So even crappier food. The people have to be blamed for this at some point. Lower income Indian and East Asian families cook fresh food every night that probably costs less than $0.50 a plate. Beans, lentils, rice, eggs, pork and chicken can take you very far.
Some people aren't taught how to cook (though I suppose they could jump on YouTube these days). And for those who are, at the very lowest incomes, they may not have a working range or oven. While a cheap microwave can be had for under $100, the cheaper plug-in stove tops don't last if used daily.
Also those people may not have time or energy to learn cooking by looking youtube. From an armchair, with good economic position and time and money for hobbies anyone can learn to cook by yt. But man I know some families where both parents (when there are 2!) come completely exhausted after 10 hs of hard work.
We changed the quality of food on our home. The amount of money and time invested was much more than we expected. Everthing from a decent equipped kitchen, with enough room, knives and other tools are needed… I lived once in 15 sq meter flat… I can tell you, is difficult to cook in a kitchenette.
>>> decent equipped kitchen, with enough room, knives and other tools are needed
But you don't need too much to cook a healthy food. One pan, one pot, one knife and a spatula. Yes, not everything could be cooked with such setup, but tons of healthy cheap food.
The per person time commitment and food options for cooking for one is difficult. I would contend it's harder to cook a balanced meal for one person than it is for a family of four.
Buying things with portions for single servings has a premium on the price. Buying things at family size portions means that you have to have that for four nights in a row otherwise you've got wasted food (that is more expensive than the single portions).
For example, I've got a wok and can do a reasonable stir fry. Going and getting chicken for it meant that I had to get a pack of four chicken breasts... and I need to cook it before they spoil in my refrigerator. The vegetables (broccoli, pepper, carrots) were a bit better for keeping but you tended not to have one or two carrots unless you shopped the more expensive organic section. You get a 1lb bundle of carrots... and a lot of times, I'd end up throwing out some at the end of the week.
I can get a 3500 calorie deep dish pizza from Little Caesars for $15 ... and that's a good two days of caloric intake right there (there are even less expensive ones - I'm a fan of Detroit style). Four meals for $4 per meal. I think it was $12 when I was unemployed for a while a couple years ago.
I still have difficulty with grocery shopping portions for single servings and getting enough variety. I currently have a meal delivery / ready meal subscription that sends boxed raw ingredients that are 2 minutes of prep for a toaster oven and is about $12 per meal (600 - 800 calories). It's less expensive than door dash, the local diner, or the sit down casual dining and is portioned for cooking for one (and a lot healthier than four meals of pizza).
... However, being able to pay that much per meal isn't something that people who are getting priced out of McDs are able to do.
That is certainly cheaper than individual and gets benefits from the scale. It isn't something that everyone can do (or tolerate eating the same thing every day for the next week).
No, it doesn't. It does serve as an ok proxy for "if I eat 600 calories, will I be hungry in an hour?"
The people who are buying pizza or McDonald's aren't after healthy food. They know it isn't healthy. They're after the an inexpensive way to not be hungry when they go to bed.
I don't know why you all have such good opinions of McDonald's, but when I went there I was maybe full, but still hungry. Not an hour later, but immediately. To me it is an absolute waste of money.
It is not cheap, the local kebap or pizza store is cheaper, and the local grocery store has hot dishes for way cheaper. The ordering experience is crappy, you need to use that weird screen instead of ordering directly, long waiting times, the food tastes awful, you have a huge garbage pile on your plate, even larger than the "food" you ate, and you are still hungry after.
No, this is just the definition of excuses. It’s very cheap and easy to cook and everyone in many parts of the world cook after 10 hour work days. It’s not the end of the world or really even optional if you want to be cost-effective and healthy. There’s only so much blame you can shift to society because this is staunchly within the realm of personal control.
Not knowing to cook is a personal failing. Like you mentioned cooking basic things is something you can pick up in one session of doomscrolling on TikTok these days.
Like if the single mum living of a minimum wage has time and energy while dressing the 2 kids to not forget such things.
Sorry I know such people that I profoundly admire. I feel is just unfair such a comment. I have enough time and little stress in my life, I can plan what I’m going to cook the next week. But I could never criticize that people for not being able to.
Critique isn't necessarily just mean spirited. It's rather difficult to know what you don't know, and so many people do awful things without knowing there are alternatives.
The example he gave of beans is perfect. They can be done almost completely passively, are healthy, and dirt cheap. Add some rice, a meat, and you have a delicious dirt cheap meal that takes probably less than 5 minutes of active effort, and also has minimal cleanup time as well.
Like this article had some quote about somebody in it spending $20 at McDonalds for some drinks and bemoaning there being nothing healthier. That's simply ridiculous. And if somebody told them that and explained why - they could very possibly dramatically increase the quality of this person's life.
All your comments are painting yourself as a victim and it’s really irking me. I also feels like you’re making a mountain out of a mole hill. This is not rocket science. It’s cooking stuff. It’s cheap and easy and you should be able to do it after 10 hour work shift.
You just listed eggs, pork and chicken. They will run you way over $0.50 a plate. Even if you shop at absolute dirt cheap groceries, it’s more like $4-5 per plate when you factor in all the costs not including labor.
Instead of blaming people, perhaps it is better to look at the systemic factors that we can change to help people who are already playing life on hard mode.
But if people cook more (like its typical in european folks around Mediterranean), who will then do all the necessary TV watching and doom scrolling on social cancers to make them feel even more miserable and inadequate?
Btw that portion you mention won't be 0.5$, more like 2-3$ if if balanced and healthy enough. Tons of rice as is still very common in south east Asia ain't very healthy neither. But its sorta proven once folks start to cook for themselves more, they cook healthier than preprocessed junk food. And I don't mean some exquisite stuff, spending even 10-20 mins ever second evening can provide enough for whole family.
I'm not saying the people aren't to blame, but no one is blameless in the cultural decay. If US natives learned to live like immigrants, many ills would be solved, dietary and otherwise.
That same pattern of the poor eating instant noodles is true in Asia as well.
The origin of a number of those products is US food aid. Governments in the 60s and 70s set up facilities to convert the wheat they were getting into a product people would eat.
