apple_achia t1_izdhsnk wrote on December 8, 2022 at 8:20 AM

Reply to comment by Exel0n in How will the transition between scarcity-based economics and post-scarcity based economics happen? by asschaos

I think you’re minimizing problems like food deserts here, and it seems quite disingenuous to say “the poor are becoming fat, so any complaints about scarcity of food in America is invalid”- they’re growing fat because the only food they can afford are nutritionally null processed foods. In spite of the abundance of calories, they’re not getting enough nutrients necessary for survival. And then you have the fact that an immense number of children in this country are not fat and are not well fed- and are skipping meals consistently. Sure there are fewer cases of this happening today, yet still only a little over half of American children consistently eat 3 meals a day. I for one know if I didn’t have a school lunch program when I was child, I would’ve been skipping two meals a day rather than just one. But sure, people are just bitching about nothing. Those uppity poors must be well fed, I mean look at the size of them.

Economy_Variation365 t1_izdvdb7 wrote on December 8, 2022 at 11:32 AM

I sympathize with anyone who can't afford to provide proper nutrition for his or her children due to poverty or food deserts. However, is it generally true that "the only food they can afford are nutritionally null processed foods"? At my grocery store I buy fresh fruit that's already washed, peeled, cut, and ready to eat. The cost is $6 per pound, which is less than a Big Mac with fries.

If I walk into McDonald's and see an obese mom buying her obese son a combo meal, my first thought isn't "she can't afford to provide proper nutrition for him," but rather "perhaps she doesn't know better or perhaps her son refuses to eat nutritious food." If the mom were offered fresh fruit and vegetables instead of the burger, would she and her son accept the healthier choice?

In many (most?) cases in the US today, it's not as simple as "healthy food is too expensive for poor people." Perhaps once we can create food using a nanofactory, we can make spinach and broccoli that tastes like a cheeseburger and French fries. Till then we will have the problem of trying to convince people to eat what's good for them.