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Comment by bowsamic | Hacker News Reader

This is how they do it in Germany. Most working Germans I know of eat at the work canteen and have a small bread meal at home in the evening

Weird that you're getting downvoted for this. HN is on a weird one recently

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Because the united states valued individualism for a very long time, before and during the cold war, and even now. It's a cultural aspect.

Blame people like Reagan and Milton Friedman for this. It's a highly political problem.

Inequality is already somewhat caused by individualism, but climate change is also caused by climate change. For example, if China wants to reduce its co2 emissions, you only have to convince Chinese leaders, and it's done just by snapping fingers.

In the US, you have to make it profitable, which is doable, but it's more complicated and lobbyists will also be a big barrier to change.

I loathe the chinese leadership, but being a democratic modern industrialized nation doesn't mean you will see decisions that make sense.

What's weird though is that a lot of US tech companies also have canteens and on-site restaurants

Communist China is responsible for nearly 2/3rds of CO2 emissions since 2000. In the US it's been going down for the past decade.

You also have to keep in mind the American entrepreneurial culture or DNA which has born fruit unlike any other system, and is even responsible for the very platform we're using right now. That's all about this idea that any individual can change the world.

I don't see what either of those things have to do with the parent comment. Can you explain further?

Is a canteen the same thing as a cafeteria? Lots of Americans have their lunch at a work cafeteria as well.

A big lunch and a small dinner would probably be a good change for lots of us.

It’s just a weasel wording to say “lots.” How many and where did you get your number from? How many of those are using a designated sitting area to eat food they brought from home?

And if you think something is a good change, make it for yourself and don’t impose it on someone else. Vast majority of people given the choice will pick independence and purchasing/making their own food whenever they want, not being dependent on their work or state cafeteria.

Just fyi in Germany we aren't forced to eat at the work cafeteria if we don't want to. I'm not sure where you got the idea of forcing people to eat communally from

I pulled “lots” out of my ass, based on having been to a couple different campuses. The fuzziness of “lots” accurately represents the level of certainty (low) which is appropriate for chit-chat about the existence of cafeterias. Chill out, nobody is actually going to ban cooking at home.

Yes. Also I kind of agree, but personally, the canteen food here in Germany is usually too calorific for me compared to the food I cook.

Source that this is the norm in Germany? How many Germans do you know who do this and how did you conclude that the sample is indicative of the broader population? How expensive is food in Germany that people have no independence to buy and prepare food?

Parent is getting downvoted because the vast majority of people won’t agree with that nonsense. Leave it in the 1900s.

I work at a major research institution with a canteen and literally all of the Germans in my research group eat at the canteen. When I walk past it is very full.

Germans have a meal called Abendbrot which means "evening bread".

When COVID hit, Germans struggled to cook food at home, even leading to house fires https://www.dw.com/en/coronavirus-pandemic-reveals-germans-p...

My wife's startup does not have a canteen, so the Germans order in fast food. She is British like me so she has a small lunch and a big dinner.

> How expensive is food in Germany that people have no independence to buy and prepare food?

It is cheap but the work canteen is also often cheap. People have independence to buy and prepare food, they just don't want to.

> vast majority of people won’t agree with that nonsense. Leave it in the 1900s.

I don't think this is worthy of a response.

A research university is a pretty select group though. What about the average working family with children? Or retired age adults? Do Germans not have a "slow food" movement where they are encouraged to garden, cook, and compost at home?

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