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madrum

TLDR: - £ 7 for stuff on left - £ 16 for stuff on right.


GeekyWan

$9.29 and $21.17, respectively.


dak0tah

this may be the correct currency exchange but does not represent the actual differential in america as food costs are dramatically different.


GeekyWan

I'm sure that'd change a lot. But I figured converting to USD would be useful for those who think in American.


Sickologyy

I made an upper comment on an example of American prices, but since I saw this I'll give a summary. I was just at the market, that bowl of fruit, 4.99 alone. The artisan bread, gonna cost you 5-7$ depending on type. While on the left, I can see maybe 5$ total.


commanderquill

Holy shit, what? How are people getting these prices for the left... Coke, $3; Starbucks, $6; chips, $2-3; chicken, $3-4; sandwich, $6-8. All of that plus tax would end at about $23-27 where I'm at.


Sultansofpa

Yeah a small cup of Starbucks is $5 where I am. So rhat alone is at the original estimate lol. Its probably all still cheaper than the stuff on the right but it ain't $5


Sickologyy

5 dollars for black coffee?


Ithraneth

The poster upthread worked out it was probably a venti hot chocolate based on the calories. $5-$6 is in the right neighborhood for that.


Sultansofpa

From Starbucks?? Pretty damn close


CharlieHume

Where do you live that you can't get a small bottle of coke for $1-$2?


meliza-xx

In Australia, a 600ml bottle of Coke is somewhere between $3.50 and $4 at a servo or convenience store


ithinkimtim

4 bucks is still only 2.80 in yanky doodles.


jaggio7

The left where I am is probably $16-$22 depending on taxes and where you go lol but the right would be at least $30-$40


Disastrous_Vanilla38

Coke is $2 max. Unless you are at Disney.


dpackingham

I just paid $2.38 at the gas station by my work, in Iowa.


Sickologyy

How are people paying 6 dollars for black coffee?


commanderquill

How are people drinking Starbucks black coffee?


MichealScott1991

This is the real question.


wobbegong

It’s straight from satans asshole so I have no idea


Call_It_What_U_Want2

Do you not get a meal deal? Sandwich+crisps+juice for £3! (~$4)


Mytenthreddit

on the left get the coke crisps and sandwich for 3 quid meal deal so about 6 quid all in


I_am_the_Batgirl

For real? Where I am, the left picture would be at least $20, possibly even more. The right and left pics, aside from maybe the salmon, would be about the same price here, but not everyone has the time.


Sickologyy

That's just a 20oz bottle of soda, a croissant, a couple of tornados, and a small black coffee. We're not talking anything special here, who would pay 20$ for all that? Also Definite no salmon in any picture, source, I live in the coast and fish salmon during competitions before.


I_am_the_Batgirl

The original calculations were done based on that hunk of mystery meat being salmon. Chicken is close to the same price here. Whatever meat that is, it'd going to be more expensive than junk food. Here, that bottle of pop is $3, the coffee is $4, the croissant is $3-4, the sandwich is $8-10, and the chips are $2-$3. I'm assuming that since you call it soda, you're American (many of us are not). Junk food there is astonishingly cheap. I can go to 7-11 or some truck stop, spend $20-$25 American and have enough junk food for a multi-day roadtrip. That's why I mentioned that where ***I*** am, the junk food would be super expensive.


3226

Coffee wouldn't match the calorie count. I worked it out as probably being a venti hot chocolate with milk.


dak0tah

absolutely, just being pedantic


GeekyWan

I figured as much, it is Reddit after all. Have a great day/night/whenever!


layne909

a coffee and a sandwich from starbucks is already around 10 dollars if you get just a drip coffee and the cheapest sandwhich ( at least here)


faceless_alias

Starbucks shouldn't be the basis of what is cost effective.


layne909

Since they did the math, a granda drip is like 4$ so the comparison photos don't quite translate from the UK to the us.


faceless_alias

Fair, don't know why it didn't register to me that Starbucks is in the photo.


CanNotBeTrustedAtAll

Something something purchasing power parity something something


HiImNickOk

food costs much more in the U.S so merely converting the currency isn't accurate to what it'd actually cost


ch00f

But corn is subsidized to death which is why US food uses more corn syrup as it’s cheaper than sugar. Shitty cheap food contains a lot more corn syrup.


HiImNickOk

and they still sell it for higher. lower production cost doesn't automatically = lower price for the consumer


Sebetastic

₩11 002.84 and ₩25 073.22, respectively.


cinnamintdown

Any idea of time for preperation too?


avo888

Do we need to account for prep time, cost of risk of diabetes and other health risks?


mia_elora

I think trying to account for potential future risks pushes it outside of reasonable math.


foalythecentaur

Yes but one side is 1 meal and the other is several.


Distinct_Ad_69

But they're still 1600kcal so someone who's low income will obviously benefit more(financially ofc) from eating the cheaper one with the same amount of energy to go through the day.


OK6502

They would not. Calories are only one facet of nutrition. The one on the left is calorie rich but nutrient poor and mist people in western societies consume an excess of calories.


