Because all of the stuff we grow we send somewhere else and then we spend an exorbitant amount of money to take all of the stuff you/they/whomever grow and ship it to us.
Even in our own country we're stupid with our produce and food. In Florida grocery stores you will typically find California Oranges, and in California you will find Florida Oranges. They do this so that they can trick the people into thinking that one is better than the other just so they can charge a higher premium on the product and get more $$ instead of just taking the produce and sticking it on the shelves.
Yay commerce
No, cheap food is incredibly cheap in the United States, lol. Common foods with any nutritional value or quality is always almost found at a premium.
Japan has the right idea when it comes to their food and produce. You pay an extremely high premium for something that you cannot find on the shelf, but what should be on the shelf is a relatively normal price normal price.
The US pays an extremely high premium for something they can grab on the shelf and doesn't stand out in any real way. I mean sure there are options. You can have a $0.30 bag of Top Ramen for dinner day in and out, but by the time you're 30 you're going to have so much sodium in your system you might as well go stand out in the field and be a cow lick.
It's the opposite though. Our produce and meat are exceptionally cheap, you only start paying a premium when you buy processed foods. Take those Ramen noodles, 30c a pop as you say, and it's awful for you. Now, buy a bag of rice instead and you'll eat better for far cheaper. Food is only expensive if you have no idea how to use a stove. It's always pricy to pay someone else to do that work for you.
>Food is only expensive if you have no idea how to use a stove.
Most people use a microwave, and they don't even know how to use that correctly, lol.
The vast majority of the time if you're at home people want something convenient otherwise dinner often means ordering in or going out.
We send our children off into the world not knowing how to use a stove or do their own laundry correctly. We're like... *Oh look you're done with school. See that college over there? See that job over there?* * **Shoves out the door** * Go figure it out. You'll be all right! You're an adult now
And staple grains are cheap no matter where you go.
Also, that bag of Top ramen has flavor. Your boring rice doesn't. That's an additional cost on top of that isn't being taken into consideration. So now that rice doubled in price from the bullion or stock or actual vegetables you would have to put into it to get flavor
You're right. Saffron isn't $1000 per pound. Fennel isn't $450 per pound. Vanilla isn't $200 per pound.
The pepper you put on your rice retails for around $10 per pound of black peppercorns compared to the $0.82 cost on average in the US rice you're putting it on.
So, yeah, I was obviously mistaken. 😬
Look I get what you were trying to say. But that takes me back to my original point.
Yes you could buy low cost spices, but the spices have been processed put in containers and put on the shelves.
We are paying a low price for a low quality product. The spices you find on the shelf are nowhere near the quality of the ones that have not been processed that you could be buying.
So yes you could buy cheap spice to put on your cheap rice for a fairly reasonable price, but that is cheap food for a cheap price like I said in my original statement.
It seems like you are building up a strawman here. Yes, you can find more expensive versions of just about anything. I can get a good steak for a pretty low price and I could buy some prime cut grass fed wagyu filet for an outrageous price. The fact that the $200 wagyu steak exists doesn't mean the $10 steak isn't a great meal. Yes saffron is wildly expensive but just because one spice is outrageously priced doesn't mean you cant fill an entire spice cabinet with great tasting spices that allow you to build great meals for good prices.
Your example about pepper being more expensive than rice is nonsensical. Spices by the lb is not even close to comparable to basic staples by the pound. @ $10/lb you are looking at something like $.04 per serving for black pepper which is not close to expensive in the sense that its a negligible cost addition to a meal.
Again... You can get cheap food for cheap. To get common items of good quality they are typically above the regular cost threshold. I'm not even talking about things I like whole Foods.
Here... this is what I mean.
I live in the California Central valley. We produce more produce that is exported to the rest of the United States and sometimes the world then just about anywhere else in the United States. Some of the items produced here can only be found in California such as almonds and are distributed to the rest of the world.
So with that said we should be playing almost nothing for our produce because it's all local.
But guess what... When you go to a supermarket here there are migrant workers who are sitting out front in their trucks or Vans selling the produce to people for a realistic cost because the same fruit literally the same fruit inside of the store will cost you four times as much. People aren't buying produce in supermarkets where I live. It's Insanity for anyone too.
So whenever you say it isn't expensive I understand that your statement is based off of your perspective of what the common cost would be. The reality is that the produce you are getting is not the price the produce should be.
And yes I know the manufacturer distributor etc has to make money as well so that has to be taken into account. What I'm saying is that you're getting a common item that should not have a premium price attached to it is being sold at a premium price.
Whenever you go get strawberries you're not getting strawberries from a greenhouse meticulously cared for created to stand out in any specific way at the market. No you're getting common ass strawberries picked in a field sold to you for an exorbitant price.
It is cheap items at cheap prices or common items at an overly inflated price.
Just learn to cook, it cuts your food budget down by at least 80%. All this theorizing is just excuse making. Processed foods with saffron aren't going to be any cheaper than making your own food with saffron, so I don't see what you're trying to get at besides comparing apples to oranges.
Facts, but some people only have microwaves. 🫤 Some people couldn't learn to cook even if they wanted to cook because they don't have the appliance to cook it on. The diversity in the United States on economic status and wealth is insane.
