[egypturnash]

On the other hand, if you can walk five minutes to the store, it's insanely easy to keep a tiny pantry full of fresh stuff. Especially if, like me, you're lucky enough to have a weekly farmer's market two blocks from your place.

But like you said, different people have different definitions of "convenience".

[saurik]

It certainly is no easier than someone who can drive less than five minutes to a store: that person can both keep a tiny pantry full of fresh stuff or buy massive loads of bulk items without issue. Essentially, you have made an argument for why "it isn't so bad, as you can mitigate some of the downsides", but haven't shown a situation where it is actually more "convenient" (which I emphasize, as it is all sorts of other things, such as more "sustainable").

[emj]

Five minutes is too little time too warrant a car drive, usually it's actually 10 minute door-to-door when you are talking about a car transportation. But sure if you live in a wasteland of parking spaces and highways I guess it might be faster.