4 ms·

It occurs to me (in all seriousness) that dog food fits that bill pretty well. Presumably we could easily make human versions. I think that there is more to i

It occurs to me (in all seriousness) that dog food fits that bill pretty well. Presumably we could easily make human versions. I think that there is more to it than that. Food that is not particularly good for you often tastes better and isn't any more expensive. It's that competition that makes it difficult. We can make pretty healthy dog food because we control what they eat -- they don't get to choose.

onemoresoop 8y ago
What makes you think dog food is healthy?
- mikekchar 8y ago
  From having raised dogs :-) Dogs have similar dietary requirements to humans. If you look closely at the nutrient breakdown in the dog food, you can see that it provides a very good balanced nutrition -- or at least it hits what they are aiming for. People can quibble about whether or not there are healthier nutrient breakdowns, but it's not really that hard to change things around. There are actually studies showing life expectancies for dogs eating dog food vs eating food made at home and they are higher for those eating dog food. There is a variety of reasons for that. For example, dogs are generally smaller than humans and dietary imbalances often have consequences sooner. So it's not really the case that dog food is super food or anything like that. It's just generally reasonable nutrition. The reason I found out about this is that I once thought about cooking for my dogs (I was cooking for myself every day anyway) and my vet highly discouraged me from doing so. She put me on to those papers (It was almost 20 years ago now, so I'm afraid I don't have any useful links, unfortunately). Dog food also tastes surprisingly good. I never fed my dogs anything that I didn't try first (which I suppose may be weird, but oh well). I can say that some dogs really like the taste of liver, but aside from that kind of thing, dog food is surprisingly good. Some of the wet canned food rivals prepared human meals in my opinion, though the price is a bit higher. I can't remember the brand, but I remember one "beef stew" which was insanely good. I would have happily had it as a meal. It seems like soylent.com is still around. I think they are making meal replacement drinks. Not my cup of tea, but at $1.80 per meal, it's fairly cheap and convenient. Not sure about taste (I think I'd go for the dog food myself!) However, it is almost exactly the average price for meals I cook for myself, so I'm not sure it's a great deal price wise. The same is also probably true of dog food to be fair.
bluedino 8y ago
There’s the urban legend of senior citizens buying dog food to eat because they get so litttle in retirement checks
- justtopost 8y ago
  Not a ledgend. Many now famous people lived on dog food for years. Phillip K Dick comes to mind.

onemoresoop 8y ago

What makes you think dog food is healthy?

mikekchar 8y ago
From having raised dogs :-) Dogs have similar dietary requirements to humans. If you look closely at the nutrient breakdown in the dog food, you can see that it provides a very good balanced nutrition -- or at least it hits what they are aiming for. People can quibble about whether or not there are healthier nutrient breakdowns, but it's not really that hard to change things around. There are actually studies showing life expectancies for dogs eating dog food vs eating food made at home and they are higher for those eating dog food. There is a variety of reasons for that. For example, dogs are generally smaller than humans and dietary imbalances often have consequences sooner. So it's not really the case that dog food is super food or anything like that. It's just generally reasonable nutrition. The reason I found out about this is that I once thought about cooking for my dogs (I was cooking for myself every day anyway) and my vet highly discouraged me from doing so. She put me on to those papers (It was almost 20 years ago now, so I'm afraid I don't have any useful links, unfortunately). Dog food also tastes surprisingly good. I never fed my dogs anything that I didn't try first (which I suppose may be weird, but oh well). I can say that some dogs really like the taste of liver, but aside from that kind of thing, dog food is surprisingly good. Some of the wet canned food rivals prepared human meals in my opinion, though the price is a bit higher. I can't remember the brand, but I remember one "beef stew" which was insanely good. I would have happily had it as a meal. It seems like soylent.com is still around. I think they are making meal replacement drinks. Not my cup of tea, but at $1.80 per meal, it's fairly cheap and convenient. Not sure about taste (I think I'd go for the dog food myself!) However, it is almost exactly the average price for meals I cook for myself, so I'm not sure it's a great deal price wise. The same is also probably true of dog food to be fair.

bluedino 8y ago

There’s the urban legend of senior citizens buying dog food to eat because they get so litttle in retirement checks

justtopost 8y ago
Not a ledgend. Many now famous people lived on dog food for years. Phillip K Dick comes to mind.