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What's so interesting about this is that for $60 a week you can get a LOT of calories from fast food. But then you could be dead soon. In Europe you could east

What's so interesting about this is that for $60 a week you can get a LOT of calories from fast food. But then you could be dead soon. In Europe you could east pretty healthy delicious food for about $60 a week easily. But America seems to lack a cheap + good + won't kill you food option. Like a whole market segment is not served. And Americans in general don't go out to eat like Europeans do. Either it's (to go) fast food, or an expensive sit down meal.

LogicHoleFlaw 18y ago
When I was a starving student, I was flummoxed by the market. Meat? Expensive. Vegetables? Expensive. Fruit? Expensive, and doesn't keep. Fast food? Expensive. What could I afford? Complex carbs and terrible mega-preserved food. Ramen, cup-o-noodles, and mac'n'cheese were my staples.
khafra 18y ago
I didn't know it was different in Europe. Here in America, you can have tasty food, cheap food, or healthy food--pick up to two options. There's a few hole-in-the-wall places with good food and single-digit entrees, but the 2/3 rule works in general.
- menloparkbum 18y ago
  I've only spent about 3 months total in Europe, but I thought food was much more expensive. Also, the less-expensive prepared food didn't seem very healthy - kebabs, frites, crepes, etc. If I wanted to save money I'd just get some bread and cheese from a market. Good fruits and vegetables seemed to be conspicuously absent, at least when compared to California. The conclusion I came to was that people in Europe tend to be thinner than Americans because they can't afford to eat very often...
  - biohacker42 18y ago
    I have to admit there's healthy and European healthy. Fruits and veggies are healthy, crepes are European healthy, fast food is not anyone's healthy. Good fruits and vegetables are only seasonally present in the central and norther European countries, where the local climate is too cold to grow a decent tomato. Southern Europe on the other hand has you covered, the climate is a lot like California.
- biohacker42 18y ago
  I think the difference is in exactly those hole-in-the-wall places which give you the 3 out of 3. Europe, partly due to population density, partly due to a different farm lobby, and partly due to I-don't-know-what just seems to have a lot more of them per kilometer.
jrockway 18y ago
But America seems to lack a cheap + good + won't kill you food option. Either it's (to go) fast food, or an expensive sit down meal. I live in America and regularly eat to-go sushi. Usually ends up at about $4.

LogicHoleFlaw 18y ago

When I was a starving student, I was flummoxed by the market. Meat? Expensive. Vegetables? Expensive. Fruit? Expensive, and doesn't keep. Fast food? Expensive. What could I afford? Complex carbs and terrible mega-preserved food. Ramen, cup-o-noodles, and mac'n'cheese were my staples.

khafra 18y ago

I didn't know it was different in Europe. Here in America, you can have tasty food, cheap food, or healthy food--pick up to two options. There's a few hole-in-the-wall places with good food and single-digit entrees, but the 2/3 rule works in general.

menloparkbum 18y ago
I've only spent about 3 months total in Europe, but I thought food was much more expensive. Also, the less-expensive prepared food didn't seem very healthy - kebabs, frites, crepes, etc. If I wanted to save money I'd just get some bread and cheese from a market. Good fruits and vegetables seemed to be conspicuously absent, at least when compared to California. The conclusion I came to was that people in Europe tend to be thinner than Americans because they can't afford to eat very often...
- biohacker42 18y ago
  I have to admit there's healthy and European healthy. Fruits and veggies are healthy, crepes are European healthy, fast food is not anyone's healthy. Good fruits and vegetables are only seasonally present in the central and norther European countries, where the local climate is too cold to grow a decent tomato. Southern Europe on the other hand has you covered, the climate is a lot like California.
biohacker42 18y ago
I think the difference is in exactly those hole-in-the-wall places which give you the 3 out of 3. Europe, partly due to population density, partly due to a different farm lobby, and partly due to I-don't-know-what just seems to have a lot more of them per kilometer.

jrockway 18y ago

But America seems to lack a cheap + good + won't kill you food option. Either it's (to go) fast food, or an expensive sit down meal. I live in America and regularly eat to-go sushi. Usually ends up at about $4.