[dalemyers]

Lots of replies here about time, and while they are true, they aren’t the full story. The fact is that vegetables are ridiculously expensive in America compared to Europe. I’ve lived in both. I’ve been dirt poor and I’m now quite well off. Buying vegetables here in the UK costs literal pennies for many meals. In the US, the same veg can cost literally 10x as much in some cases.

Prepped food on the other hand is half the price in the US than it is in the UK. These two factors combined make it a no brainer to go for the prepped stuff over the raw ingredients when you are trying to save money.

[alecco]

Canned and dry vegetables are inexpensive. Beans, brown rice, wholemeal oats, bitter cocoa, whole wheat, (sweet) potatoes, cabbage, and many more healthy whole foods are more than affordable. The cost of spices is negligible. Most of those foods can be pre-cooked and warmed with microwave or stir fried in a handful of minutes. And you can buy bulk monthly at some place like Costco.

But of course, the economic stimulus for corporations is for you to become addicted to salt, sugar, and fat. From ads to aisle positioning, junk foods are first. Big Food is the modern day Big Tobacco.

I've worked with poor people in different countries, and even with the homeless. A lot of them eat mostly junk food, smoke, drink sodas, chew gum, watch junk TV, some gamble, many don't brush often, most don't exercise, and many get trapped in unpaid loans. And it's worse for their kids. Churches of all denominations used to steer them out of that path. This is a massive society whole now, and note I'm not a religious person.

But between on one hand enabling liberals telling them it's not their fault and it's out of their control, and on the other hand media bombarding them with advertisements of such products, it's becoming impossible to contain. Add that to the YOLO culture of social media.

This is not going to end well if we don't make drastic measures right now.