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The aspect of human nature in this story that I least understand is why we're so ready to pay cheaper base plus value-added costs for a seemingly infinite varie

The aspect of human nature in this story that I least understand is why we're so ready to pay cheaper base plus value-added costs for a seemingly infinite variety of processed foods made from a very small set of basic ingredients, instead of a higher base with no post-processing costs for a seemingly infinite variety of natural foods at what might be the same grand total cost, and better sustainability. Maybe modern life gets too chaotic, and people want the comfort of reliable sensations in their food? I dunno... I can only speak for myself, as I get excited to see new produce varietals in the supermarket. Maybe others just prefer the new brand variations of junk foods.

Declanomous 10y ago
I think it's disingenuous to call foods made from typical ingredients 'junk food'. Your argument really only makes sense if you accept that cost of both options would be similar. I highly doubt that is the case. Even if you can provide a wide variety of unprocessed foods in to the supermarket at the same cost you can provide processed foods in to the super market, the cost would not be the same. Unprocessed foods, by their very definition, require processing. The majority of food people eat is not raw. So now I have to spend more time preparing food. Time isn't free. Even if I'm already preparing food from scratch, you have to learn how to prepare new varieties of food, even if they are marginally different. For instance, I have bought new varieties of rice and sweet potatoes recently, and each time I've had to do a fair amount of research on how to prepare them. And rice and sweet potatoes are foods that I cook by themselves. Preparing a dish with a completely new ingredient takes significantly more That's not even accounting for economies of scale on the production side. The produce that makes it to the supermarket is a small subset of all of the produce grown. If you want your food to be inexpensive, what you purchase is going to be affected by the demands of industrial food manufacturing. So there might be 1000 types of potatoes in the world, but since McDonalds is only buying one type, 50% of the potatoes grown could be of a single variety. Plus the products that supermarkets stock are dictated by demand, spoilage, and durability. So even if you want heirloom something-or-other, you might find them extremely difficult to track down because they go bad too quickly in a supermarket, or they bruise easily. They might even just look bad under fluorescent light, who knows. I'm not saying more variety isn't a good thing; I get excited when new product varietals appear in my store. However I think it's extremely understandable that supermarkets don't carry a wider variety of stock. If you are looking for a wider variety, I've found that Hispanic produce stores and farmer's markets always have a lot of produce that I don't even recognize.
ska 10y ago
at what might be the same grand total cost But that isn't what has really happened. For the most part "we" are paying much less for the processed and industrial foods.

Declanomous 10y ago

I think it's disingenuous to call foods made from typical ingredients 'junk food'. Your argument really only makes sense if you accept that cost of both options would be similar. I highly doubt that is the case. Even if you can provide a wide variety of unprocessed foods in to the supermarket at the same cost you can provide processed foods in to the super market, the cost would not be the same. Unprocessed foods, by their very definition, require processing. The majority of food people eat is not raw. So now I have to spend more time preparing food. Time isn't free. Even if I'm already preparing food from scratch, you have to learn how to prepare new varieties of food, even if they are marginally different. For instance, I have bought new varieties of rice and sweet potatoes recently, and each time I've had to do a fair amount of research on how to prepare them. And rice and sweet potatoes are foods that I cook by themselves. Preparing a dish with a completely new ingredient takes significantly more That's not even accounting for economies of scale on the production side. The produce that makes it to the supermarket is a small subset of all of the produce grown. If you want your food to be inexpensive, what you purchase is going to be affected by the demands of industrial food manufacturing. So there might be 1000 types of potatoes in the world, but since McDonalds is only buying one type, 50% of the potatoes grown could be of a single variety. Plus the products that supermarkets stock are dictated by demand, spoilage, and durability. So even if you want heirloom something-or-other, you might find them extremely difficult to track down because they go bad too quickly in a supermarket, or they bruise easily. They might even just look bad under fluorescent light, who knows. I'm not saying more variety isn't a good thing; I get excited when new product varietals appear in my store. However I think it's extremely understandable that supermarkets don't carry a wider variety of stock. If you are looking for a wider variety, I've found that Hispanic produce stores and farmer's markets always have a lot of produce that I don't even recognize.

ska 10y ago

at what might be the same grand total cost But that isn't what has really happened. For the most part "we" are paying much less for the processed and industrial foods.