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Most of the ostensible value of prepared food is made possible through the false economy of massive public subsidies for the commodity crops that make up the bu

Most of the ostensible value of prepared food is made possible through the false economy of massive public subsidies for the commodity crops that make up the bulk of manufactured food products.

tptacek 17y ago
Which has absolutely nothing to do with your monthly food budget.
- RyanMcGreal 17y ago
  Where do you think the money to pay for those subsidies comes from? (Note: the response "my grandchildren" is technically correct but misses the point.)
  - tptacek 17y ago
    A lot of things are "cheaper" if by "cheaper" you mean "supports a political viewpoint that asserts that things will be cheaper in some abstract future where a critical mass of people adopt that viewpoint" instead of "cheaper". In reality, when you cook, you're either (a) paying much more for food by buying local, humane, or organic, or (b) partaking in the same factory system that McDonalds does. In fact, McDonalds and Chipotle are doing much more to promote sustainability than the typical home cook is.
    - RyanMcGreal 17y ago
      I'm not talking about some magical hippie love future in which everyone chooses to go local, organic and vegan. I'm talking about material, measurable public subsidies to specific agricultural practices that allow companies to sell their products at far below the cost of production and hence distort the market for those products.
      - tptacek 17y ago
        About which the only influence you have vis a vis eating is to avoid the foods that are a part of that system; I was careful to say "organic, local, or humane" (not vegan) to provide as many non-Food-Inc. options as possible. I don't see what your point has to do with the cost of cooking in vs. cooking out. At least 'kingkongrevenge has a meal plan to offer us. =)
        RyanMcGreal 17y ago
        Again, to clarify: I'm not talking about conventional factory farming vs. organic/local farming; I'm not referring to the economies of scale realized by industrialized farming practices. I'm talking about massive, direct economic subsidies for the kinds of crops that tend to go into prepared foods vs. the comparative absence of massive, direct economic subsidies for the kinds of crops that tend to be the ingredients of home cooked meals. (The actual ingredients of home-cooked meals vs. their prepared equivalents are rarely even remotely similar.) I hope what this has to do with the cost of cooking ingredients vs. eating prepared food is self-evident.

Most of the ostensible value of prepared food is made possible through the false economy of massive public subsidies for the commodity crops that make up the bulk of manufactured food products.

tptacek 17y ago

Which has absolutely nothing to do with your monthly food budget.

RyanMcGreal 17y ago
Where do you think the money to pay for those subsidies comes from? (Note: the response "my grandchildren" is technically correct but misses the point.)
- tptacek 17y ago
  A lot of things are "cheaper" if by "cheaper" you mean "supports a political viewpoint that asserts that things will be cheaper in some abstract future where a critical mass of people adopt that viewpoint" instead of "cheaper". In reality, when you cook, you're either (a) paying much more for food by buying local, humane, or organic, or (b) partaking in the same factory system that McDonalds does. In fact, McDonalds and Chipotle are doing much more to promote sustainability than the typical home cook is.
  - RyanMcGreal 17y ago
    I'm not talking about some magical hippie love future in which everyone chooses to go local, organic and vegan. I'm talking about material, measurable public subsidies to specific agricultural practices that allow companies to sell their products at far below the cost of production and hence distort the market for those products.
    - tptacek 17y ago
      About which the only influence you have vis a vis eating is to avoid the foods that are a part of that system; I was careful to say "organic, local, or humane" (not vegan) to provide as many non-Food-Inc. options as possible. I don't see what your point has to do with the cost of cooking in vs. cooking out. At least 'kingkongrevenge has a meal plan to offer us. =)
      - RyanMcGreal 17y ago
        Again, to clarify: I'm not talking about conventional factory farming vs. organic/local farming; I'm not referring to the economies of scale realized by industrialized farming practices. I'm talking about massive, direct economic subsidies for the kinds of crops that tend to go into prepared foods vs. the comparative absence of massive, direct economic subsidies for the kinds of crops that tend to be the ingredients of home cooked meals. (The actual ingredients of home-cooked meals vs. their prepared equivalents are rarely even remotely similar.) I hope what this has to do with the cost of cooking ingredients vs. eating prepared food is self-evident.