Is it just me, or did snacking get really expensive? I'm more amazed how people are allowing companies to fleece them like that. And then there are the sugar drinks for adults, brought to you by Starbucks & co.
this post was submitted on 16 Dec 2023
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I’m pretty sure normal boxes of Cheez-It used to be 16oz. Now they are 12.8oz and cost $5 unless on sale.
The spicy ones are basically crack though.
Researchers will be shocked when they find out half of Americans eat 1000 cal or more in snacks each day. Btw: try the new candy cane triple sugar frappuccino at Starbucks™.
Starbucks really should be louder about their cal counts...
They're dumping literal sugar syrup into most of their "specialty" drinks, adding several hundred calories. I would love to see the calorie counts right there on the menu in-store and online in large, bold text.
The again, studies have shown time and again that people are awful at understanding how many calories are in their meal, so I'd wager there would still be plenty of people still thinking "oh, only 480 calories. Good thing I'm having a salad for lunch!"
I'm in this photo and I don't like it 😂
Yeah, but those are my only calories so it's obviously healthy.
Only one!? ... I mean, yeah. I too only eat 1ish meals worth of snacks a day. I'm a normal snacker, yessiree
The top five sources of calories aren't even food fit for human consumption. 😵😵😵
And with people allegedly unable to afford food, it really makes me wonder if it's because they are spending all their money on these (expensive) top five calorie sources, rather than... I don't know, real food? 🧐
Or maybe people eat this kind of food because they live in food deserts where fresh food is unavailable, or because highly processed junk food is cheaper than real food and the cost of living is rising much faster than wages, or because people who are forced to work multiple jobs to survive don't have time to cook healthy meals.
I would disagree, and here's why:
The bulk of our calories should be coming from carbs, and healthy carb staples are very cheap and readily available anywhere: rice, flour, pasta, etc.
Food deserts, while I don't deny exist, aren't a problem for the majority of the population. Most people living near any city over 100,000 likely have access to multiple grocery stores.
The cost argument falls flat when you consider that junk food, alcoholic beverages, meat and dairy, and high calorie nonalcoholic beverages cost a lot more than real food staples.
Availability and cost really only impact fruit and vegetable consumption, but historically, most Americans have never consumed enough regardless (unless they were vegetation/vegan). It's a cultural thing, I'm sure.
A breakdown of food spending also indicates that a large proportion of food spending tends to be "eating out", which is not cost effective and gives a good indication that people are often misspending their food budget.
The issue of time is also not a good reason when throwing ingredients in a basic pressure cooker, rice cooker, or , slow cooker takes minutes and you can batch cook an entire week's worth of food with minimal cost and effort. As with the point above, it takes more time to eat out, and learning to prepare basic meals is a skill that every adult should have.
Eating cheap and healthy isn't impossible, but someone needs to be willing to at least break their poor eating habits first.