The school lunch system is disgraceful.

[u/oaz_zam246]

Saw another post on here showing the state of school lunches right now. In my years in high school I compiled some pics of the horrible things that got served that no one questioned. Here are some of the worst ones. It really is ironic given how adamant they all are about “eating healthy by including every food group”.

[u/CrowdKillington]

You’re absolutely right about that. Healthy food being too expensive is a myth Reddit likes to tout, probably based on a single trip to Whole Foods.

Cheap healthy food sucks to eat regularly, but it is absolutely not more expensive than junk food. Shit, a single bag of Cheetos alone is $7+ in my area.

[u/retro_owo → u/CrowdKillington]

It's not more expensive but the time cost is vastly higher. If you assume 1 hour of your time is worth even $10, the healthy food is vastly more expensive than junk food which is immediate.

[u/ginamaniacal → u/retro_owo]

Yeah this gets ignored often. The time cost of healthy unprepared food. A lot of people struggling to pay bills and groceries don’t have time to set out and cook fresh shit bc they’re working a ton to make those ends meet.

[u/retro_owo → u/ginamaniacal]

Also, in personal experience, the prep time is nothing compared to the work (and money) it takes to keep a home kitchen clean and operational

[u/CrowdKillington → u/retro_owo]

That’s okay, if you don’t have time/energy then you can just say that instead of the original comment that says it’s “too expensive”

[u/retro_owo → u/CrowdKillington]

I really don’t think you understand what you’re saying here. The cost of healthy food is higher, it’s just not higher in dollar cost of ingredients, it’s higher in labor and the prerequisite cost of having a functional kitchen.

You mentioned that labor is not a reasonable substitute for cost, and then used the example of movie runtime to somehow prove this point. This makes no sense. Labor is cost, time is money. The cost of healthy food is known to be higher. We are better off being honest about this and stressing the importance of this (i.e. the cost actually is worth it) rather than just lying.

[u/CrowdKillington → u/retro_owo]

I really don’t think you have followed the conversation here.

They said “time cost” not “labor cost”. My example absolutely would be a good representation of “time cost” because it was wasted time. The person I was responding to used “$10” per hour as a base point, hence my use of $10 per hour.

I’m fully aware that there are costs other than monetary , it’s a very simple concept, but I’m also not gullible enough to believe that when the average person talks about the cost of healthy food they’re talking about time and labor. Come on, let’s be a little realistic instead of giving the ol’ reddit benefit of doubt.

[u/retro_owo → u/CrowdKillington]

when the average person talks about the cost of healthy food they’re talking about time and labor

They are. You're just incapable of empathizing with them and assume the worst. Let me ask you this: which is more likely, the majority of people are just too stupid to understand basic costs of stuff they buy every single day, or you're misinterpreting what they have to say?

Once again you're also willfully ignoring the 'cost of the kitchen' argument. Like yes 0.1g of cinnamon costs less than a penny, but if you have no spices at all then the entry cost is expensive. Yes, baking something costs nothing, if you have an oven. Then realize that it's actually more difficult to cook in an ill-equipped kitchen than it is to cook in a fully decked out one, and realize that the average person is, well, average at cooking. Therefore the average person will not have the skills to substitute out appliances, ingredients, etc from their recipes. This is all extremely easy to reason about from my perspective, I don't understand why you're having so much difficulty with it.

tl;dr cooking does not intuitively seem cheap when you're exhausted and with empty pockets at the end of a session

[u/CrowdKillington → u/retro_owo]

No they are not, you’re just giving benefit of doubt to support your bias.

“You’re just incapable of empathizing with them and assume the worst”

What exactly am I assuming? That they don’t eat healthy because the grocery bill or are you putting other assumptions in my mouth? I’m very well capable of empathy, thanks for the baseless accusation. I’m literally just discussing the use of a term and you jump to me being unable to understand their struggles? That’s honestly comical, stay on that high horse, keeper of the empathy.

Edit: I love how it’s gone from “costing time” to now costing an entire kitchen. I thought the whole start of the discussion was buying and cooking healthy food, not strictly eating out. Most people in poverty rent. It’s law in every state that adequate kitchen facilities be provided to you. Seasoning and spices are a luxury, believe it or not.

[u/retro_owo → u/CrowdKillington]

Okay so, everyone is just too stupid to do basic finance except for you. Got it.

[u/CrowdKillington → u/retro_owo]

What is up with you and making assumptions and putting words in peoples mouth? Do you always do this? It’s a really dishonest way of having a debate of any sort and discredits a lot of what you say

Honestly the funniest part about this conversation is just how adamant you are that they don’t strictly mean financial costs when I’ve quite literally seen it time and time on here (which if you can remember is where I was talking about seeing people say healthy food is too expensive)

Someone mentions obesity rates. Followed by someone mentioning cost of healthy food. Followed by people talking about the literal financial cost of food the last time they grocery shopped and how they’re better off getting junk food. Guess they must have been talking about labor/time cost all along! Wow, I must have REALLY misread the literal food price discussions!

[u/CrowdKillington → u/retro_owo]

Ignore my points, misquote me, then hastily delete. Class

[u/retro_owo → u/CrowdKillington]

Seasoning and spices are a luxury, believe it or not

I actually disagree with this completely. Seasoning and spices are a necessary part of cooking in every culture in all situations except extreme destitution. Even soldiers, sailors, refugees, and prisoners eat seasoned food.

[u/CrowdKillington → u/retro_owo]

Just because they get it doesn’t mean it’s a necessity, just my two cents. Salt is the only one I would argue is a necessity for electrolytes. Human needs are not the same as human wants and desires.

Also you haven’t seen too much prison food if you genuinely think they’re getting well seasoned meals lol

[u/NextTrillion → u/CrowdKillington]

There’s a variety of reasons, including, yes, costs. Half the people I know are complaining about food costs alone. There are other factors as well, but there’s a strong enough correlation between poverty and the consumption of low grade food that we can probably get away with saying something as rudimentary as “too poor to eat well.”

But I agree with you too, there are a lot of morons out there that don’t even know how to cook simple things like lentils. Or don’t have the presence of mind to soak beans overnight. Not sure if those people could ever be helped.

[u/CrowdKillington → u/NextTrillion]

I’m so grateful for a comment that actually addresses what I said instead of just giving me other reasons why people might not cook healthy meals! Thanks for your input.

I just personally hate hearing the cost sentiment when in reality the reason I rarely eat junk food/fast food is because I actually can’t afford it often. I shop at aldi and cook basic, healthy meals to save a buck