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This is as much a cultural problem as a financial one. Somehow we've convinced ourselves that in spite of the fact that we can afford to provide everyone with g
by thinkingkong 3y ago
This is as much a cultural problem as a financial one. Somehow we've convinced ourselves that in spite of the fact that we can afford to provide everyone with good food and access to medical care, that we'd rather give you bad food which causes health care issues and then treat those because it contributes to GDP.
- prottog 3y ago> This is as much a cultural problem as a financial one. I live in one of these Diabetes Belt counties. I'd like to add another aspect to the "cultural problem", which is that the median person here eats absolutely horrendously and doesn't exercise at all. > we'd rather give you bad food I'd like to believe that people have the agency of choosing what they eat.
- HlessClaudesman 3y agoBroccoli, right now after reading this, I'm choosing broccoli.
- drivers99 3y agoThat's 50 Calories in a serving. What are you having for the other (let's say) 1950 Calories?
- klyrs 3y agoYou can have more than one serving of broccoli.
- mrguyorama 3y agoAs someone who regularly eats several pounds of broccoli (I love it so much), I can only describe the outcome as a cleanse, of both the colon, and if you survive, the mind.
- HeyLaughingBoy 3y agoBroccoli sauteed with garlic and black pepper is awesome. Then served over rice with a cheddar cheese sauce and I'm pretty sure you can get up there in calories if you want to.
- yoyohello13 3y ago> I'd like to believe that people have the agency of choosing what they eat. They do, but they need to know how to eat a healthy diet. I don't know about you, but I've never once seen a commercial about eating whole foods with vegetables. I am however bombarded on a daily basis with adds for fried chicken and burgers. Some people just don't have the access and education.
- readicculus 3y agoI don't think it's an advertising thing though it could play into it. - Eating a varied healthy diet is a lot more expensive than eating a varied unhealthy diet (if you can eat kale, rice, and beans all day then good for you but most can't) - We're creatures of habit, if we grow up eating unhealthy we are more likely to continue to as adults. Eating healthy for most people requires cooking for yourself, many never learn this skill or see their parents putting daily effort into meals when they are children. - Lack of public education around the topic, lack funding for free healthy lunches for school children I had a friend when I was in school who had the most messed up disgusting teeth I'd ever seen. He had dental insurance, a decent job, decent pay. Turns out he never grew up learning that you're supposed to brush your teeth regularly so he just never made a habit out of it.
- WalterBright 3y ago> Eating a varied healthy diet is a lot more expensive than eating a varied unhealthy diet (if you can eat kale, rice, and beans all day then good for you but most can't) Eating healthy is not more expensive. Potatoes, rice, beans, carrots, etc. are all inexpensive. I was in the store today, and a can of Nalley chili with meat and beans is $2.19. It's more than enough for a meal. I also buy whatever's on sale, including the day older steak which is around half off. A half gallon of milk is $1.99.
- maxfurman 3y agoKale, rice, and beans are notoriously cheap! When I worked in a restaurant 20 years ago we put kale out as decoration because no one wanted to eat it. Times change, I suppose.
- vkou 3y agoIs the median person there dumber than the median person in the rest of the world? Or are they eating shit, because eating shit is the path of least resistance, and median person travels down the path of least resistance, and if you set up your society such that the path of least resistance results in horrible outcomes, you're going to get horrible outcomes?
- rayiner 3y agoIt’s not necessarily “dumber”—culture is a thing too. Attitudes towards food and what food to cook and how much to eat are deeply cultural.
- throw0101b 3y ago> I'd like to believe that people have the agency of choosing what they eat. Sometimes not: * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_desert https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_desert
- dpbriggs 3y agoI wonder how the broken window fallacy plays into this. I would assume a healthy population is more productive than a diseased one. That effects healthcare profits though, so incentives aren't exactly aligned.
- hello_computer 3y agoIndustry caters to consumer demand. If consumers wanted white meat, fruit and vegetables, they would have been provided as cheaply and abundantly as red meat and corn syrup.
- yoyohello13 3y agoIndustry can also steer demand via advertising.
- hello_computer 3y ago[flagged]
- gshubert17 3y agoGlobal advertising spending is around $750 billion. Assuming advertisers believe most of their money is well-spent, can I infer the percentage of human beings that actually do ignore advertising is small?
- yoyohello13 3y agoSo all the advertising that demands your attention on a daily basis has no effect? Even subconscious? I guess advertisers are just wasting billions of dollars on nothing then.
- hello_computer 3y ago[flagged]
- pjmorris 3y agoI think that'd be true if chickens were the size of cows and it was easier to grow, say, tomatoes, than corn.
- hello_computer 3y ago