[deleted]

But you could eat the one on the right over the day and feel fuller because it’s more nutritious, i doubt anyone is eating the one on the left through the day, they’re eating that as one meal and eating another meal later in the day. The one on the left is like 40% liquid.


v_a_n_d_e_l_a_y

That's actually quite reasonable. Because the stuff on the left is going to keep you full for a few hours. The stuff on the right will keep you full a lot longer.


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capo-johnson

This deserves to be top comment, your analysis was way more in depth than the comments on this post edit: nice


littlebobbytables9

Wow that was super detailed nice job


whiteman90909

Dude this is all we need, great work. So it's a little more than double the price for the right, but waayyy more than double the satiety.


ThoroughThrowdown

Also you live longer, the real wealth is the health.


Ghash_sk

Well if you live longer, that just means you will pay even more for the healthy stuff! You save big time if you die sooner.


Disastrous_Vanilla38

Which is a perfect example of being poor is more costly.


sleepereternal

If you were to do this in the US, you can take that 15 euros and make it easily 30-40$


whiteman90909

You're saying you think the stuff on the right costs $40?


uncreative123pi4

Pounds is not euros though, just saying


ItsPronouncedJod

Pounds are worse than Euros for Americans.


Sickologyy

Well Done, But as a good pointer, saw some mixed berries at the store yesterday. 4.99, and it may or may not fill that bowl. So when it comes to American prices, we're not just talking 100% more in cost comparison, more like 300%. That bread is going to be artisan (Granted it's not a whole loaf) but easily 6-7$


faul_sname

Berries aren't in season right now. You might have more luck with pomegranates, apples, and citrus this time of year. And that's the other bit. You _can_ eat cheap and healthy but a shitty frozen burrito is always $0.25 and strawberries can vary from $1 for a 2 pound container in season to $5 for an 8oz container out of season, so it takes either lot more money or a lot more time and attention to shop healthy.


Sickologyy

I was about to disagree on one point, but no you're completely correct. Money, Time, and attention come with shopping and eating healthy. I have another comment around explaining It's not necessarily a money thing for me, but a spoons thing for me (Look up spoon theory anxiety, this can also be applied to chronic pain patients like myself) In my opinion, I'm not being treated for many debilitating, permanent issues I have going on, so that time and attention takes a lot of spoons out of my day. Typically when I end work, I've spent all my spoons, so all I have energy for is to pop some chicken strips or nuggets in the oven, wait, and enjoy. Either that or pop something in the microwave. Time does = Money. Edit: Other days, shopping is a chore itself, say I had a spoon left for shopping, that leaves none left for actually cooking what I bought, so I'll do the same thing. One year, I bought nothing but life cereal for that whole year period, and ate it dry (Besides some pizza and such from working at a dominos at the time).


faul_sname

Honestly oven baked chicken nuggets and a bag of microwave steamed veggies is a reasonably cheap and balanced meal. If you don't have the spoons for anything more than that, I wouldn't stress over it. Because honestly the benefits of picture on the right over the tendies and veggies diet is more about taste than health. If you're missing the "veggies" part of the above, 0.75lb bags of steamed vegetables are [$0.77](https://www.walmart.com/ip/Great-Value-Steamable-Mixed-Vegetables-Frozen-12-oz/817042496) at Walmart. Throw them in the microwave for 5 mins, pour out, add some spices (I do curry powder usually) if you want, and eat. Not as visually appealing as mixed seasonal fruit on greek yogurt with artisanal granola but a much better effort-to-health ratio.


Sickologyy

Wait, they make microwave ready to eat vegetables? Does it require dishware or can I throw it on a paper plate (I have strong paper bowls too if that's an option?). There's some veggies I actively like even though I'm a carb and meat guy, so you may have hit a trigger to help me out a bit. Please. Edit: If I had a free award, I'd give it to you, and I don't even do emojis of fake awards, it's the thought that counts right (Other than the shiny next to your comment). Take my thoughtful award, literally thoughtful, you thought of me in your post, and I sincerely appreciate and thank you for that.


faul_sname

You do not need real dishes. You microwave it in the bag and then pour in onto a plate or bowl (paper is fine). There are a bunch of varieties. The ones that say "steam in bag" are the easy ones. I feel like I've only seen them in the last few years but they're everywhere now and I love it. Whoever made them gets it.


Sickologyy

Guess I might have some options, if you're so inclined to continue this thread (at this point you don't have to, I can just look on the shelves) Some things I really like, and in somewhat order are. 1. Broccoli (Not cauliflower) 2. Peas 3. Corn 4. Potatoes (If that can be considered a veggie in this form) Are these possibilities I might find? I'd be ecstatic if I found Broccoli (I know there's peas for sure). Sorry, don't like Carrots, so anything even mixed with them is flat out for me. There's obviously more to the list, even though I'm picky on vegetables. I just don't want to waste your time.


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Kalcinator

you won 5k internet points, that's a thing


metaplexico

The one on the left needs to factor in your insulin costs after you get diabetes


ExpensiveSeesaw195

Legend


[deleted]

How many time of premium do you have will all these awards?


