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Comment by DoreenMichele | Hacker News Reader

From what I have read, pizza is the most popular food on the planet. It is hardly limited to tech events.

So that may be a factor. In a world full of people who are either vegan and looking down their nose at you if you aren't or only eat keto or some other niche thing and where people complain about food allergies and yadda, pizza is the least worst option that will have the most universal appeal.

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> pizza is the least worst option

On the contrary, it's makes almost every group unhappy for different reasons: keto, gluten-free, "paleo", vegan.

(Not that I dislike it personally)

That's not contrary to what they said, since it still stands that most people like pizza.

I'm responding to DoreenMichele talking about niche selective eaters

Gluten free vegan pizzas exist.

The overwhelming majority of the population are not members of one of those groups, though.

Of course, but DoreenMichele was talking about niche selective eaters

I eat keto (well, at least most of the year, not on the run-up to christmas) and if I want to go to an event that provides food that isn't keto... I bring my own food from home. You can't expect everyone to accommodate your specific needs.

It’s encouraging bad diets. Free pizza is a way to tempt people, and the consumer of said pizza incurs an opportunity cost since they could have used the time to eat something nutritionally appropriate.

I have a serious medical condition. I have gotten off of multiple drugs, in part by getting very picky about what I eat. I am willing to eat pizza sometimes.

I absolutely do not need a total stranger deciding for me what is nutritionally appropriate for me, all Big Brother style.

You don't have to eat it, you can always bring your own food or eat something before/after. You're not "missing out" in the same way you're not "missing out" when you don't go pick up all the free junk on Craigslist.

Comparison is not accurate, not picking up junk on craigslist takes 0 time, tech event takes >0 time.

A comparison that isn't quite the same on one dimension doesn't invalidate the comparison... The dimensions I was comparing were those of temptation and of "missing out" on some free stuff. Still, not eating free pizza at the tech event take 0 time too. Maybe you'd argue that you have to eat sooner or later and food is already there so you can multitask it but by the same argument for many free X on Craigslist, you'll have to get an X sooner or later, it's already there so you can multitask picking it up while you go do some other errand. Or hey, ignoring Craigslist, look at that decent-looking free chair you're about to drive past going home from work...

But you get a tech event out of it, which is presumably the primary reason you're there.

Comparison is very accurate, not picking up free junk on craigslist takes 0 time, not eating the free food at the tech event (that you are already going to) takes 0 time.

Pizza is not a bad diet (only eating pizza is bad, but we are not talking about that).

Has a decent mix of protein, fats and carbs in a tasty package. Not everyone wants dry lean chicken, or zero-calory veg/shrooms, even if any two people here could agree on what is “nutritionally appropriate”.

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