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Cooking at home is dramatically more time/cost effective for two people compared to eating out. Anyone this isn't true for just has very inefficient shopping, p

by vsef 6y ago

Cooking at home is dramatically more time/cost effective for two people compared to eating out. Anyone this isn't true for just has very inefficient shopping, prep, cooking and cleaning habits. They probably also don't understand how inefficient they are in these areas, or know what the food budget of someone who knows what they are doing actually looks like. This is always abundantly clear when this gets discussed on HN.

SpicyLemonZest 6y ago
I don't think that's the right way to conceptualize this. Efficient shopping, prep, cooking and cleaning habits are complex and practiced skills, which not everyone has the time or energy to learn. I've cooked ever since I was old enough to be trusted with a kitchen knife, and I still regularly find myself throwing out half-eaten packs of meat or whole cabbage heads unless I sit down and literally write out a meal plan.
CydeWeys 6y ago
I agree with all this, but a lot of the meals eaten by people who formerly couldn't cook weren't eaten in restaurants; they were picked up from a fast/casual place nearby or ordered in. I used to eat all my meals at work, which roughly approximates ordering delivery, and it took less time than I'm spending now cooking food for most meals.
heavyset_go 6y ago
The cheapest I've ever eaten was after I made conscious effort to only buy and eat healthy things. Since then, the only time I've ever seen something that's sold in a box be cheaper than produce is when whatever's in that box is made out of mostly sugar or flour. I'm under the impression that many people choose to shop at places like Whole Foods and pay a premium for it when they can get much cheaper, but same quality or better, food elsewhere. The markup on produce (besides bananas) at Whole Foods is typically 2x-4x more than the price of organic produce from a farmer's market, or other grocery stores. That, or they're under the impression that what they pay for meal-kits is how much food costs at the store. You're paying restaurant prices for food when you buy meal-kits.

by vsef 6y ago

SpicyLemonZest 6y ago

I don't think that's the right way to conceptualize this. Efficient shopping, prep, cooking and cleaning habits are complex and practiced skills, which not everyone has the time or energy to learn. I've cooked ever since I was old enough to be trusted with a kitchen knife, and I still regularly find myself throwing out half-eaten packs of meat or whole cabbage heads unless I sit down and literally write out a meal plan.

CydeWeys 6y ago

I agree with all this, but a lot of the meals eaten by people who formerly couldn't cook weren't eaten in restaurants; they were picked up from a fast/casual place nearby or ordered in. I used to eat all my meals at work, which roughly approximates ordering delivery, and it took less time than I'm spending now cooking food for most meals.

heavyset_go 6y ago

The cheapest I've ever eaten was after I made conscious effort to only buy and eat healthy things. Since then, the only time I've ever seen something that's sold in a box be cheaper than produce is when whatever's in that box is made out of mostly sugar or flour. I'm under the impression that many people choose to shop at places like Whole Foods and pay a premium for it when they can get much cheaper, but same quality or better, food elsewhere. The markup on produce (besides bananas) at Whole Foods is typically 2x-4x more than the price of organic produce from a farmer's market, or other grocery stores. That, or they're under the impression that what they pay for meal-kits is how much food costs at the store. You're paying restaurant prices for food when you buy meal-kits.