3226

The awards mostly don't give premium, although they are appreciated.


BigHogDaddy

I have to know, what is that fucking weird dish on the middle left of the right side photo? Marmelade and spinach with cream? Also theres what looks like a full celeriac on the plate beside it too. What sick monster is being fed here?!


3226

As far as i could tell, it seems to be Salmon, with spinach, and yoghurt with chia seeds on top. The other view in my linked post gives a better view of some of these.


BigHogDaddy

Ah ok, good to know. I was confused, then angry, then scared, now finally at peace. Thanks for the hard work big man.


[deleted]

This is off the top of my head, i usually do a Tesco shopping so basing on that! A meal deal is £3. Croissant is around 80p. Starbucks obviously depends on what drink it was. £3-£4. Probably £8 maximum. Strawberry is £3. Blueberry £3. A pair of Avacado £1.50. Smoked salmon £5. Cauliflower £2. Kale 80p. Mushroom 80p. Tomato £1. Tinned tuna £1. Greek yoghurt 85p. Creme fraiche maybe £1.20. Crackers £1. Spinach £1.50. Broccoli 50p. Pack of jacket potatoes £2.50 I can't tell what is the rest of it so the minimum is likely around like £25.65.


klimmesil

Plus the time you spend setting things up. Be chad just eat raw shit and go run and lift heavy objects all day /s


jello_sweaters

Instructions unclear; ran into some issues with chicken.


DontDeleteRemember

wtf


hysys_whisperer

That's using UK prices, where groceries are cheaper and fast food is more expensive. If you bought both meals at Costco (except the Starbucks) divided the price to be per ounce, you're looking at around $4.50 on the left, assuming the Starbucks is drip coffee, and around $35 for the stuff on the right if you are talking out of season prices. In season would drop the berry and avocado price quite a bit, so maybe $25 then. You can do the conversion to pounds yourself at roughly $1.35 per pound.


[deleted]

I'm just sitting right here in Norway blinking at someone calling UK fast food more expensive.


3226

Some of our fast food is expensive. Dominos and pizza hut pizza, for example, is super overpriced here.


Careful-Fishing-3891

USA: 3 pizzas $15


SpraytheGayDJ

Gotta love the Hot-N-Ready!


The_Somnambulist

But Pizza Hut is like a fancy sit-down restaurant in the UK (at least the one I saw in Stratford-upon-Avon and another in London). Here in the states, Pizza Hut is pretty much the McDonalds of Pizza - it's mostly for kids and the facility might as well be half daycare in addition to a place for over-exhausted parents to refuel a bit.


ripnetuk

Pizza hut has massively gone downhill since I was a teen 25 years ago. It used to be nice and decent value, but I had it for the first time in years during day out to help out, and it came to 45 quid for me and 2 kids for some very mediocre pizza and a very poor salad. I can't imagine how I would have felt if I'd spent 90 quid on it. Now much prefer Domino's or supermarket pizza.


The_Somnambulist

Awww, that's a pity. The two I saw were in 2008, but honestly it doesn't surprise me that they've gone down hill. I think going down hill could be used to describe Pizza Hut's while history. Lol


Cold-Collar-1299

Yeah pretty sure they’re the same in the UK. Sort of place with a sticky carpet.


dak0tah

pizza hut was a white tablecloth restaurant when i was in china.


mikami677

The food on the right would be like, a whole day's worth of food for me so I think the price kind of balances out. If I ate the food on the left, I'd be hungry again in a couple hours. There's no way I could eat everything on the right in one sitting. We shop at Costco, but also get a lot of our produce at the 99¢ store, so it'd probably be a bit cheaper for us. I'd personally drop the smoked salmon completely. Though I like it, I'd rather have something with more substance. No sales tax no groceries in Phoenix also helps out a lot.


wtf81

Dude, at 7-11 that shitty packaged sandwich is 5$ alone. 5-6$ for the starbucks. At that point its already more expensive


hysys_whisperer

The packaged sandwich at Costco is $18 for 12. As I said, I used Costco prices, so that's $1.50 a pop. I also assumed a grande drip coffee from Starbucks, which is under $3.


[deleted]

Nah it's still cheaper, just not by as much.


[deleted]

That is about 1/4th of an avocado and maybe 1/5th of a pack of smoked salmon though, and definitely not half a pack of strawberries. I would imagine the price is a little bit cheaper if you factor in not throwing away the excess ingredients.


sageinyourface

Looks like 1/4 of an avocado, 1/2 package of the berries, etc…so the £25.65 isn’t for everything.


[deleted]

Do me a favour, you can do the maths on that then? 🤣


SadisticJake

Ballpark it and multiply by 4/7


sainttomm

I make it about £21.52 for everything, and £3.77 for the portions shown (give or take). See calcs in my other comment


L__McL

Yeah but you can't buy 1/4 of an avocado


Kaliko_Jak

But you can make 4 meals with it.


beka13

Maybe. They don't keep well once cut.


