6 ms·

To be clear, the time cost not the financial cost. Beans, rice, vegetables, and fruit can usually be found for dirt cheap but it requires significant time to pr

To be clear, the time cost not the financial cost. Beans, rice, vegetables, and fruit can usually be found for dirt cheap but it requires significant time to prep and make. It'll only get worse as people become more addicted to/distracted by screens and entertainment.

SamoyedFurFluff 2y ago
I actually find vegetables to be a little expensive now. Particularly leafy greens can be expensive if you want to consume or cook a volume that’s actually satisfying and significant. A curry spinach can run you 4-6$ for just the spinach.
- staplers 2y ago
  Definitely depends on your location and which vegetables but you can often find root veggies for cheap (carrots, potatoes, celery, etc).
  - SamoyedFurFluff 2y ago
    I agree root veggies are cheap, but root veggies aren’t necessarily healthy! They’re obviously healthier than straight white bread but if your diet is primarily root vegetables you run into high carbs and the like still. Roasted carrots and onions can be very sugary. Edited to add I don’t find fruits particularly cheap either. For example I love white peaches, but dear god are white peaches expensive even in peak season.
    - galleywest200 2y ago
      Farmer's markets tend to have very cheap vegetables. Factory second stores like Grocery Outlet often have great deals on vegetables. As well Food Banks generally do not means test if you need to get something _very_ cheap or free.
      - magicalhippo 2y ago
        There are several farms not far from my cabin, some have started selling directly. One has some of the tastiest cauliflower I've ever had, lightly steamed they're a gourmet meal in itself. Lots of other good stuff too. While not cheap-cheap, they're less expensive than the grocery store, and much better. And farmer gets a fairer share.
- orhmeh09 2y ago
  Yup. If you go to the wrong store, and you're not paying attention or take the per weight unit price as the single item price, you can end up at the checkout learning that the cabbage head you wanted to buy is almost $9 nowadays.
- kcplate 2y ago
  May not be a one for one substitute, but collards can be pretty cheap.
- ProllyInfamous 2y ago
  Shop at Aldi. Rice. If you can get discounted [about to spoil] vegetables/fruits "chopped" and then immediately frozen, they will last for months. I have a perpetual "bell pepper bag" in my freezer which gets topped off weekly with a new discount pepper. Making "from scratch" cookies and mashed taters and just add more butter has been a lot of fun, and seems much more filling than prepackaged junk.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
- faeriechangling 2y ago
  On a budget, the point of leafy greens should strictly to get an appropriate amount of micronutrients and fibre. In terms of calories/$ they're godawful unless you douse them in oil.
joveian 2y ago
You can limit prep time to almost nothing with canned, frozen, or dehydrated produce and still come out ahead of the heavily processed stuff. If you are cooking with whole grains it can take a while, although buckwheat, (proso) millet (and other tiny grains), wild rice, and many lentils are fairly quick and more aren't too bad in a pressure cooker, although it still takes an hour until it is ready to eat. With electric pressure cookers you can just push a button and wait until it is done, although you should stay in ear shot for those rare cases where it doesn't seal fully correctly or the contents bubble out. Spending more time at the computer makes this easier, not harder, although of course the variety is limited vs stuff that takes more effort (however many people can enjoy various entertainment while cooking). I'm suspicious that a big part of the issue is that advertising has convinced many people that cooking is necessarily more difficult than it actually can be. Particularly cooking for one person can be quite easy, although it gets harder with multiple people with different tastes. Fruit is usually somewhat expensive in the US, although still quite a good deal compared to even poverty line income. Unfortunately, it seems like there has been a division where only membership-oriented or online stores have decent bulk while everywhere else tries to sell tiny quantities of grains, lentils, beans, and various other stuff.
Havoc 2y ago
Well aware of the whole beans & rice routine, but that isn't going to leave you with a balanced healthy diet either. Covering all bases tends to involve either meat or very elaborate & diverse vegetarian diets...which also tend to be expensive.
fransje26 2y ago
> To be clear, the time cost not the financial cost. Or one could spend a little less time looking at a screen, and a little more time actively improving one's health by cooking..

