3 ms·

I'll take the win, but this seems very narrow in scope. I have a bigger issue with chick-shaped marshmallow figurines with incredibly long shelf life and kid-t

I'll take the win, but this seems very narrow in scope. I have a bigger issue with chick-shaped marshmallow figurines with incredibly long shelf life and kid-targeted marketing than I do with the color red. All this cheap, low value, post-war "food" needs to go. America needs more real food in general and the fact that the general population doesn't understand this problem is a much more important issue to tackle.

mschuster91 2y ago
> the fact that the general population doesn't understand this problem Rather, the general population either lives in one of the way too many food deserts in the US [1], can't afford good food even if there was a store because they're struggling to make rent, or doesn't have the time and/or energy left at the end of the day to cook a decent fresh meal. FFS 47 million people in the US are food insecure, >50M used some sort of food assistance program in 2023 [2], and during Covid 30 fucking million children were at risk of hunger as the schools closed down [3]. The general population certainly understands they're eating shit or they're eating not enough, but has no power to change their circumstances. And from an European POV, y'all's groceries are expensive as fuck and blasted to hell and beyond with all sorts of pesticides and whatnot. [1] https://www.aecf.org/blog/communities-with-limited-food-access-in-the-united-states https://www.aecf.org/blog/communities-with-limited-food-acce... [2] https://www.feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america https://www.feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america [3] https://www.tfah.org/article/covid-19-school-closures-put-30-million-children-at-risk-of-hunger/ https://www.tfah.org/article/covid-19-school-closures-put-30...
- airstrike 2y ago
  If I rephrase it as "the general population doesn't prioritize this problem over other issues" maybe we can agree. If you look at the top N topics in every election cycle, they should pretty much all be lower priority than this one fundamental issue with America. Peeps and Cheetos are not adequate solutions for food deserts. We need a comprehensive plan to snap out of this situation.
massivedang 2y ago
[flagged]
edm0nd 2y ago
While we are at it, labeling needs to change as well. They play games with the calorie and serving sizes.
- sofixa 2y ago
  Having everything normalised per 100, as well as serving size, is such a no brainer and easy to achieve. That's how it is in the EU. I also like how some countries (IIRC among them Sri Lanka and Mexico, so if they can, anyone could), have clear colour codes to help you understand the product is too sweet/salty/caloric.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
Symbiote 2y ago
> chick-shaped marshmallow figurines An American brought those to a party here in Denmark last year. I think it was the least-food-like thing I've ever eaten (a small part of). The ingredients list tatrazine, which is banned in most circumstances in the EU/UK. Getting people to buy this is an amazing marketing achievement.

mschuster91 2y ago

> the fact that the general population doesn't understand this problem Rather, the general population either lives in one of the way too many food deserts in the US [1], can't afford good food even if there was a store because they're struggling to make rent, or doesn't have the time and/or energy left at the end of the day to cook a decent fresh meal. FFS 47 million people in the US are food insecure, >50M used some sort of food assistance program in 2023 [2], and during Covid 30 fucking million children were at risk of hunger as the schools closed down [3]. The general population certainly understands they're eating shit or they're eating not enough, but has no power to change their circumstances. And from an European POV, y'all's groceries are expensive as fuck and blasted to hell and beyond with all sorts of pesticides and whatnot. [1] https://www.aecf.org/blog/communities-with-limited-food-access-in-the-united-states https://www.aecf.org/blog/communities-with-limited-food-acce... [2] https://www.feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america https://www.feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america [3] https://www.tfah.org/article/covid-19-school-closures-put-30-million-children-at-risk-of-hunger/ https://www.tfah.org/article/covid-19-school-closures-put-30...

airstrike 2y ago
If I rephrase it as "the general population doesn't prioritize this problem over other issues" maybe we can agree. If you look at the top N topics in every election cycle, they should pretty much all be lower priority than this one fundamental issue with America. Peeps and Cheetos are not adequate solutions for food deserts. We need a comprehensive plan to snap out of this situation.

massivedang 2y ago

[flagged]

edm0nd 2y ago

While we are at it, labeling needs to change as well. They play games with the calorie and serving sizes.

sofixa 2y ago
Having everything normalised per 100, as well as serving size, is such a no brainer and easy to achieve. That's how it is in the EU. I also like how some countries (IIRC among them Sri Lanka and Mexico, so if they can, anyone could), have clear colour codes to help you understand the product is too sweet/salty/caloric.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

Symbiote 2y ago

> chick-shaped marshmallow figurines An American brought those to a party here in Denmark last year. I think it was the least-food-like thing I've ever eaten (a small part of). The ingredients list tatrazine, which is banned in most circumstances in the EU/UK. Getting people to buy this is an amazing marketing achievement.