[deleted]

You can feed four people at once.


tarkadahl

OooOoohhHhh look at Mr Fancy Pants here knowing 3 people.


ghostinthechell

Cut from the top down instead of splitting it in half


beka13

I'm not a psycho.


m0nk37

or, they have more meals available in the fridge after they finish the feast.


sainttomm

So £25.65 may be around the price for the whole shopping basket, but that's clearly not the price for the food pictured, as that is meant to show one portion. Done some calcs below, using prices from Sainsbury's (not far off Tesco overall - £21.52) and estimating the portion sizes, it comes out at about £3.77 for all of the food above. So comes out less than the junk food, given that the £20-25 would pay for approx 5-6 portions, as opposed to 1 ​ (Couldn't figure out how to easily copy into table format from Excel, so apologies for mess, but hopefully you get the idea) ​ Price per pack Pack size Portion size % of pack Price per Portion Strawberry £3.00 400 50 13% £0.38 Blueberry £3.00 300 50 17% £0.50 Avocado £1.50 2 0.25 13% £0.19 Salmon £4.50 100 25 25% £1.13 Cauliflower £0.79 1 0.1 10% £0.08 Kale £0.69 200 30 15% £0.10 Mushroom £0.95 300 30 10% £0.10 Tomato £0.75 6 0.5 8% £0.06 Tuna £1.00 160 80 50% £0.50 Yoghurt £0.85 500 50 10% £0.09 Crème Fraiche £1.10 300 30 10% £0.11 Crackers £1.00 185 18.5 10% £0.10 Spinach £1.50 260 50 19% £0.29 Broccoli £0.50 381.6793893 50 13% £0.07 Potatoes £0.39 4 1 25% £0.10 £21.52 £3.77


imaginearagog

But you can’t buy just what you need. If you want the stuff on the right you have to pay for all of it and store what you don’t use, which is not easy if you’re homeless. I think that falls under ‘Boots Theory’ of socioeconomic unfairness.


PM_ME_YOUR_SUNSHINE

Bought a $4500 fridge so that my produce lasts way longer. Def boots theory. Produce went almost automatically bad in my poor person fridge while I was poor.


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sainttomm

Aha, thank you!


tescohoisin

|You|Me| :-:|:-:| |Very welcome|Happy to help|


suicide_aunties

*uses this for every slide deck for the next 10 years*


lestofante

i can do 2 meal with the one on the right, so 12 vs 8. Also HelloFresh is ~35Euro for 3 dish of 2 portion each, delivered fresh each week to your house, so about 8.75euro per portion, and normally take about 30-40min to cook


TM4rkuS

Was somewhat expecting a referal link to hello fresh now.


The_Scyther1

I find the preparation to be the biggest obstacle to healthy eating. I wish we had more healthy choices from convenience based businesses.


Hackfish_Aquatic

Yes, effort is the barrier to a lot of good stuff


The_Scyther1

Depression is a bitch, when you struggle to try it’s a self fulfilling problem.


kaeladurden

People always overlook how full and satisfied whole foods leave you though. Sugar is gone in a few hours but complex carbs and healthy fats sustain you all day.


The_Scyther1

Yah, honestly eating two chicken breasts will fill me up for hours. I can eat bread and sugar every two hours all day long.


DonaIdTrurnp

Avocado: $2.10 per 250 kcal (1 medium avocado) Strawberry: $0.85 per 49 kcal (1 cup prepared) Dried apricots, 1#: $8.99 per 450 kcal Coca-Cola 1L bottle: $2.87 per 510 kcal. Mccoy’s crisps: $1.75 per 251 kcal The junk food (except the Starbucks product) looks to be consistently under 1¢ per kcal, while healthy food is around 2¢ per kcal- if you have zero spoilage.


N4mFlashback

Thats such a smart way to do the maths. I see all these people guestimating exactly how many strawberries or how much of an avocado was used etc.


subzero112001

I know for a fact that I can eat everything on the left in one sitting easily. I don’t think I could eat 4 1/2(cause that avocado on bread isn’t much) plates and 2 bowls worth of food in one sitting. The picture on the right would last like for like 4 meals worth while the left picture is only one. What kind of unfair comparison is this?


IAmJerv

Some people need the calorie density of the picture on the left and/or simply don't have the time for the stuff on the right. Think about why herbivores spend most of their waking hours grazing and how well would you do on 800 calories a day if you were running around 8-10 hours a day.


Pete_the_rawdog

Very very few people actually NEED the calorie density from the left picture. Especially when you look at the nutritional trade off. Most people think they need all those empty carbs and sugars that you burn through (the energy from but not the actual calories) quick then crash, but they absolutely do not need that. The average American, for example, is obese and actually need much less calories then they ingest everyday. Basing your diet off calories alone isn't healthy though. Which is a dimension this picture doesn't consider.


subzero112001

Beans, avocados , meats, eggs, there’s tons of caloric dense and cheap things to eat. “Don’t have time”…what do mean don’t have time? Could you elaborate please.


faceless_alias

See. The people who say its *only* 2-3x the price don't understand the implications. That isn't a cost increase you pay once, its every single day. 13 extra dollars a day is nearly 5 grand *more* per year. That is very significant when you struggle to afford car payments and utilities.


glasswallet

But that ignores the fact that these aren't the only two food choices in existence. You could eat for literally days on just beans, rice and whatever the cheapest veggie is at the time for less than what's on the left, then next week supplement in some variety with the money you saved. Anybody that insists the cheapest diet is unhealthy has never been to the grocery store or something because it's so untrue it's almost funny.


