5 ms·

Americans eat far more calories than they need and they throw out so much food. This isn't a bad thing for places dealing with obesity.

anticodon 5y ago
While what you say is probably true, I've recently had a talk with a coworker who worked for a month in USA and one of the things that impressed her most was how much food is thrown into the trash in USA, food prices rise everywhere around the world. For me the most obvious explanation is export of inflation from USA: USA printed abnormal amount of unsecured money, and since USD is a world reserve currency, prices begin to rise everywhere. USA doesn't produce enough goods and services to offset the amount of money they print. With every start of their money printer the whole world becomes more poor. I wish there would be a way to somehow disconnect the cancer tumor of USD from the rest of the world. But I'm not an economist and don't know the way to do it and what if the owner of the next currency chosen for reserve currency start to exploit its position for their own benefit like USA now.
- dragonwriter 5y ago
  > I've recently had a talk with a coworker who worked for a month in USA and one of the things that impressed her most was how much food is thrown into the trash in USA, food prices rise everywhere around the world. > For me the most obvious explanation is export of inflation from USA: No, its just the wealth of the USA and how much the US throws into the trash. The US literally bids up world food prices and both eats a lot and also destroys a lot. > With every start of their money printer the whole world becomes more poor. That...makes no sense. There are some countries domestically using the dollar, but for most of the world that would just drive down the dollar against the local currency; even if inflation made people poorer in general in the system using the currency (it doesn't, except people with assets fixed in the currency), it wouldn't make people using other currencies poorer.
  - anticodon 5y ago
    > it wouldn't make people using other currencies poorer. My country produces gas, oil, lumber, food, metals. When USA prints another few billions, they can simply come to any company producing these resources, and offer higher price. Because the money doesn't cost US anything: they just printed them. For the local company it makes more sense to sell to the US customer at higher price than to local customer at lower price in local currency. So, when US prints another billion, it means that local companies experience resource shortages and rising prices, because everything is exported to USA. To add insult to injury, money earned by the exporters almost never end up in the local economy. Exporter just hoard them in offshore banks. This scheme of things is extremely beneficial for the US economy and inimical to all other economies in the world.
demha 5y ago
This comment is just insensitive and cruel. Many American children go hungry every day.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
selfhoster11 5y ago
Healthy food gets hit just as much where I live (UK). Especially the meat prices have skyrocketed.
- Cthulhu_ 5y ago
  That's because some people decided that the UK would be better off outside of the EU, not realizing how much they depend on free trade and movement for their essentials. I mean I can't even blame those who voted to leave, they were not informed and convinced by a massive propaganda campaign. But I can blame the politicians that pushed ahead with it, even though it was based on a small majority vote in a non-binding and un-nuanced referendum. These politicians should have done better and they knew better, they of all people should be able to grasp the larger / longer term effects. I mean some people voted to leave because they don't like eastern-Europeans, immigrants and refugees, not realizing they're a backbone of infrastructure. People don't like when "they tuk er jerbs", but they're not willing or able to drive a truck themselves.
  - davzie 5y ago
    Both sides were fed propaganda and your over-simplifications of why people chose to vote leave are just not very intelligent.
hnbad 5y ago
What food American consumers throw out pales in comparison to what food American producers throw out.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
inglor_cz 5y ago
People switching from more expensive quality food to junk food, which is likely to stay affordable, won't reduce obesity rates. I would even expect obesity to rise after such switch.

anticodon 5y ago

While what you say is probably true, I've recently had a talk with a coworker who worked for a month in USA and one of the things that impressed her most was how much food is thrown into the trash in USA, food prices rise everywhere around the world. For me the most obvious explanation is export of inflation from USA: USA printed abnormal amount of unsecured money, and since USD is a world reserve currency, prices begin to rise everywhere. USA doesn't produce enough goods and services to offset the amount of money they print. With every start of their money printer the whole world becomes more poor. I wish there would be a way to somehow disconnect the cancer tumor of USD from the rest of the world. But I'm not an economist and don't know the way to do it and what if the owner of the next currency chosen for reserve currency start to exploit its position for their own benefit like USA now.

dragonwriter 5y ago
> I've recently had a talk with a coworker who worked for a month in USA and one of the things that impressed her most was how much food is thrown into the trash in USA, food prices rise everywhere around the world. > For me the most obvious explanation is export of inflation from USA: No, its just the wealth of the USA and how much the US throws into the trash. The US literally bids up world food prices and both eats a lot and also destroys a lot. > With every start of their money printer the whole world becomes more poor. That...makes no sense. There are some countries domestically using the dollar, but for most of the world that would just drive down the dollar against the local currency; even if inflation made people poorer in general in the system using the currency (it doesn't, except people with assets fixed in the currency), it wouldn't make people using other currencies poorer.
- anticodon 5y ago
  > it wouldn't make people using other currencies poorer. My country produces gas, oil, lumber, food, metals. When USA prints another few billions, they can simply come to any company producing these resources, and offer higher price. Because the money doesn't cost US anything: they just printed them. For the local company it makes more sense to sell to the US customer at higher price than to local customer at lower price in local currency. So, when US prints another billion, it means that local companies experience resource shortages and rising prices, because everything is exported to USA. To add insult to injury, money earned by the exporters almost never end up in the local economy. Exporter just hoard them in offshore banks. This scheme of things is extremely beneficial for the US economy and inimical to all other economies in the world.

demha 5y ago

This comment is just insensitive and cruel. Many American children go hungry every day.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

selfhoster11 5y ago

Healthy food gets hit just as much where I live (UK). Especially the meat prices have skyrocketed.

Cthulhu_ 5y ago
That's because some people decided that the UK would be better off outside of the EU, not realizing how much they depend on free trade and movement for their essentials. I mean I can't even blame those who voted to leave, they were not informed and convinced by a massive propaganda campaign. But I can blame the politicians that pushed ahead with it, even though it was based on a small majority vote in a non-binding and un-nuanced referendum. These politicians should have done better and they knew better, they of all people should be able to grasp the larger / longer term effects. I mean some people voted to leave because they don't like eastern-Europeans, immigrants and refugees, not realizing they're a backbone of infrastructure. People don't like when "they tuk er jerbs", but they're not willing or able to drive a truck themselves.
- davzie 5y ago
  Both sides were fed propaganda and your over-simplifications of why people chose to vote leave are just not very intelligent.

hnbad 5y ago

What food American consumers throw out pales in comparison to what food American producers throw out.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

inglor_cz 5y ago

People switching from more expensive quality food to junk food, which is likely to stay affordable, won't reduce obesity rates. I would even expect obesity to rise after such switch.