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You know what this feels like? Remember that guy who was some economics professor in NYC that laid the claim that public libraries are terrible for the economy

You know what this feels like? Remember that guy who was some economics professor in NYC that laid the claim that public libraries are terrible for the economy or some other nonsense and that it's best to just let Amazon sell people books instead. Plus, he roughly said something along the lines of "It'll be good for their stock price too". Remember that jackass? Feels like he's at it again. And the math and logic used in this drives me insane. It's like the same logic "Oh, it's cheaper to buy half an ounce of taco seasoning instead of a pound. The half ounce pack is only a dollar. A pound is 5 dollars." Makes me want to rip my hair out and scream.

nwah1 7y ago
The company that produces the meal kits can buy all the ingredients in bulk. They can portion all the ingredients perfectly so that there's no waste. They don't need to staff, light, heat, cool, and stock any stores. And you don't need to go to the store and back, which means less emissions. The argument is perfectly sensible, when we're comparing to normal cooking in American households. Maybe compared to a Mexican cookout for your whole extended family and neighborhood, it isn't as good, but that's not the most relevant comparison in a typical US context.
- corodra 7y ago
  They can buy in bulk... unlike grocery stores? Portioning food for you at a premium because you can’t adult? Goto the store and back? Like, pick up a head of garlic, go home, then pick up carrots, go home, etc? Most folks in America do a one day shop to pick up groceries for the week. Because individually wrapped foods is so less wasteful than buying even minimal bulk. What I love about this, it’s people who never grew up poor who try to tell people how to live cheaper and frugal. It’s amazingly stupid. I grew up white trash poor. You know how you keep costs down? Buy in bulk and cut out the middle men as much as possible. Meal kit companies are another middle man with plenty of overhead both financially and environmentally. These kits typically cost $10 and I still have to cook? Most of these are of the $3 to $4 range if you buy it all yourself sensibly at the store.
  - perl4ever 7y ago
    "You know how you keep costs down? Buy in bulk and cut out the middle men as much as possible." I have been noticing frequently that unit prices for larger packages of things are often as high or higher than smaller ones. I suspect that due to the increasing quality of data analytics, stores have realized that they can systematically take advantage of the majority of people who don't scrutinize everything and make assumptions. It's interesting that you don't mention looking for things on sale. That is something I have rarely done in the past, but I'm starting to feel like maybe it's necessary to avoid being screwed. Shopping for a week or more is only logical if you can't stop at a store on your way home from work, and you live a long way from it. I live less than a mile from work, and slightly over a mile from the nearest supermarket.
    - corodra 7y ago
      I got more on a soap box there because I lost my cool a bit. But yea, sales and clearances were our vital methods of staying within budget. Hell, there was one week I survived on a 96 cent clearance bag of assorted bread from Walmart. But one of the other things that’s getting lost is the human element. It seems like if it’s not on the internet, it doesn’t exist or is unattainable. I developed relationships with farmers and some businesses to get the undesirable pickings or overflow at a lower price. Nothing wrong with them or even spoiled. Think of, ever seen a really ugly ass strawberry? Most packagers don’t accept them because of stupid public perception. Or they just sneak one or two in. You can get those really damn cheap from a grower. Or slightly over ripe for even cheaper or free. Then you learn how to make your own preserves out of them. Some farmers markets have end of weekend sell offs too. Super cheap on all the leftovers that haven’t sold. I’m pretty sure you can do the same with a supermarket if you get to know the right people. But I never tried a big box market. But also, bagel shops and Panera, make friends with the night crew. You can get some of the days unsold baked goods for free or for 5 bucks. But people just refuse to know others and that’s being considered “okay”. It’s not. I’m introverted too. It’s not okay to hide from society and run away from relationships. I’m in tech now. Tech is great and all... but it’s so damn silly to imagine that an internet company can save poor people somehow with their service. Same with the logic of bitcoin saving those without access to “fiat currency”. If ya don’t have access to a dollar, ya don’t really have access to the internet, let alone a computer. I live 1.4 miles from the grocery store I visit. It’s still smart to only shop once a week. It’s the death by a million papercuts in finance. If you go too often, your likelihood of buying things you don’t truly need goes up. That’s bad for your budget. Plus think, your mob/demob time at a grocery store is always about 5 min. Finding a parking spot, walk into the store, ring up, cash out, walk to the car, load groceries, leave parking lot. That doesn’t include actual shopping or travel to the store. It’s only 20min once a week for me to get groceries, roughly. You can spend way more than that, in time per week, if you go to the store to pick up as you need. Just in time inventory works fine for stores. But not really for people. It’s scary where your time sinks are when you track your time.

