7 ms·

The US is a pretty wealthy place. I lived in Italy for something like 15 years, and people there eat a lot of fish too, of varying kinds. By and large, they d

by davidw 10y ago

The US is a pretty wealthy place. I lived in Italy for something like 15 years, and people there eat a lot of fish too, of varying kinds. By and large, they do not have as much money as people do in the US. If it were only about efficiency, you'd probably just eat beans and rice, day in and day out, with a bit of this and that thrown in. Edit: BTW, this book has some interesting ideas about the US and food: http://amzn.to/2oVeaYz http://amzn.to/2oVeaYz Among other things, he points out that the US does have slow food with a high degree of regional variety: barbecue.

leesalminen 10y ago
> If it were only about efficiency, you'd probably just eat beans and rice, day in and day out, with a bit of this and that thrown in. Saving $1 > Saving $0
simonh 10y ago
France is much the same, people there seem to spend a much bigger proportion if their disposable income on food than here in the UK.
- justinator 10y ago
  French companies often offset the price of the largest meal of the day via restaurant vouchers. The meal is that important to them. I wouldn't cover that under, "disposable income", exactly.
Dirlewanger 10y ago
Economies of scale, no doubt. While there's only a few nationwide grocers (Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, Walmart), there's many more regional grocery supply chains all over the country, that largely offer the same products in every single one. Given any population center, odds are you're within an hour of at least one of these. Insanely impressive given the size of the US.
ams6110 10y ago
The point is, in the US most seafood at the store is at least $15/lb. Beef (depending on cuts) is as little as $3/lb. Chicken and pork are typically cheaper than beef.
- davidw 10y ago
  Good steaks are more expensive than chuck, too. And yet people consume both.
  - Alupis 10y ago
    Few people eat steaks every night, let alone good cuts of steak.
    - davidw 10y ago
      And yet... you can get them in stores. That's kind of the whole point. Not everyone in Italy eats clams or octopus or whatever every night either.
      - lotharbot 10y ago
        This has a lot to do with the fact that a cow is a whole animal. If you raise one to sell the chuck, you also get T-bones and ribeyes and tri-tips and flank steaks and so on. Most of that goes into the same retail pipeline, so availability is correlated. On the other hand, expensive fish aren't usually a byproduct of producing cheap fish, nor vice versa.
      - brianwawok 10y ago
        Whole foods has a decent selection of fish. Real salmon is like $20 a pound though.
Broken_Hippo 10y ago
The US is a pretty wealthy place. I lived in Italy for something like 15 years, and people there eat a lot of fish too, of varying kinds. By and large, they do not have as much money as people do in the US The US is a wealthy place, but a lot of individual families aren't wealthy at all. Cheap, mass-produced, pre-prepared food (either frozen or in cans/boxes) are the cheapest things to eat. Where I lived - a few hours flight to a coast or many hours of driving - fish was one of the more expensive protein options if one doesn't want to eat fish sticks or the like. Chicken and pork were usually cheaper, followed by beef. If it were only about efficiency, you'd probably just eat beans and rice, day in and day out, with a bit of this and that thrown in This misses part of the equation - the stuff folks are eating are time efficient as well. Plus a good amount of folks wouldn't know what to do with lentils and rice: Cooking isn't a focus of schools. I had 6-9 weeks of cooking instruction, and we only cooked (in groups of 4-5) once every week or two and that included things like baking sweets. It is amazing how many folks don't just look this stuff up.
- melq 10y ago
  FWIW I live on the coast in a place where people eat a decent amount of seafood (anecdotally), and fish is also one of the most expensive protein options. Significantly more expensive than chicken/pork and often even beef. Up until I got my first post-college dev job, my family could not afford fresh fish and thus didn't eat it. Now I live comfortably and can afford it, but it costs as much as a nice piece of beef (like a ribeye), and since I didn't eat fish growing up, I'm going for that ribeye 9 times out of 10.
- ido 10y ago
  OT but doesn't learning common household skills like cooking the parents' responsiblity? I've never learned it at school
  - Broken_Hippo 10y ago
    I've always viewed that as an excuse not to teach it in school, and I've never quite understood. Same with personal finance. How are you supposed to learn something from your parents if the parents do not cook or are not responsible with their money or refuse to share financials with the child? We know some kids are in that situation and teaching such things is a preventative measure.