SamoyedFurFluff 2y ago

I actually find vegetables to be a little expensive now. Particularly leafy greens can be expensive if you want to consume or cook a volume that’s actually satisfying and significant. A curry spinach can run you 4-6$ for just the spinach.

staplers 2y ago
Definitely depends on your location and which vegetables but you can often find root veggies for cheap (carrots, potatoes, celery, etc).
- SamoyedFurFluff 2y ago
  I agree root veggies are cheap, but root veggies aren’t necessarily healthy! They’re obviously healthier than straight white bread but if your diet is primarily root vegetables you run into high carbs and the like still. Roasted carrots and onions can be very sugary. Edited to add I don’t find fruits particularly cheap either. For example I love white peaches, but dear god are white peaches expensive even in peak season.
  - galleywest200 2y ago
    Farmer's markets tend to have very cheap vegetables. Factory second stores like Grocery Outlet often have great deals on vegetables. As well Food Banks generally do not means test if you need to get something _very_ cheap or free.
    - magicalhippo 2y ago
      There are several farms not far from my cabin, some have started selling directly. One has some of the tastiest cauliflower I've ever had, lightly steamed they're a gourmet meal in itself. Lots of other good stuff too. While not cheap-cheap, they're less expensive than the grocery store, and much better. And farmer gets a fairer share.
orhmeh09 2y ago
Yup. If you go to the wrong store, and you're not paying attention or take the per weight unit price as the single item price, you can end up at the checkout learning that the cabbage head you wanted to buy is almost $9 nowadays.
kcplate 2y ago
May not be a one for one substitute, but collards can be pretty cheap.
ProllyInfamous 2y ago
Shop at Aldi. Rice. If you can get discounted [about to spoil] vegetables/fruits "chopped" and then immediately frozen, they will last for months. I have a perpetual "bell pepper bag" in my freezer which gets topped off weekly with a new discount pepper. Making "from scratch" cookies and mashed taters and just add more butter has been a lot of fun, and seems much more filling than prepackaged junk.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
faeriechangling 2y ago
On a budget, the point of leafy greens should strictly to get an appropriate amount of micronutrients and fibre. In terms of calories/$ they're godawful unless you douse them in oil.

joveian 2y ago

You can limit prep time to almost nothing with canned, frozen, or dehydrated produce and still come out ahead of the heavily processed stuff. If you are cooking with whole grains it can take a while, although buckwheat, (proso) millet (and other tiny grains), wild rice, and many lentils are fairly quick and more aren't too bad in a pressure cooker, although it still takes an hour until it is ready to eat. With electric pressure cookers you can just push a button and wait until it is done, although you should stay in ear shot for those rare cases where it doesn't seal fully correctly or the contents bubble out. Spending more time at the computer makes this easier, not harder, although of course the variety is limited vs stuff that takes more effort (however many people can enjoy various entertainment while cooking). I'm suspicious that a big part of the issue is that advertising has convinced many people that cooking is necessarily more difficult than it actually can be. Particularly cooking for one person can be quite easy, although it gets harder with multiple people with different tastes. Fruit is usually somewhat expensive in the US, although still quite a good deal compared to even poverty line income. Unfortunately, it seems like there has been a division where only membership-oriented or online stores have decent bulk while everywhere else tries to sell tiny quantities of grains, lentils, beans, and various other stuff.

Havoc 2y ago

Well aware of the whole beans & rice routine, but that isn't going to leave you with a balanced healthy diet either. Covering all bases tends to involve either meat or very elaborate & diverse vegetarian diets...which also tend to be expensive.

fransje26 2y ago

> To be clear, the time cost not the financial cost. Or one could spend a little less time looking at a screen, and a little more time actively improving one's health by cooking..