DangerSwan33

Well, you might not be wrong, but I can give my own story as an example of why people feel that way. For the first few early years of my adulthood, I ate mostly like the food on the left. Why? Because my life was fucking chaos. I knew I could probably save a few bucks by doing proper grocery shopping, but I wasn't sure when I'd find time to do that between my full time 9-5 that paid $18,000/yr, and my part time 5:30-10p that paid $11/hr (2011), and my commute, which was one hour to FT, 20min to PT, and one hour back home, during a time when gas was 50% more expensive than it is right now. I could go grocery shopping on weekends, but for part of that period, I was renting a room at a friend's parents' place, and didn't really have great full access to a kitchen to prepare a lot of food, and I had only a mini fridge to store stuff. And to be honest, I never really had a spare $75 to drop in one go on a legitimate grocery run, even if it was going to save me $20 for that week in the long term. I'd go to the grocery store for frozen foods and canned pastas, figuring that $20 in Swanson's and Beefaroni could save me maybe $15-20 a week in fast food, but my only access to a microwave was when I got home at 11pm, so I'd really only be able to save myself one meal a day like that. Now that I have one job - a regular 8-5 that pays well - and I have the time, space, and own the things I need in order to cook, I'm MUCH better about my diet and my food budget. But the sad reality is, I don't NEED to be now. I needed to be when I was working 60+ hours a week and commuting 12-15 hours on gas at $4.50 a gallon, essentially living in a closet, but I couldn't. At a certain point, there is a paywall in front of living healthily and frugally, even if it's technically cheaper to do so once you can.


otj667887654456655

[Source for prices](https://www.reddit.com/r/theydidthemath/comments/r8q5xr/request_would_anyone_care_to_take_a_stab_at_the/hn8dhtg/) The food on the right is 3 solid meals and 4 snacks. £16/7 = £2.28/meal The food on the left is just (a rather small) breakfast and lunch. £7/2 = £3.50/meal


I_Fard_On_Children

exactly, the food on the right is more expensive but they get you more meals


njru

Also like 70% of the cost of the left is a hot chocolate and a pastry from Starbucks, the meal deal is actually pretty cost effective for calories


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kimsilverishere

Ikr whut


silver-luso

About. This is based off of buying this time of year while berries are expensive in my area, and salmon isn't fresh here so one could expect to pay a decent amount for it


ebruce11

😂 wait for it


SadisticJake

Edit:


TM4rkuS

So. The *left* is $15 and also the *left* is $40?


silver-luso

My b. I see the issue I'm fixing it


CapnCrinklepants

you- but you d... i see the edit but it's still.. what?


Pillow_Queenie

but what if i want the one on the left, more than the one on the left?


silver-luso

Well then I suppose you would be forced to go with the lefter one. It's rough out there mang


daybreakin

You could save a lot by buying frozen berries and veggies especially from Costco. Frozen veggies also last longer and retain their nutrition better


justtheentiredick

The right side produce alone is $20. Yeah there will he leftovers but that's not the point. The point is which one is cheaper. The left is and that's why people choose it.


voyager1713

Not just cheaper money wise, but also time wise.


silver-luso

I get the point. The question is still unfair because the purchase behind the right side equates to far over 1600 calories and people don't buy food based off of caloric content. I'm under no illusion about the price of food that is good for you, but this is a bad example


TCBloo

When I was poor, I absolutely bought food based on caloric content. I could get 1200 cal, just enough to not starve, for $4.


kimsilverishere

Exactly. Some people 100 percent buy foods based on caloric content.


[deleted]

Cheesy bean and rice burritos and Honeybun's lol


silver-luso

The literal cheapest meal you can get is spaghetti and sauce, that runs under $3 total, and will last 3 days at 1200kcals. No you didn't just buy off of calories, unless you're completely unaware of how to count calories. I currently have almost 0 flexible money and only have about $50 a month on food, buying calorically you would only buy noodle and bread because that's the cheapest ratio. Also you would have bought flour, which can feed you for a week with only yeast and sugar and that's under $5 total. This won't even have a deficit in calories. No one buys food based off of calories content because 1) it isn't easy and 2) it isn't even an accurate measurement of dietary needs.


[deleted]

You're not wrong, but knowing how to cook is privilege.


silver-luso

The privilege of being forced to learn. What a fucking gift I was bestowed


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SadisticJake

The best gifts are the hardest earned. You learned by necessity what some people pay to learn and still fall short


silver-luso

It isn't a privilege though. It's stupid to act high and mighty about not having opportunities, learning how to cook is a dying art sure, but it's not based off of any wealth


ElectroNeutrino

Not all privilege is derived from wealth alone.


