Exactly. Go to a grocery store and load up on unhealthy shit, then go back to the same store and load up on healthy shit. The price difference is insane, especially when considering shelf life.
I buy frozen vegetables mostly, but I could feed my family a whole lot cheaper on cheap TV dinners.
Now we have (at least in my part of the US) dollar generals popping up in food deserts with the lowest quality shit on the planet. In the neighborhood I grew up in, most people didn’t have cars and the nearest grocery store was 30 miles away. That community is surviving on dollar general groceries now. When I was a kid we bought brown beans and white rice in bulk and lived mostly on that. We drank powdered milk.
When my brother and I refused to eat beans and rice, my mom would color it with food coloring to get us excited. “Who wants BLUE RICE AND BEANS?!” “WE DO! WE DO!”
If we had grown up in the world today, we’d probably be struggling with obesity.
“Go to a grocery store and load up on unhealthy shit, then go back to the same store and load up on healthy shit. The price difference is insane, especially when considering shelf life.”
This intrigues me, and definitely isn’t my experience. Do the same thing in my country and you come out with a comparable amount of food, perhaps influencing the choice element I describe above.
One commentary I’ve come across about American food is that the shitty stuff is intentionally priced so cheaply as to make the good stuff seem insanely priced. My experience above suggests that this might have a grain of truth to it. If willing to share, how do you feel about this commentary (i.e., what do you think of it)?
I think it has to do with the healthier stuff having a shorter shelf life more than anything. They end up throwing a lot of it out and that probably has something to do with it being priced higher.
I can’t say for sure, that’s just a guess. The stuff that doesn’t expire for 3 or 4 years is naturally going to be a safer bet than the stuff that expires in a week.
America is huge too, and moving stuff around the country isn’t cheap.
I’m just an idiot from the middle of nowhere spending a fortune so my kids can eat healthier. We have broccoli or asparagus almost every night (mostly broccoli because I don’t buy asparagus frozen), fresh fruits, some chicken, fish, or pork, and it is insane what my grocery bill is every month. I also have a big family though. I have 4 children living at home, so there are 6 of us.
That’s super interesting. For me, healthier stuff is expensive but affordable, so buying in balance is easier. It goes bad, sure, but ppl seem gravitate to the fresh stuff? So it sells.
In my experience, long preserved foods are typically seen as like, in case “I need a meal on a Wednesday.” Just a very stark difference in experience/culture that is absolutely intriguing to me, I don’t know if I have anything valuable to add haha.
I’m Canadian so I know what you mean about moving things across the country (much of our winter veggies are Californian or Mexican).
Big family or no, that’s awesome - it’s expensive enough raising a family, so just a wholehearted good on ya! Food is hugely personal (for obvious reasons), and we’re exactly the type of idiots caught up in the chaos of making life work. Thanks for sharing and I hope you have a happy, healthy year 😊
Exactly. Go to a grocery store and load up on unhealthy shit, then go back to the same store and load up on healthy shit. The price difference is insane, especially when considering shelf life.
I buy frozen vegetables mostly, but I could feed my family a whole lot cheaper on cheap TV dinners.
Now we have (at least in my part of the US) dollar generals popping up in food deserts with the lowest quality shit on the planet. In the neighborhood I grew up in, most people didn’t have cars and the nearest grocery store was 30 miles away. That community is surviving on dollar general groceries now. When I was a kid we bought brown beans and white rice in bulk and lived mostly on that. We drank powdered milk.
When my brother and I refused to eat beans and rice, my mom would color it with food coloring to get us excited. “Who wants BLUE RICE AND BEANS?!” “WE DO! WE DO!”
If we had grown up in the world today, we’d probably be struggling with obesity.
“Go to a grocery store and load up on unhealthy shit, then go back to the same store and load up on healthy shit. The price difference is insane, especially when considering shelf life.”
This intrigues me, and definitely isn’t my experience. Do the same thing in my country and you come out with a comparable amount of food, perhaps influencing the choice element I describe above.
One commentary I’ve come across about American food is that the shitty stuff is intentionally priced so cheaply as to make the good stuff seem insanely priced. My experience above suggests that this might have a grain of truth to it. If willing to share, how do you feel about this commentary (i.e., what do you think of it)?
I think it has to do with the healthier stuff having a shorter shelf life more than anything. They end up throwing a lot of it out and that probably has something to do with it being priced higher.
I can’t say for sure, that’s just a guess. The stuff that doesn’t expire for 3 or 4 years is naturally going to be a safer bet than the stuff that expires in a week.
America is huge too, and moving stuff around the country isn’t cheap.
I’m just an idiot from the middle of nowhere spending a fortune so my kids can eat healthier. We have broccoli or asparagus almost every night (mostly broccoli because I don’t buy asparagus frozen), fresh fruits, some chicken, fish, or pork, and it is insane what my grocery bill is every month. I also have a big family though. I have 4 children living at home, so there are 6 of us.
That’s super interesting. For me, healthier stuff is expensive but affordable, so buying in balance is easier. It goes bad, sure, but ppl seem gravitate to the fresh stuff? So it sells.
In my experience, long preserved foods are typically seen as like, in case “I need a meal on a Wednesday.” Just a very stark difference in experience/culture that is absolutely intriguing to me, I don’t know if I have anything valuable to add haha.
I’m Canadian so I know what you mean about moving things across the country (much of our winter veggies are Californian or Mexican).
Big family or no, that’s awesome - it’s expensive enough raising a family, so just a wholehearted good on ya! Food is hugely personal (for obvious reasons), and we’re exactly the type of idiots caught up in the chaos of making life work. Thanks for sharing and I hope you have a happy, healthy year 😊