3 ms·

I think there's something missing from the equation and I'm not sure what. In Tokyo, for example, I'm astonished by the amount of cheap, fresh food is availabl

I think there's something missing from the equation and I'm not sure what. In Tokyo, for example, I'm astonished by the amount of cheap, fresh food is available at grocery and convenience stores. Certain items (like imported fruits) are more expensive than in the US, but locally-produced vegetables / meats / etc seem to be widely available. It's possible that Tokyo is an example where due to the high density of people / restaurants, the "economy of scale" takes over and makes good food much cheaper. I might go one step further and make the claim that fresh food is so expensive in the US precisely because infrastructure is designed for cars, rather than people.

nicoburns 7y ago
> It's possible that Tokyo is an example where due to the high density of people / restaurants, the "economy of scale" takes over and makes good food much cheaper. I don't think it's just Tokyo, you get this all across Europe too. I think there might be an economy of scale just in the fact that almost everyone in Japan/Europe buys fresh food as the primary component of their diet. I live in the UK, and the idea that you could live somewhere where there isn't a local (aka walking distance) grocery store or supermarket that sells reasonably priced fresh produce is completely alien to me (if you live a rural area, then I suppose you might have to drive, but then you would need to do that to get to any shop at all).