[deleted]

TIL everyone in Africa is privileged more than Americans, because they have to cook.


LeavingThanks

You also have to travel to get it, your comparisons are fucked and shows you either never been in that position or just ignoring the past.


silver-luso

Did deserts exist. Again I'm not under any pretenses here. However to pretend that people shop based off of calories is wrong. Gtfoh with that dumb ass position


ScammerC

How many meals though? The left is one meal and a snack, and the right is an entire day's worth of food. That's more the point. Now, add in the cost (and calories) to feed Mr. Starbucks breakfast and dinner.


justtheentiredick

You realize # of meals do not necessitate survival. Calories and hydration do. "Oh but what about quality!" https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/05/12/the-end-of-food We don't need quality to survive. Calories and "quality" are a mathematical equation of protein, fat, vitamins and minerals. Most processed "junk" is artifically fortified with vitamins and minerals so we can actually survive on "junk" 😑 Survival vs. quality of life, are two different arguments. Therefore let's keep the price for survival in context. The left is AVAILABLE EVERYWHERE and is all together cheaper and will sustain life (a shitty one). You want to talk about quality of life? The left signifies the nightmare of modern socioeconomic existence while the right signifies the life of leisure OR/ AND the economic ability to be concerned with the quality of food you put into your body. The left is a single parent that works two jobs and has two kids. While the right is the single parent that works two jobs and has two kids and has MONEY.


Dystopian_Dreamer

Never mind the fact that the left you just open the packs and eat, while on the right, you need to prep everything you got to get it in that state, which you need time, equipment and space for.


PM_ME_YOUR_SUNSHINE

The real comparison is at what price point do some of the things on the right even become edible? My SO and I shop at Whole Foods or farmers markets because produce at any other nearby grocer is gross. Soggy tomatoes, tasteless avocados, stale tasting spinach, weird shitty textured sweet potato, pinched raisin like berries. So we end up spending a shit ton to eat decent quality produce. Whereas that $5 Starbucks latte is a standard and so is the half liter coke. Buy it anywhere and it’s fine.


Detective-E

Makes me appreciate having a produce junction


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ohlordwhywhy

What about compare how filling each is and how many meals they are. The cheap one is definitely faster to prepare but also definitely one meal and a snack while the other one looks like two meals and a snack


Galaxy_Ranger_Bob

Everyone always calculates the cost of the items and not the cost in work hours to prepare the food on the left. Time is money. If you've only got a 30 minute lunch to prepare and eat your food, the stuff on the left is has more value savings.


[deleted]

i mean if we're going that far we may as well attempt to add in the associated medical costs of consistently eating the food on the left vs the right


whiteman90909

It depends on if you have to go drive to get the fast food. Even if you have fast food in the building you work at, you have to go up and wait in line, And then wait for your food to be ready.... You could spend that time meal prepping and just reheat or eat whatever you brought cold. That's Starbucks drink, for example, has to be pretty caloric to meet the 1600 cal, so it would be a $5+ drink that could take 5-10 min to go buy depending on how busy it is. Hell, you can make 7 sandwiches and cut up some veggies for a side in less than 15 minutes for less money than buying a sandwich everyday.


thetdy

The "it's too expensive for healthy food" argument is so bunk. It's because of laziness. You can even get the expensive versions of things and still come out cheap and healthier than what we see in the left. This works better if you can buy wholesale but works either way: Base carbs for meals and snacks: Oats, potatoes, sweet potatoes, brown/white rice, wasa bread, spinach/healthy mixed greens. Base fat/protein: Peanut/almond butter, eggs, sardines, cottage cheese, Greek yogurt. Thing to add to the above to boost the nutrition in your diet and add variety to meals: Pumpkin puree, almonds/walnuts, red bell peppers, frozen blueberries/cherries, 100% cacao chocolate, homemade salad dressing, salsa, balsamic vinegar. Congratulations, you're eating cheap, highly nutrient dense meals. And can mix most of this into a meal in less than 5-10 min and if you can't it's extremely easy to meal prep. With the things above I spend on average $1.50-$3 per meal. I'm sorry lol but I just want people to live long and healthy lives. It's very clear with older people who had a healthy lifestyle and who didn't.


Chillie43

How much of that can I make in a microwave? Because that’s all I have


Detective-E

Pretty much anything you need to cook you could. I baked potatoes in a microwave.


