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You've somewhat contradicted yourself with #3. Many primary ingredients are sold in cardboard or plastic packaging. Also, #3 requires enough wealth to have the

You've somewhat contradicted yourself with #3. Many primary ingredients are sold in cardboard or plastic packaging. Also, #3 requires enough wealth to have the time to spend on it.

adrianN 11y ago
Preparing somewhat healthy food takes a few hours a week. It's not so hard that you need to be particularly wealthy to do it.
- afarrell 11y ago
  You don't need to be particularly wealthy, but it does require you to allocate: * Fridge & pantry space for ingredients. This is significantly easier if you are not splitting that space with 2 roommates. * Time and Executive Function to keep track of what you need to shop for. This is significantly easier if you spend $5 on an app like Paprika. https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/paprika-recipe-manager-for/id406732590?mt=8 https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/paprika-recipe-manager-for/i... * Money to spend on cooking tools. This is significantly easier if you have friend who also cook and can recommend things. * Time and skill to spend organizing your kitchen so that you can work reasonably efficiently. * Time and patience to spend doing a skill poorly because you are learning. This is made easier if you have a snack before you cook dinner because trying to do an unfamiliar multi-threaded task is harder when you are hungry. * Money to spend on ordering food to be delivered when you fuck something up. * Time to spend going to the grocery store more frequently for fresher ingredients. This is significantly easier if you own a car or are willing to pay higher rent to live near a grocery store. * Time to spend actually doing both the cooking and cleaning. All of this is doable on a software engineer salary, but it does require making a deliberate decision to allocate resources.
  - adrianN 11y ago
    While I was studying I was living on 800 Euros a month. That's 20 Euro more than poverty level. I had a tiny apartment with a tiny fridge and no proper kitchen. Making rice or lentils, heating some frozen veggies in the microwave and frying some meat or opening a can of fish takes about 15 minutes and anybody can do it. You need a pot, a pan and a microwaveable bowl. Ikea has all of that for like 50 Euro.
djhn 11y ago
> Many primary ingredients are sold in cardboard or plastic packaging. Ok yes, a rhetorical failure on my part. The distinction was of "meals coming in wrapping" vs. making them out of primary ingredients. I'm thinking butchered meat and fish from the counter, fresh produce by weight, grains by the weight. But yes, those same things can be sold in boxes and plastic. But with #3, you don't have to make complicated meals - those indeed are a luxury. My bachelor rule of thumb was 3 "foodthings", 3 minutes, add spice to taste. Or 5 of each, if you splurge. Of course, with higher income, you can buy even higher quality primary ingredients, and the contrast to the cheapest basics are remarkable. But the difference is mostly limited to freshness, texture, taste - at the moment research doesn't suggest they are better from a fundamental nutrititional value standpoint.

You've somewhat contradicted yourself with #3. Many primary ingredients are sold in cardboard or plastic packaging. Also, #3 requires enough wealth to have the time to spend on it.

adrianN 11y ago

Preparing somewhat healthy food takes a few hours a week. It's not so hard that you need to be particularly wealthy to do it.

afarrell 11y ago
You don't need to be particularly wealthy, but it does require you to allocate: * Fridge & pantry space for ingredients. This is significantly easier if you are not splitting that space with 2 roommates. * Time and Executive Function to keep track of what you need to shop for. This is significantly easier if you spend $5 on an app like Paprika. https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/paprika-recipe-manager-for/id406732590?mt=8 https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/paprika-recipe-manager-for/i... * Money to spend on cooking tools. This is significantly easier if you have friend who also cook and can recommend things. * Time and skill to spend organizing your kitchen so that you can work reasonably efficiently. * Time and patience to spend doing a skill poorly because you are learning. This is made easier if you have a snack before you cook dinner because trying to do an unfamiliar multi-threaded task is harder when you are hungry. * Money to spend on ordering food to be delivered when you fuck something up. * Time to spend going to the grocery store more frequently for fresher ingredients. This is significantly easier if you own a car or are willing to pay higher rent to live near a grocery store. * Time to spend actually doing both the cooking and cleaning. All of this is doable on a software engineer salary, but it does require making a deliberate decision to allocate resources.
- adrianN 11y ago
  While I was studying I was living on 800 Euros a month. That's 20 Euro more than poverty level. I had a tiny apartment with a tiny fridge and no proper kitchen. Making rice or lentils, heating some frozen veggies in the microwave and frying some meat or opening a can of fish takes about 15 minutes and anybody can do it. You need a pot, a pan and a microwaveable bowl. Ikea has all of that for like 50 Euro.

djhn 11y ago

> Many primary ingredients are sold in cardboard or plastic packaging. Ok yes, a rhetorical failure on my part. The distinction was of "meals coming in wrapping" vs. making them out of primary ingredients. I'm thinking butchered meat and fish from the counter, fresh produce by weight, grains by the weight. But yes, those same things can be sold in boxes and plastic. But with #3, you don't have to make complicated meals - those indeed are a luxury. My bachelor rule of thumb was 3 "foodthings", 3 minutes, add spice to taste. Or 5 of each, if you splurge. Of course, with higher income, you can buy even higher quality primary ingredients, and the contrast to the cheapest basics are remarkable. But the difference is mostly limited to freshness, texture, taste - at the moment research doesn't suggest they are better from a fundamental nutrititional value standpoint.