Hacker News Reader

Comment by sagivo | Hacker News Reader

In Israel fast food costs more than normal food. Vegetables are relatively cheep to the US ($3 for avocado??) And in general "fast" food is not a value people appreciate over "healthy". One of the ways to fight obesity is by taxation and lowering the costs of healthy food. When salad will cost less than a burger (and there's no economic reason it shouldn't) people will choose it.

View on HN

We actually do the opposite in the US. Over 25 billion/year in farm subsidies (by contrast the ISS cost avg. ~9 billion/year b/w '98-'15), almost all of which goes to corporate farmers, especially corn.

This is why our markets are saturated with processed corn and corn syrup.

In other words the US gov spends ~3x the ISS cost to subsidize obesity so already-rich farmers can get richer (still not as egregious as banking is here, though).

The US has among the lowest food costs of any developed nation. Compared to our disposable income (which is far higher than most other developed nations), it's even more so.

For the majority of Americans, the last thing they have to worry about is the cost of vegetables.

Don't make it sound like taxation and some legislation is making salad cheaper, it's just that everything is so expensive here you think a 15$ salad is normal.

Not sure where you're seeing the $3 avocados. Even in SV, it's like $1 per unless things have changed in the last several weeks.

NYC, and untill recently every whole foods store

https://www.hassavocadoboard.com/retail/volume-and-price-dat...

This aligns with my recent shopping experience.

I think you're missing the point of vegetables being expensive in the US. If you think these prices are normal than allow me to disagree.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/28/business/amazon-whole-foo...

https://imgur.com/a/6yozr

Avacados happen to be one of the more expensive vegetables.. and the price is highly seasonal. You should see them for $0.8 to $1.2 "in season" and $1.5 to $2.5 "out of season". Perhaps an additional tax if you live in a big city.

if you want to talk about vegetable affordability, lets start with lettuce, carrots, and broccoli.

Most stores I've seen in Manhattan have them between $2.50 - $3.00 lately. However the fruit vendors on the street have them at $1.50. Usually 2 for $3.00.

But you probably want to use them that day which I see as a feature.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com