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America is the only place I've ever heard of where the ability to haul a week of groceries at a time is a requirement. I wonder how 6 billion other people mana

by tekla 3y ago

America is the only place I've ever heard of where the ability to haul a week of groceries at a time is a requirement. I wonder how 6 billion other people manage to eat.

lockhouse 3y ago
In many parts of rural America it’s not feasible to buy groceries and other supplies a day at a time. The stores are too far away to drive to that frequently. Plus it would defeat the purpose of a smaller car as more energy would be required overall.
- ericmay 3y ago
  I think that’s a good point, and one we should acknowledge as we stop designing our cities, roads, and transportation systems to cater only to this small number of rural people.
  - FuriouslyAdrift 3y ago
    20% of the US is rural and that number has been increasing the last few years. That's about 70 million people.
    - undersuit 3y ago
      That definition of rural where the 20% comes from isn't countryside. https://www.hrsa.gov/rural-health/about-us/what-is-rural https://www.hrsa.gov/rural-health/about-us/what-is-rural "Micro area (urban core of 10,000-49,9999 people)" I apparently live in a rural area, Helena, MT. The state capital by the way. You can look up if you are the 20% Rural or 80% Urban here: https://data.hrsa.gov/tools/rural-health https://data.hrsa.gov/tools/rural-health I say all this because I walk to the grocery store and bike to work. In a rural area no less!
      - ericmay 3y ago
        Thanks, and also 70 million is still a much smaller number than 262 million which would be the remaining population (continuing to use broad number as the OP did) and so the point still stands based on that alone.
        FuriouslyAdrift 3y ago
        70 million is enough to turn ANY national election...
        undersuit 3y ago
        70 million - 1; rural people aren't a bloc.
- Mordisquitos 3y ago
  That is just as true for many parts of rural Europe, and yet cars are not American-sized in the European countryside.
VonGallifrey 3y ago
I think my small European car is capable of hauling a week worth of groceries for 6 people. It probably wouldn't fit that AND 6 people at the same time, but I don't really see why anyone would do that.
- lockhouse 3y ago
  Some of us take our kids with us when we shop. ;)
  - caycep 3y ago
    If you have 5 kids, I would assume vehicle choice is the least of your concerns...also...Wagon!
    - lockhouse 3y ago
      It's 4 kids, plus the Wife, but that's why we have a minivan.
francisofascii 3y ago
Americans tend to buy with the outlier edge case of Thanksgiving in mind. The big house full of family, the refrigerator size, multiple ovens, the TV size, the car for Black Friday shopping, and even down to the size of the mall parking lot.
- lockhouse 3y ago
  It’s more like we tend to buy with a mindset of being prepared for likely future scenarios. These are things many people need to do multiple times a year.
wing-_-nuts 3y ago
They have denser zoning and higher population densities which allows grocery stores closer to their homes. Especially when you account for the cost of time, it's way cheaper to make a grocery haul to walmart every couple weeks given we cannot just 'pop by the shop' for milk and eggs. This is also, I believe, why processed food is so popular here. It's shelf stable for weeks at a time whereas fresh fruit and veg are much more perishable.
adventured 3y ago
> I wonder how 6 billion other people manage to eat. Four billion of the top six billion live relatively very poorly. Out of the 7.88 billion, the bottom two billion live in such horrid conditions as to have no regular access to fresh drinking water, routine medical care or indoor toilets at home. The majority of all people on the planet still don't have access to functional indoor toilets at home, or otherwise have sanitary toilets at home. Nearly one billion people are still open deficating as a routine. Did you know 35-40% of Laos households have no toilets? Information provided by UNICEF. I'm willing to bet the majority (not all) of people on HN are oblivious to the actual state of the rest of the world, specifically the bottom four to five billion or so, and just how poorly they live day to day. So to the question, how do they manage to eat? Food insecurity is still a top concern for the bottom half of the world's population. Four billion people roughly. And for the bottom couple billion people, it's a severe day to day concern. It's such a serious problem on an ongoing, constant basis that a single war between Ukraine and Russia, is enough to put the basic food security of billions of poor people at risk.
- undersuit 3y ago
  >So to the question, how do they manage to eat? No, but how do they do that without a $50,000 SUV? /s

by tekla 3y ago

America is the only place I've ever heard of where the ability to haul a week of groceries at a time is a requirement. I wonder how 6 billion other people manage to eat.

