for a family meal that Dad cooked. (Chili was his other favorite to make, which was also cheap to do for how much food came out of it...) However the current prices of beef, I feel like you'd need to have a long standing personal relationship with a local butcher or rancher to make this true. [0] - My mother's over-propensity for being truly Christ-like in her charity to family and others, also sending myself and my three siblings to Catholic school to avoid the then-absolutely-failed Detroit Public school system were major factors.
  - folkrav 1mo ago
    I'm québécois, my grandma came from a big family (12 siblings IIRC). She used to cook with ground beef all the time cause that's what her mother cooked with too - it was THE cheap source of protein. Meat loaf, shepherds pie, meat pie, beef and cheese macaroni, the whole shebang. Nowadays, when I cook any of those meals, it's cause I feel like eating that specific thing, but it often turns out to be the most expensive meal of the week.
- WalterBright 1mo ago
  I can buy the day old steaks for $5-6, and a potato is maybe 50 cents. Doritos are $6.49. A Hershey's chocolate bar is $3.99-$4.99. A banana is maybe 50 cents.
- tolien 1mo ago
  A quick search has Walmart selling a 14.5 oz (411g) bag of Doritos for $5 [0], which according to the back of the packet is 15 servings. Obviously that's comparable to a single piece of beef and a potato (/s) While we're at it, on the $5 Hershey's bar - Walmart has a 7.56 oz (214g) one for $4.52 [1] which claims to be eight servings so again obviously just like a single banana. [0] https://www.walmart.com/ip/Doritos-Nacho-Cheese-Tortilla-Snack-Chips-Party-Size-14-5-Ounce-Bag/433078517?classType=REGULAR&athbdg=L1300 https://www.walmart.com/ip/Doritos-Nacho-Cheese-Tortilla-Sna... [1] https://www.walmart.com/ip/Hershey-s-Special-Dark-Mildly-Sweet-Chocolate-Giant-Candy-Bar-7-56-oz-25-Pieces/555582083 https://www.walmart.com/ip/Hershey-s-Special-Dark-Mildly-Swe...
- WalterBright 28d ago
  Today I bought over a pound of steak for $5.57. Of course, it was on sale.
folkrav 1mo ago
> Pleasing your customers is how profit is maximized. If you ignore everything like, including but not limited to, market capture, addictive products, lock-in, information asymmetry, planned obsolescence, dark patterns, captive markets, artificial scarcity, seldom-lucrative-yet-important services and any externality, very true!

phil21 1mo ago

I don’t consider that since it’s simply not true. When I grew up relatively poor we never ate out or ate junk food because it is ridiculously expensive in comparison. We made our food from cheap ingredients. To save money. Yes it takes more time and is far more work and is less convenient. US society has valued convenience over everything else for a few generations now. Cheaper it is not. And it holds true today with my own grocery shopping. Cooking meals and being smart about grocery shopping is far cheaper per meal than buying premade junk. The few times I do have a cart full of products from the middle aisles I am astounded at how expensive it is.

to11mtm 1mo ago
... It can cut both ways, and depends a lot on the 'level' of poverty and specific circumstances, although the calculus has shifted over time. If people are working crazy hours, sometimes it's a struggle to even get time to properly shop for groceries, let alone cook. There's varying degrees of that too; i.e. I remember the 3-4$ frozen pizzas that could be used as a dinner and leftovers; And yes, at least back then, We could instead buy some chicken, rice, and a can or two of soup or stock to do something way healthier, at the same overall cost per meal... But it would take an hour or so to properly prepare instead of just tossing that 3-4$ frozen pizza into the oven and letting it do it's thing. Then throw into the mix where both partners due to work and/or school aren't even home till 8PM, and one of them has to wake up by 7AM to get to work the next morning [0] I've lived that situation, although thankfully that wasn't every night and we could balance between the healthy self cooked option and the junkish-food-pizza. But I've also lived the situation where both parties are working late, or the commute is so bad, you're glad you advanced enough you could afford the more expensive, but at least then managable 'taco bell' option. But then there's the sort of 'generational passing on' where we now have multiple generations raised on carry out, fast food, or microwaved meals. Sometimes where they were never given the teaching or responsibility of cooking because (for reasons similar to above, including more affluent cases) the general concept of 'a home cooked meal' becomes the exception case rather than the norm [1] [0] - You don't want to eat too late for other health reasons of course... [1] - And yes, that group really does tend to be less healthy overall from my personal experiences, even if their dining tastes are 'expensive'.

lotsofpulp 1mo ago

This is not true. Legumes/dairy/spices/vegetables are cheaper than boxed foods. Only question is do you want to spend 1 hour making it and cleaning up.

kwanbix 1mo ago
You are missing the protein.
- lotsofpulp 1mo ago
  Eggs and legumes and yogurt and milk and tofu have protein. And chicken isn’t that expensive.