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I'm not sure why you think I said a soybean is a steak, but I meant that a soybean is a soybean, corn is corn, and pork bellies are pork bellies, when we're tal

by wumpus 5y ago

I'm not sure why you think I said a soybean is a steak, but I meant that a soybean is a soybean, corn is corn, and pork bellies are pork bellies, when we're talking about things traded on the commodities markets.

tw04 5y ago
I guess I doing get your point. Fungible means interchangeable. The average consumer doesn’t think twice about whether their electricity comes from coal or solar as long as the lights turn on when they flip the switch. If you try to give someone soy beans when they ordered a steak they’re going to care quite a lot. Food isn’t fungible for the average consumer. That has absolutely nothing to do with it being a commodity or not.
- wumpus 5y ago
  Soybeans are a fungible commodity. That means that it's fungible with other soybeans. Corn is a fungible commodity. Pork bellies are a fungible commodity. It's a mystery to me as to why you think I said soybeans and steak are the same.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - ninjanomnom 5y ago
    A different and perhaps clearer way of putting what you're both getting at is flavor is not fungible. But more importantly when we're talking about changes in food production is sustenance is fungible. (This of course ignores a whole bunch of nuance such as flavor not encompassing the experience of eating and mere sustenance not including important nutritional discussion on diet) It's important to determine which of those two things you're discussing and trying to maintain parity with in attempts to improve on the infrastructure we have built, both have very different and unique problems.
  - tw04 5y ago
    Fungible doesn't mean replacing one item with the exact same item in the way he's using it. It means you're replacing it with something else that serves the same purpose. Fungible: Able to be substituted for something of equal value or utility; The entire premise was that coal is fungible because you can replace it with solar, and nobody* cares as long as their lights still turn on. You can't do the same with food, you can't replace beef with soy beans - in fact for most people you can't replace beef with anything, they want beef. *coal miners care, the vast majority of the public does not
shepherdjerred 5y ago
It's not quite the same. Many people seek to eat local. To those people a steak from 10mi away is not fungible with a steak 1000mi away
- wumpus 5y ago
  And that's totally fine! But that's not what I was attempting to discuss.
deleted 5y ago
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by wumpus 5y ago

tw04 5y ago

I guess I doing get your point. Fungible means interchangeable. The average consumer doesn’t think twice about whether their electricity comes from coal or solar as long as the lights turn on when they flip the switch. If you try to give someone soy beans when they ordered a steak they’re going to care quite a lot. Food isn’t fungible for the average consumer. That has absolutely nothing to do with it being a commodity or not.

wumpus 5y ago
Soybeans are a fungible commodity. That means that it's fungible with other soybeans. Corn is a fungible commodity. Pork bellies are a fungible commodity. It's a mystery to me as to why you think I said soybeans and steak are the same.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- ninjanomnom 5y ago
  A different and perhaps clearer way of putting what you're both getting at is flavor is not fungible. But more importantly when we're talking about changes in food production is sustenance is fungible. (This of course ignores a whole bunch of nuance such as flavor not encompassing the experience of eating and mere sustenance not including important nutritional discussion on diet) It's important to determine which of those two things you're discussing and trying to maintain parity with in attempts to improve on the infrastructure we have built, both have very different and unique problems.
- tw04 5y ago
  Fungible doesn't mean replacing one item with the exact same item in the way he's using it. It means you're replacing it with something else that serves the same purpose. Fungible: Able to be substituted for something of equal value or utility; The entire premise was that coal is fungible because you can replace it with solar, and nobody* cares as long as their lights still turn on. You can't do the same with food, you can't replace beef with soy beans - in fact for most people you can't replace beef with anything, they want beef. *coal miners care, the vast majority of the public does not

shepherdjerred 5y ago

It's not quite the same. Many people seek to eat local. To those people a steak from 10mi away is not fungible with a steak 1000mi away

wumpus 5y ago
And that's totally fine! But that's not what I was attempting to discuss.

deleted 5y ago

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