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10 sats \ 6 replies \ @Undisciplined OP 29 Mar \ parent \ on: Daily Health Principle: Junk Food Isn't Food HealthAndFitness
You're totally missing my point, then. Junk food is not sustenance, because it does not meet nutrient requirements. It's excess calories and harmful additives.
"Food deserts" sell crap, because that's what the locals buy. If the locals bought healthy food, that's what would be available. You don't have to shop at Whole Foods to get something with nutritional content.
I've been very poor before and I bought and cooked beans and produce from the grocery store, because it was cheaper than buying prepared foods. The cheapest foods are beans, rice, and root vegetables. Boil them in a pot and eat a cheap healthy meal.
I agree with your point on the whole. But I think it bifurcating sustenance vs junk food (or non-sustenance) is an oversimplification. Maybe you have more of a stringent definition of sustenance than I do.
Try telling the person who survives on a diet of mountain dew and taco bell that it's not sustaining them. There's gotta be a range of different reasons they make this choice. I can't explain why they do, but they're not starving.
In my case, I chose a pepperette because I needed something convenient, fast and containing some amount of nutrition (protien). And it certainly did tide me over until I could get home to a home cooked meal.
The cheapest foods are beans, rice, and root vegetables. Boil them in a pot and eat a cheap healthy meal.
I need a follow-up on frugal and nutrituous recipies from the resident economist 😂
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Note that I am not telling people to stop doing anything. These are purely health tips. If someone wants to drink Mountain Dew and eat Taco Bell, all I'm saying to them is that they may want to reevaluate whether some of those things are actually food. If they keep consuming them for other reasons, that's their business. As you say, "There's gotta be a range of different reasons they make this choice."
Starving is not the only concern when it comes to health. In fact, considering our obesity rates, it's not really a concern at all. There are many prevalent nutrient deficiencies, as well as chronic health conditions that are at least associated with junk food.
I'm not making a particularly stringent delineation. If you think something is bad for you, I'm suggesting it shouldn't be perceived as food.
I need a follow-up on frugal and nutrituous recipies from the resident economist
At my poorest, I was an undergrad math major. That combination led me to create a nutrition optimization program. I put in all of the local food prices and generated the cheapest diet that met nutrient requirements. It is not something you want to do, unless you have to.
I've always meant to do more with that program, though. Maybe I'll try to vibe code an app that makes use of it.
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Undisciplined: "only nutritious food is food" OR
something that gives support, endurance, or strength1
Me: "In extreme circumstances, any food is sustenance" OR
means of support, maintenance, or subsistence : LIVING2
Given my definition, starving is the opposite of sustenance, which is why I raised that point. I agree that it's not particularly poignant an issue for most Americans.
nutrition optimization program
May I suggest that if you do, then offer a tiered suite of plans from basic survival (cheapest) to Whole Foods Maxi (most expensive)? 😉
Footnotes
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3rd definition from Miriam webster: sustenance ↩
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1st definition from Miriam webster: sustenance ↩
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So can we agree that sustenance is not always food? And food, as you put it, is a higher order, lower-time preference means of sustaining oneself?
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No, I'd say that if you are legit starving, then anything that actually prevents that is food. "Food" is a personal and circumstantial category.
On the app idea, my plan was to have different default settings, but also let people set their own nutrient goals.
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app
You can call it "μtrition" or "μtritient"