[sgc]

The main reason people eat so unhealthily in the US is the price gouging in the vegetable aisle.

My wife came home with a small bag of brussel sprouts and some "gourmet" Baklava that weighed a bit less, but not much. Virtually the same price.

It is very common for (cardboard tasting) tomatoes, which come from a high-production plant, to cost as much or even more than meat, that comes from a plant-consuming animal and then butchered and constantly refrigerated. the vegetable/meat price ratio in the US means vegetables are comparatively 3-5x+ more expensive than any of the many other places I have lived. They are more like 10x less expensive than meat in in some places I have lived. The same goes for nuts to carbs, etc. And you will feel it immediately in lack of energy and hunger if you don't have protein and the sufficient number of daily calories, while lack of vegetables mainly leads to a more subtle lack of general health.

[aaronax]

If you were to consider that in ye olden days the majority of things in the vegetable aisle would have been simply unavailable out of season, does it seem a bit less like price gouging? Transport is likely the most significant cost.

I suppose our food production has generally centralized over time to the regions that can grow these vegetables all year, and almost no vegetables are grown locally. So we end up paying the transportation costs, even during the four weeks in the fall when we could be overwhelmed by cheap locally-grown vegetables.

My ability to get broccoli in November in North Dakota is quite remarkable?

[thewebcount]

That's an interesting point. I live in Southern California, in Los Angeles. I'm maybe a 50 minute drive from Oxnard where a large portion of our vegetables are grown. (If I recall, more vegetables in the US come from Ventura County than any other place in the world.) They don't have to be shipped very far and a lot more stuff is in season here than in other parts of the country. Just checking the things the person above mentioned on my local Ralph's (Kroger's), I see the cheapest ground beef = $5.99/lb. and brussels sprouts are $2.99/lb. for loose sprouts. That seems like a high price ratio to me, but I certainly don't know all of the logistics.

[borvo]

No. Veggies are much less expensive in many other countries with similar selections available. Something is different in the US.

[peanuty1]

Might be corn subsidies in the US.

[dfxm12]

My ability to get broccoli in November in North Dakota is quite remarkable?

Oh, it is remarkable, but this is an honest question, do you really care?

I mean, I could get fresh tomatoes year round, but they're garbage outside of summer. When we buy things in season, they tend to be cheaper and taste better. Right now in my area, apples are plentiful and cheap! I really wish my supermarket would do some curation of products and only put the best stuff out for sale. I honestly don't care that I wouldn't be able to buy any (expensive, bland) fresh tomatoes right now. That's why we have cans...

[Spooky23]

Buyer beware. You need to shop.

I can go to Whole Foods and pay $10 for a bag of mini-cucumbers. Or I can go to Aldi and pay $3 for the same product picked from the same field and delivered regionally on the same train.

The answer people have to that is “I’m too busy and don’t have time to do that”. Grocery stores collect a lot of market intelligence and price to the audience. That’s why a tomato with a wholesale price of $0.50 costs more than a nice steak. Or why they sell pre-chopped carrots and onions to helpless people with money but without skill for $15/lb.

[dsfyu404ed]

If you shopped for vegetables like you did for meat (i.e. in the frozen food isle) most of that price difference would evaporate.

Fresh vegetables have a lot of handling, refrigeration and shipping timeline requirements that add a lot to the cost.

[achenatx]

people eat unhealthily because they are lazy and fat/sugar are addictive.

In season fruits and vegetables are inexpensive. You can easily find vegetables that are under $2/pound. Eating half a pound of vegetables a day (most people dont) is a dollar a day.

carrots are typically $1/pound, green peppers $2/pound, cabbage .67/pound, peas .35/pound, green beans $2/pound, broccoli 2/pound

beef is expensive, but chicken and sometimes pork are less expensive.

[sgc]

What people do is irrelevant, because they don't eat enough, and that is my complaint. My family is recommended to eat about 10-12 cups of vegetables (not fruits and vegetables) per day as per [1]. There is always significant waste with vegetables as well, unless we want to act like buying fresh vegetables and preparing them is a luxury reserved for the rich. That is far more than half a pound per person. We shop at 5-7 different stores every week (thanks to our location we can do this), to find the best values on various items. We don't do farmers markets, whole foods, or anything that is not very average and typical. Our evening salad, which is not fancy but not meager, covers about half this requirement, and costs us about $15. If somebody wants to claim salad is a luxury and people should just eat cabbage, I hope you learn to have a more dignified worldview. Also, I have not seen such low prices around here for quite some time, outside of limited sales that you cannot rely on for more than a portion of your purchases.

[1] https://www.myplate.gov/eat-healthy/vegetables

[2OEH8eoCRo0]

The true cost of meat and processed foods is obscured by corn subsidies.

[dfxm12]

I don't know if price gouging is the right phrase in this context. Products with processed stuff, including sugar & cheese, can be cheaper because it tends to be subsidized. I don't think supermarkets are gouging any more on veggies than anything else.

The government really could focus on subsidizing healthier food options and stop subsidizing taco bell's crunch wrap things, pizza hut's stuffed crust pizza or various colas.

[bayofpigs]

Shopping yesterday and was shocked to see a single head of cauliflower for $7.99/each.