by davidw 10y ago

The US is a pretty wealthy place. I lived in Italy for something like 15 years, and people there eat a lot of fish too, of varying kinds. By and large, they do not have as much money as people do in the US. If it were only about efficiency, you'd probably just eat beans and rice, day in and day out, with a bit of this and that thrown in. Edit: BTW, this book has some interesting ideas about the US and food: http://amzn.to/2oVeaYz http://amzn.to/2oVeaYz Among other things, he points out that the US does have slow food with a high degree of regional variety: barbecue.

leesalminen 10y ago

> If it were only about efficiency, you'd probably just eat beans and rice, day in and day out, with a bit of this and that thrown in. Saving $1 > Saving $0

simonh 10y ago

France is much the same, people there seem to spend a much bigger proportion if their disposable income on food than here in the UK.

justinator 10y ago
French companies often offset the price of the largest meal of the day via restaurant vouchers. The meal is that important to them. I wouldn't cover that under, "disposable income", exactly.

Dirlewanger 10y ago

Economies of scale, no doubt. While there's only a few nationwide grocers (Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, Walmart), there's many more regional grocery supply chains all over the country, that largely offer the same products in every single one. Given any population center, odds are you're within an hour of at least one of these. Insanely impressive given the size of the US.

ams6110 10y ago

The point is, in the US most seafood at the store is at least $15/lb. Beef (depending on cuts) is as little as $3/lb. Chicken and pork are typically cheaper than beef.

davidw 10y ago
Good steaks are more expensive than chuck, too. And yet people consume both.
- Alupis 10y ago
  Few people eat steaks every night, let alone good cuts of steak.
  - davidw 10y ago
    And yet... you can get them in stores. That's kind of the whole point. Not everyone in Italy eats clams or octopus or whatever every night either.
    - lotharbot 10y ago
      This has a lot to do with the fact that a cow is a whole animal. If you raise one to sell the chuck, you also get T-bones and ribeyes and tri-tips and flank steaks and so on. Most of that goes into the same retail pipeline, so availability is correlated. On the other hand, expensive fish aren't usually a byproduct of producing cheap fish, nor vice versa.
    - brianwawok 10y ago
      Whole foods has a decent selection of fish. Real salmon is like $20 a pound though.

Broken_Hippo 10y ago

The US is a pretty wealthy place. I lived in Italy for something like 15 years, and people there eat a lot of fish too, of varying kinds. By and large, they do not have as much money as people do in the US The US is a wealthy place, but a lot of individual families aren't wealthy at all. Cheap, mass-produced, pre-prepared food (either frozen or in cans/boxes) are the cheapest things to eat. Where I lived - a few hours flight to a coast or many hours of driving - fish was one of the more expensive protein options if one doesn't want to eat fish sticks or the like. Chicken and pork were usually cheaper, followed by beef. If it were only about efficiency, you'd probably just eat beans and rice, day in and day out, with a bit of this and that thrown in This misses part of the equation - the stuff folks are eating are time efficient as well. Plus a good amount of folks wouldn't know what to do with lentils and rice: Cooking isn't a focus of schools. I had 6-9 weeks of cooking instruction, and we only cooked (in groups of 4-5) once every week or two and that included things like baking sweets. It is amazing how many folks don't just look this stuff up.

melq 10y ago
FWIW I live on the coast in a place where people eat a decent amount of seafood (anecdotally), and fish is also one of the most expensive protein options. Significantly more expensive than chicken/pork and often even beef. Up until I got my first post-college dev job, my family could not afford fresh fish and thus didn't eat it. Now I live comfortably and can afford it, but it costs as much as a nice piece of beef (like a ribeye), and since I didn't eat fish growing up, I'm going for that ribeye 9 times out of 10.
ido 10y ago
OT but doesn't learning common household skills like cooking the parents' responsiblity? I've never learned it at school
- Broken_Hippo 10y ago
  I've always viewed that as an excuse not to teach it in school, and I've never quite understood. Same with personal finance. How are you supposed to learn something from your parents if the parents do not cook or are not responsible with their money or refuse to share financials with the child? We know some kids are in that situation and teaching such things is a preventative measure.