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guitarlimeo | on: Tell HN: I'm 60 years old. Claude Code has re-ignited a passion
I would rather see regulations fixing incentives that create this problem (why does healthy food cost so much more than processed food?) than a bandaid like Ozempic that 2/3 of people can't quit (hello another hidden subscription service) without regaining their weight back.
cpursley | parent | next
It's the regulations and subsidies that created the very situation in the first place (in the USA, at least). Twinkies are cheap because we literally pay farmers to grow cheap carbs and sugar. It was design this way, well - lobbied.
guitarlimeo | root | parent
I can believe that unfortunately. Good regulation is hard to do without lobbyists getting what they want at the expense of people.
mikkupikku | parent | next
The produce aisle has the cheapest food in the whole store. Inb4 you cite the price of some fancy imported vegetable as your excuse for eating pizza every night.
guitarlimeo | root | parent | next
I can only speak from my own experience but if you want to have a healthy diet (enough protein and calories) where I'm from it costs a lot more than just buying cheap junk food. Well, the proteins cost.
lotsofpulp | root | parent | next
People are obese because they eat at restaurants, eat junk food, and drink sugary or high carb liquids.

They are not obese because they cannot afford the necessary amounts of protein and calories from healthy sources in the grocery store.

guitarlimeo | root | parent | next
You have a point and I agree now that my point on things being expensive was the wrong one. The problem is that junk food is so much easier to get than healthy food.
oblio | root | parent
Healthy food costs time if you want tasty food.
lotsofpulp | root | parent
If you train yourself to expect the highs of unhealthy food with excess carbs, sat fats, and salt, which is what restaurants, junk food, and high carb liquids have, then no healthy food is going to be tasty enough.

If you eschew those highs and settle for some sprouted moong bean salad with a little bit of salt/lime/black pepper, or hummus and veggies, or eggs with some smashed avocado on toast, tofu and some broccoli, etc, then it does not cost much time.

There is no baking involved, just cutting, mixing, blending, and maybe soaking. Sautéing or pan frying in a little bit of olive oil or canola oil is also quick.

oblio | root | parent
That's not realistic for most people.

There is a range of food processing going from raw vegetables to hyper-processed fast food.

Most people fall in the middle and expect their food to be boiled, baked, fried, etc. They will most likely not want to eat just salad 24/7.

And once you start boiling/baking/frying, you're adding a lot more processing time just for the food itself, let alone cleaning everything afterwards.

Plus people want varied diets so they need a wide range of different tasting foods, most like 10-20.

Cooking well is really hard and very time consuming (and potentially costly!) to learn.

Healthy living enthusiasts as well as cooking enthusiasts (sometimes the same group, many times different groups) REALLY love to minimize this aspect.

lotsofpulp | root | parent
I’m not minimizing anything. I regularly eat the stuff I listed, and it is not more than 1 hour of work per day on average, especially due to leftovers.

>Most people fall in the middle and expect their food to be boiled, baked, fried, etc. They will most likely not want to eat just salad 24/7.

> Plus people want varied diets so they need a wide range of different tasting foods, most like 10-20.

Right, so the problem is people want to eat unhealthy foods. The problem is not lack of money or time.

oblio | root | parent
How can you possibly call boiled and baked food and wanting to eat a varied diet unhealthy?!?

Did you actually read the 2 paragraphs you quoted?

| root | parent
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guitarlimeo | root | parent
And no lol, I eat very healthy and mainly cook my own vegetarian food, had junk food last time maybe a month ago.
lotsofpulp | parent | next
> why does healthy food cost so much more than processed food?

It does not. Legumes, whole grains, vegetables, and yogurt have always been cheaper than processed food.

People prefer eating carbohydrates and saturated fats.

girvo | parent | next
> why does healthy food cost so much more than processed food?

It doesn’t.

crazygringo | parent
> why does healthy food cost so much more than processed food?

It doesn't. Carbs like rice, potatoes, etc. are incredibly cheap. Protein like ground beef and basic cuts of chicken are not expensive. And broccoli, carrots, green peppers, apples -- these are not exactly breaking the bank. Product is seasonal, so you vary what you buy according to what is cheapest this week.

Meanwhile, stuff like breakfast cereal and potato chips and Oreo cookies actually are surprisingly expensive.

bluefirebrand | root | parent
> Carbs like rice, potatoes, etc. are incredibly cheap.

Eating too many carbs is not a healthy diet dude