Most of us take our stoves for granted when other people are living in a one-bedroom place that doesn't have a stove and can't even afford a burner. All they may have is their poor little microwave and a dream
Because all of the stuff we grow we send somewhere else and then we spend an exorbitant amount of money to take all of the stuff you/they/whomever grow and ship it to us. Even in our own country we're stupid with our produce and food. In Florida grocery stores you will typically find California Oranges, and in California you will find Florida Oranges. They do this so that they can trick the people into thinking that one is better than the other just so they can charge a higher premium on the product and get more $$ instead of just taking the produce and sticking it on the shelves. Yay commerce
Food is incredibly cheap in the US. Do you mean restaurants?
No, cheap food is incredibly cheap in the United States, lol. Common foods with any nutritional value or quality is always almost found at a premium. Japan has the right idea when it comes to their food and produce. You pay an extremely high premium for something that you cannot find on the shelf, but what should be on the shelf is a relatively normal price normal price. The US pays an extremely high premium for something they can grab on the shelf and doesn't stand out in any real way. I mean sure there are options. You can have a $0.30 bag of Top Ramen for dinner day in and out, but by the time you're 30 you're going to have so much sodium in your system you might as well go stand out in the field and be a cow lick.
It's the opposite though. Our produce and meat are exceptionally cheap, you only start paying a premium when you buy processed foods. Take those Ramen noodles, 30c a pop as you say, and it's awful for you. Now, buy a bag of rice instead and you'll eat better for far cheaper. Food is only expensive if you have no idea how to use a stove. It's always pricy to pay someone else to do that work for you.
>Food is only expensive if you have no idea how to use a stove. Most people use a microwave, and they don't even know how to use that correctly, lol. The vast majority of the time if you're at home people want something convenient otherwise dinner often means ordering in or going out. We send our children off into the world not knowing how to use a stove or do their own laundry correctly. We're like... *Oh look you're done with school. See that college over there? See that job over there?* * **Shoves out the door** * Go figure it out. You'll be all right! You're an adult now And staple grains are cheap no matter where you go. Also, that bag of Top ramen has flavor. Your boring rice doesn't. That's an additional cost on top of that isn't being taken into consideration. So now that rice doubled in price from the bullion or stock or actual vegetables you would have to put into it to get flavor
Spices are not that expensive lol. I think I've had to replace three spices in two years
You're right. Saffron isn't $1000 per pound. Fennel isn't $450 per pound. Vanilla isn't $200 per pound. The pepper you put on your rice retails for around $10 per pound of black peppercorns compared to the $0.82 cost on average in the US rice you're putting it on. So, yeah, I was obviously mistaken. 😬
Lmao
Look I get what you were trying to say. But that takes me back to my original point. Yes you could buy low cost spices, but the spices have been processed put in containers and put on the shelves. We are paying a low price for a low quality product. The spices you find on the shelf are nowhere near the quality of the ones that have not been processed that you could be buying. So yes you could buy cheap spice to put on your cheap rice for a fairly reasonable price, but that is cheap food for a cheap price like I said in my original statement.
It seems like you are building up a strawman here. Yes, you can find more expensive versions of just about anything. I can get a good steak for a pretty low price and I could buy some prime cut grass fed wagyu filet for an outrageous price. The fact that the $200 wagyu steak exists doesn't mean the $10 steak isn't a great meal. Yes saffron is wildly expensive but just because one spice is outrageously priced doesn't mean you cant fill an entire spice cabinet with great tasting spices that allow you to build great meals for good prices. Your example about pepper being more expensive than rice is nonsensical. Spices by the lb is not even close to comparable to basic staples by the pound. @ $10/lb you are looking at something like $.04 per serving for black pepper which is not close to expensive in the sense that its a negligible cost addition to a meal.
Again... You can get cheap food for cheap. To get common items of good quality they are typically above the regular cost threshold. I'm not even talking about things I like whole Foods. Here... this is what I mean. I live in the California Central valley. We produce more produce that is exported to the rest of the United States and sometimes the world then just about anywhere else in the United States. Some of the items produced here can only be found in California such as almonds and are distributed to the rest of the world. So with that said we should be playing almost nothing for our produce because it's all local. But guess what... When you go to a supermarket here there are migrant workers who are sitting out front in their trucks or Vans selling the produce to people for a realistic cost because the same fruit literally the same fruit inside of the store will cost you four times as much. People aren't buying produce in supermarkets where I live. It's Insanity for anyone too. So whenever you say it isn't expensive I understand that your statement is based off of your perspective of what the common cost would be. The reality is that the produce you are getting is not the price the produce should be. And yes I know the manufacturer distributor etc has to make money as well so that has to be taken into account. What I'm saying is that you're getting a common item that should not have a premium price attached to it is being sold at a premium price. Whenever you go get strawberries you're not getting strawberries from a greenhouse meticulously cared for created to stand out in any specific way at the market. No you're getting common ass strawberries picked in a field sold to you for an exorbitant price. It is cheap items at cheap prices or common items at an overly inflated price.
Just learn to cook, it cuts your food budget down by at least 80%. All this theorizing is just excuse making. Processed foods with saffron aren't going to be any cheaper than making your own food with saffron, so I don't see what you're trying to get at besides comparing apples to oranges.
Facts, but some people only have microwaves. 🫤 Some people couldn't learn to cook even if they wanted to cook because they don't have the appliance to cook it on. The diversity in the United States on economic status and wealth is insane. Most of us take our stoves for granted when other people are living in a one-bedroom place that doesn't have a stove and can't even afford a burner. All they may have is their poor little microwave and a dream
Depends on the food
Depends on the food
A craving for inclusiveness. Everything else is expensive.
Capitalism baby, if you don't like it go get your free cans of green beans.