nwah1 7y ago

The company that produces the meal kits can buy all the ingredients in bulk. They can portion all the ingredients perfectly so that there's no waste. They don't need to staff, light, heat, cool, and stock any stores. And you don't need to go to the store and back, which means less emissions. The argument is perfectly sensible, when we're comparing to normal cooking in American households. Maybe compared to a Mexican cookout for your whole extended family and neighborhood, it isn't as good, but that's not the most relevant comparison in a typical US context.

corodra 7y ago
They can buy in bulk... unlike grocery stores? Portioning food for you at a premium because you can’t adult? Goto the store and back? Like, pick up a head of garlic, go home, then pick up carrots, go home, etc? Most folks in America do a one day shop to pick up groceries for the week. Because individually wrapped foods is so less wasteful than buying even minimal bulk. What I love about this, it’s people who never grew up poor who try to tell people how to live cheaper and frugal. It’s amazingly stupid. I grew up white trash poor. You know how you keep costs down? Buy in bulk and cut out the middle men as much as possible. Meal kit companies are another middle man with plenty of overhead both financially and environmentally. These kits typically cost $10 and I still have to cook? Most of these are of the $3 to $4 range if you buy it all yourself sensibly at the store.
- perl4ever 7y ago
  "You know how you keep costs down? Buy in bulk and cut out the middle men as much as possible." I have been noticing frequently that unit prices for larger packages of things are often as high or higher than smaller ones. I suspect that due to the increasing quality of data analytics, stores have realized that they can systematically take advantage of the majority of people who don't scrutinize everything and make assumptions. It's interesting that you don't mention looking for things on sale. That is something I have rarely done in the past, but I'm starting to feel like maybe it's necessary to avoid being screwed. Shopping for a week or more is only logical if you can't stop at a store on your way home from work, and you live a long way from it. I live less than a mile from work, and slightly over a mile from the nearest supermarket.
  - corodra 7y ago
    I got more on a soap box there because I lost my cool a bit. But yea, sales and clearances were our vital methods of staying within budget. Hell, there was one week I survived on a 96 cent clearance bag of assorted bread from Walmart. But one of the other things that’s getting lost is the human element. It seems like if it’s not on the internet, it doesn’t exist or is unattainable. I developed relationships with farmers and some businesses to get the undesirable pickings or overflow at a lower price. Nothing wrong with them or even spoiled. Think of, ever seen a really ugly ass strawberry? Most packagers don’t accept them because of stupid public perception. Or they just sneak one or two in. You can get those really damn cheap from a grower. Or slightly over ripe for even cheaper or free. Then you learn how to make your own preserves out of them. Some farmers markets have end of weekend sell offs too. Super cheap on all the leftovers that haven’t sold. I’m pretty sure you can do the same with a supermarket if you get to know the right people. But I never tried a big box market. But also, bagel shops and Panera, make friends with the night crew. You can get some of the days unsold baked goods for free or for 5 bucks. But people just refuse to know others and that’s being considered “okay”. It’s not. I’m introverted too. It’s not okay to hide from society and run away from relationships. I’m in tech now. Tech is great and all... but it’s so damn silly to imagine that an internet company can save poor people somehow with their service. Same with the logic of bitcoin saving those without access to “fiat currency”. If ya don’t have access to a dollar, ya don’t really have access to the internet, let alone a computer. I live 1.4 miles from the grocery store I visit. It’s still smart to only shop once a week. It’s the death by a million papercuts in finance. If you go too often, your likelihood of buying things you don’t truly need goes up. That’s bad for your budget. Plus think, your mob/demob time at a grocery store is always about 5 min. Finding a parking spot, walk into the store, ring up, cash out, walk to the car, load groceries, leave parking lot. That doesn’t include actual shopping or travel to the store. It’s only 20min once a week for me to get groceries, roughly. You can spend way more than that, in time per week, if you go to the store to pick up as you need. Just in time inventory works fine for stores. But not really for people. It’s scary where your time sinks are when you track your time.