lockhouse 3y ago

In many parts of rural America it’s not feasible to buy groceries and other supplies a day at a time. The stores are too far away to drive to that frequently. Plus it would defeat the purpose of a smaller car as more energy would be required overall.

ericmay 3y ago
I think that’s a good point, and one we should acknowledge as we stop designing our cities, roads, and transportation systems to cater only to this small number of rural people.
- FuriouslyAdrift 3y ago
  20% of the US is rural and that number has been increasing the last few years. That's about 70 million people.
  - undersuit 3y ago
    That definition of rural where the 20% comes from isn't countryside. https://www.hrsa.gov/rural-health/about-us/what-is-rural https://www.hrsa.gov/rural-health/about-us/what-is-rural "Micro area (urban core of 10,000-49,9999 people)" I apparently live in a rural area, Helena, MT. The state capital by the way. You can look up if you are the 20% Rural or 80% Urban here: https://data.hrsa.gov/tools/rural-health https://data.hrsa.gov/tools/rural-health I say all this because I walk to the grocery store and bike to work. In a rural area no less!
    - ericmay 3y ago
      Thanks, and also 70 million is still a much smaller number than 262 million which would be the remaining population (continuing to use broad number as the OP did) and so the point still stands based on that alone.
      - FuriouslyAdrift 3y ago
        70 million is enough to turn ANY national election...
        undersuit 3y ago
        70 million - 1; rural people aren't a bloc.
Mordisquitos 3y ago
That is just as true for many parts of rural Europe, and yet cars are not American-sized in the European countryside.

VonGallifrey 3y ago

I think my small European car is capable of hauling a week worth of groceries for 6 people. It probably wouldn't fit that AND 6 people at the same time, but I don't really see why anyone would do that.

lockhouse 3y ago
Some of us take our kids with us when we shop. ;)
- caycep 3y ago
  If you have 5 kids, I would assume vehicle choice is the least of your concerns...also...Wagon!
  - lockhouse 3y ago
    It's 4 kids, plus the Wife, but that's why we have a minivan.

francisofascii 3y ago

Americans tend to buy with the outlier edge case of Thanksgiving in mind. The big house full of family, the refrigerator size, multiple ovens, the TV size, the car for Black Friday shopping, and even down to the size of the mall parking lot.

lockhouse 3y ago
It’s more like we tend to buy with a mindset of being prepared for likely future scenarios. These are things many people need to do multiple times a year.

wing-_-nuts 3y ago

They have denser zoning and higher population densities which allows grocery stores closer to their homes. Especially when you account for the cost of time, it's way cheaper to make a grocery haul to walmart every couple weeks given we cannot just 'pop by the shop' for milk and eggs. This is also, I believe, why processed food is so popular here. It's shelf stable for weeks at a time whereas fresh fruit and veg are much more perishable.

adventured 3y ago

> I wonder how 6 billion other people manage to eat. Four billion of the top six billion live relatively very poorly. Out of the 7.88 billion, the bottom two billion live in such horrid conditions as to have no regular access to fresh drinking water, routine medical care or indoor toilets at home. The majority of all people on the planet still don't have access to functional indoor toilets at home, or otherwise have sanitary toilets at home. Nearly one billion people are still open deficating as a routine. Did you know 35-40% of Laos households have no toilets? Information provided by UNICEF. I'm willing to bet the majority (not all) of people on HN are oblivious to the actual state of the rest of the world, specifically the bottom four to five billion or so, and just how poorly they live day to day. So to the question, how do they manage to eat? Food insecurity is still a top concern for the bottom half of the world's population. Four billion people roughly. And for the bottom couple billion people, it's a severe day to day concern. It's such a serious problem on an ongoing, constant basis that a single war between Ukraine and Russia, is enough to put the basic food security of billions of poor people at risk.

undersuit 3y ago
>So to the question, how do they manage to eat? No, but how do they do that without a $50,000 SUV? /s