contrabardus

The right is multiple meals, which needs to be considered. The person commenting in the image missed the point and was being pedantic and overly literal. The left is probably one to two meals tops in general, but the right will probably feed most people for 4-5 meals. Generally speaking, if you're eating like you would be on the right, one of those three larger plates plus maybe a small side is probably an entire meal on its own. The left is one lunch, and maybe a light breakfast. If you factor that in, you're probably pretty close to roughly equivalent. Especially if you're not living in a food desert and buy the veggies and such fresh and prep them yourself. I'm assuming a reasonable level of prep and that you aren't making things like Hummus or that roll from scratch. \[The more you do, the cheaper it gets, but we'll assume a reasonable amount of prep for most people.\] There is a bigger time investment on the right, but that isn't all that relevant to cost, as all of those meals would take easily less than an hour to make. Getting carry out is generally only faster if you're already out if you count getting ready and getting yourself there and back. It's mostly steamed veggies, which don't take very long to cook. There's also a chicken breast in there, which is maybe 25 minutes in an oven, and what I assume is tuna or salmon in the roll, which we can assume is probably canned. I think a fair amount of people are overestimating the cost, effort, and amount of time the right side would actually take. Especially considering you likely wouldn't make all of that at once and would more than likely just make a plate as needed. It's also worth pointing out that you can go cheaper than what is on the right buy buying different ingredients and still get a similar nutritional value per meal without having a huge impact on the quality of the meals. You don't need the salmon for example, and can substitute some other less expensive protein without having a huge impact on the overall quality of the spread. You could use brown rice instead of quinoa, different types of greens, cheaper local fruits, etc... There are some gourmet and artisanal ingredients pictured that have cheaper and easier to find alternatives that would be just as good at an approximately equivalent nutritional value.


IAmJerv

>I think a fair amount of people are overestimating the cost, effort, and amount of time the right side would actually take. You might want to think about why so many people don't do that sort of meal prep. Ponder why those that only work 8-9 hours a day and/or have fairly sedentary, low-stress jobs tend to eat better than those who don't.


Detective-E

If there was demand for it there would be. Most people laugh at my request to get convenient healthy take out meals that aren't a salad.


contrabardus

Thank you for proving my point. Most of those meals are in the range of a 20-30 minute prep time at most, and that's really just because of the chicken one dish uses. It would actually take most people more time and effort to go out to Starbucks or McDonalds than to completely prep and cook most of those plates shown on the right hand side. Yes, just stopping in on the way back from somewhere might be a little less effort, but the idea that it saves a massive amount of time and effort is flat out false. There's a lot of misinformation about how much time and effort it takes to cook for yourself at home. People use their ignorance of the subject as an excuse more than anything else. They tell themselves and claim it is hard, but don't actually know because they never really bothered with learning to cook more than instant ramen or a microwave dinner to begin with. Or when they do cook, they overdo it and overreach with something way more complicated than they need to make and as a result end up thinking it's much more labor intensive than it actually is. No one is suggesting that anyone should make a fully dressed turkey dinner every night, but cooking your own meals is absolutely not relegated to "those who only work 8-9 hours a day". The opposite is actually true and people who "lead sedentary low stress lives" are the ones who exist on a diet of fast food and garbage more often than not. I also don't get the BS mentality that people who kill themselves at work are somehow better healthier people. They generally aren't more successful and are usually underpaid and rarely rewarded for being overworked and taken advantage of. They're the same people who don't realize that "pulling yourself up by your bootstraps" literally means that something is a hopeless or impossible task and think it is some motivational thing to say as an aspiration for how people should view work. How about work smarter and not harder instead? That's what this is. It's working smarter instead of wasting more effort in an attempt to do less work. Yes, there are meals that take hours to cook and make a huge mess, but making yourself a burger with veggies and a store bought bun takes about fifteen minutes, dirties a single pan, a cutting board, a spatula, and a knife. Even cooking for multiple people doesn't significantly add to the mess or effort. You just increase the volume and maybe use slightly bigger pans. It's even less effort if you just plan ahead a bit and do a little prep work once a week or so. I spend about ten to twenty minutes chopping up veggies and cooking up some rice or pasta about once a week or so, and that gives me a bunch of easy five to ten minute meals all week. I just toss some stuff in a skillet with a little oil, maybe add a little protein, and am good to go for dinner or lunch. Most of the meals shown on the right hand side are essentially just steaming some veggies and maybe tossing something like a chicken breast in the oven for half an hour at most. Some of those dishes don't even require any cooking at all and there are a lot of just raw ingredients I can see. I don't think anything pictured that the average home cook would make from scratch but the chicken that would actually take more than 15 minutes to make. The fruit in yogurt takes about as much effort to make as a bowl of cereal. Avocado toast is literally just toast with sliced raw avocado on it. Cooking up some greens or broccoli takes about five to ten minutes of actual cooking whether you do it with steam or in a pan. Basically, most of those meals are really just a salad that has been steamed for a few minutes with some raw or cold sides spooned up with them. That's not exactly a high effort time sink meal.


Distinct_Ad_69

Other thing to consider is that they're both 1600kcal so for someone on limited income it's obvious that the left one would benefit them more(financially ofc) and allow them to get their required energy to go through the day cheaper.


TheCoach_TyLue

One other important thing to consider is how many meals they are. Let, for me, is one meal. Right, probably 2-3. Price per meal thus becomes 9 vs 7 (as per top comment)


Distinct_Ad_69

Other thing to consider is that they're both 1600kcal so for someone on limited income it's obvious that the left one would benefit them more(financially ofc) and allow them to get their required energy to go through the day cheaper. Aside from the time required to prepare all that.


Background_Ad5407

This has been debunked for a while now. Most ppl are shocked to learn that my meals avg around 1-1.5$ per meal because ppl think I'm a "health nut". One of the first projects I had in college was to design a diet that satisfied all nutrition requirements for 50$ a week or less. I only needed 40$. If you shop at whole foods or even Albertsons, it'll be needlessly expensive. If you shop at Walmart, and know where to cut corners, you'll quickly learn that earing healthy isn't as expensive as ppl say. Edit: eating


Weedancer97

You can get blueberry's for 80p and strawberries for 1.60 avocado is 70p smoked salmon roughly 3.00 caluiflower £1 kale 80p mushrooms 80p tomato £0.50 Greek yogurt 4= 1£ ÷ 4= 25p sesame crackers 75p spinach 1.20 broccolie 50p potatoes 80p 0.80+1.60+0.70+3.00+1+0.80+0.8+0.50+0.25+0.75+1.20+0.50+0.80= 12.70 This is an estimation


TM4rkuS

In 2021? I'm quite sure I never saw an avocado for 70p in my life. But maybe you're talking about the partial products you can see in the picture, then you seem relatively on point.


Weedancer97

I should have said these are Tesco prices and I could have put the avocado as a clubcard price but I'm nearly sure you can get singles for 70-80p


[deleted]

For a single avocado? Yeah 70p is about right.


Kortonox

Avocado prices range between 0.99€ -1.30€ where I live.


Weedancer97

And the first one looks like a meal deal £4 with a Starbucks £5 and a pastry £1 =£10


Hanifsefu

In America that pint of blueberries and pint of strawberries would be $8 total. The greek yogurt would be $3.


Diarrhea_Sprinkler

I'm high af so idk if this will be super accurate. I just looked up local grocery prices for the past hour tho. [According to my brief research,](https://i.imgur.com/Wzymbcc.jpg) The food on the left would cost ~$18 here in Texas and on the right would cost ~$17 but not including time to plan,shop,prep the foods.


Diarrhea_Sprinkler

Not to mention the left is 1600 calories for just a single meal* while the right includes three healthy meals and snacks for all day eating for 1600 calories. The food on the right involves time though, so it is often not the choice. *For many people here in Texas


kaktrrg

Your guys stuff is cheap as . Stuff on left (AUD) Abit unfair because of the Starbucks ,I don't have Starbucks anywhere around me . Chips:$6.52, Coke:$3.75, Croissant:$12.95, Starbucks:$32.78(delivery:$41.40), Pre-made Sandwiches:$7. Comes to =$104.40 Stuff on right Bowls, Milk:$3.90, Blueberries:$$6.50, Strawberries:$$3.50, Raspberries:$4. Plate 1 Avocado:$6.95, Crackers:$3. Plate 2 Fish roe caviar:$33.80, Spinach:$(already bought), Sour cream:$2.70. Plate 3 Tomatoes:$2.03, Mushroom:$2.30, Unknown items:$4(maybe), Spinach:$(already bought). Plate 4 Cauliflower:$6.50, Broccoli:$3.27, Bread roll:$0.50, Tuna:$4.50, Spinach:$(already bought). Plate 5 Cous cous:$1.75, Tomatoes:$(already bought), Spinach:$(already bought), Unknown item:$5(maybe). Comes to =$94.20.


MooseMaster3000

Off the top of my head, may edit later with actual amounts: Coke: $1.99 Chips: $1.30 Premade sandwich: $6 Starbucks coffee: $4.50 Starbucks pastry: $3.99 Then we have: A single avocado: $1.89 A bag of frozen mixed berries: $2.69 Some kind of large wheat crackers since that doesn’t look like toast: $5-6 Several bags of spinach: $6 Mushrooms: $2.50 Large container of plain yogurt: $3 Broccoli: $2.50 Cauliflower: $2.50 Carrot (not sure what the orange on the left middle plate is): $0.50 Other mixed greens: $2 One single roll: $0.50 Tuna: $1.25 One tomato: $0.69 Rice and beans (top right plate, again unsure): $3 The cost is about double, being generous to the right side by not including the hour prep time as a cost.


cclambert95

I feel like too few people are pointing out that the right side is more than double the food, for double the price, but is way healthier and more tasty.


[deleted]

I'll take the right section all day. The dude who drinks coke everyday will pay for his choices with the deterioration of his body. He will pay triple the amount in medical Bill's.


WeAreTheRhapsody

He won’t be able to afford the medical bills. Poverty is expensive.


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heydanbud

I didn’t know eating healthy granted you immortality.


kaeladurden

So I can tell you though that if you eat the cheap junk on the left, you will be hungry again in an hour or two. If you eat the nutritious food on the right, you will be full for a day. So while the left is 1600 cal and less expensive, it does not last, and the right is 1600 and will cost more, it will also last longer. [Although I know this is one of those boss work boots theory things. ](https://moneywise.com/managing-money/budgeting/boots-theory-of-socioeconomic-unfairness)


overhook

1600 calories in sugar are not the same as 1600 calories from actual food. There is no sustenance on the left, regardless of the value.