Cooking @ Home vs Fast Food: Which is the cheaper option?

[JUSA]

The answer is obvious to anyone who isn't brain dead, but in years past the argument was that poor people could only afford to eat unhealthy options, that somehow McDonalds was cheaper than buying groceries and cooking for yourself.

You know, because Poor people couldn't be at fault, it couldn't be their own choices which cause them to eat unhealthy fast food more frequently than healthier options.

... one thing with this quarantine, I expect most of us are cooking more for ourselves. Does anyone still maintain unhealthy choices are cheaper than taking time and cooking for yourself at home?

[ymer]

I cook my own food daily.

[DuracellBunny]

Variations of risotto/paella, where you throw whatever cheap meat/fish/poulty and veg that you can find in with the rice, is far cheaper than fast food.

[JaegerBrah]

Homemade is exponentially less expensive (and better for you) and it's not even close. Beans (and legumes/seeds in general), rice, pasta, oatmeal, etc. are the most versatile, cost-efficient way to get your caloric/nutritional needs by far. Even most veggies are pretty cheap if you know how and where to shop. Protein is really cheap, too, if you buy in bulk and freeze, especially if you buy when it's marked for clearance/reduced due to storage/expiration issue.

[BigRangs]

I've always wondered about this as well. Maybe if you're buying 8 $1 burgers for a family of four. I still eat out, including fast food, but it's only because I don't want to deplete the stock that I have at home. The stores here have lines out the door and you have to wait so I try to avoid it as much as possible. If I happen to be out I'll probably call in an order and pick it up. I had to go to the office for a bit today, so I picked up a hot French baguette at a bakery with no line, so I'll figure out something to do with that tonight. /deardiary

[DumpsterFire]

My girlfriend is puerto rican so rice and beans are already a staple of my diet. Add some chicken or beef/turkey into that and it makes for some inexpensive and tasty meals.

Although my girlfriend is hangin with my kid at my mom's place tonight so im slamming a. $5 biggie bag as i type

[DeshaunWatson]

It’s also because they’re lazy, so they settle for fast food.

[BeginnerGainz]

Variations of risotto/paella, where you throw whatever cheap meat/fish/poulty and veg that you can find in with the rice, is far cheaper than fast food.

This.

[deepfat]

made some brazilian cheese bread from scratch for my neighbors today. Needless to say they were more than stoked.

[Maestro]

The retarded argument usually compares whole foods fresh greens to the dollar value menu, then you get muh food deserts thrown in without an ounce of introspection

....but its true. The op is correct if you're only eating rice and beans 24/7/365, but if you're buying fresh produce (especially for a family of 4) that chit can get expensive real quick. Fresh fruits and vegetables will expire in about a weeks time and are not as calorie dense so even if they are cheap you're buying so much more of it.

Also, food deserts are a real thing as well. They are usually incredibly rural or high crime areas where your typical grocery store cannot exist to make a profit so only fast food and gas stations exist. When I lived in New Mexico i witnessed it first hand in a town called Springer. It's a literal ghost town.

[Stizzel]

I've been grilling a lot but my favorite pho place just reopened so i went out tonight

[kusok]

Rotisserie whole Chicken $6
A dozen eggs $2

There is your average person maintenance or even a bulk right there for $8 per day, and this is on Long Island NY, expensive part.

Carnivore diet LOL, go for it, and take a multi...

[NYPat]

....but its true. The op is correct of you're only eating rice and beans 24/7/365, but if you're buying fresh produce (especially for a family of 4) that chit can get expensive real quick. Fresh fruits and vegetables will expire in about a weeks time and are not as calorie dense so even if they are cheap you're buying so much more of it.

Also, food deserts are a real thing as well. They are usually incredibly rural or high crime areas where your typical grocery store cannot exist to make a profit so only fast food and gas stations exist. When I loved in New Mexico i witnessed it first hand in a town called Springer. It's a literal ghost town.

Some of these places are lucky to have a Dollar General as their grocery store and of course no fresh anything there.

[DuracellBunny]

This.

Rice
Frozen peas
Cheap frozen fish (alaskan pollock or similar)
Chicken stock cube
Garlic

~$1 per portion

[BigRangs]

....but its true. The op is correct of you're only eating rice and beans 24/7/365, but if you're buying fresh produce (especially for a family of 4) that chit can get expensive real quick. Fresh fruits and vegetables will expire in about a weeks time and are not as calorie dense so even if they are cheap you're buying so much more of it.

Also, food deserts are a real thing as well. They are usually incredibly rural or high crime areas where your typical grocery store cannot exist to make a profit so only fast food and gas stations exist. When I loved in New Mexico i witnessed it first hand in a town called Springer. It's a literal ghost town.

But these people aren't buying dollar items, they're buying supersized combos and chit.

[AriGhold]

Certainly there is personal responsibility that goes into it. If you want something bad enough you will make the extra effort to try to make it possible. But it’s not simply an economic issue as our society as a whole has a poor relationship with food. Obesity isn’t limited to the lower economic classes.

A few factors that do play into it:
-often times grocery stores are further away or difficult to reach via public transit, especially by bringing home multiple bags of food
-going to the grocery store for the week may be cheaper in the long run, but for someone living paycheck to paycheck it may be easier to buy $5 of fast food rather than $50 in groceries at a time. This is solved by planning, but could be complicated.
-working multiple part time jobs makes it difficult to grocery shop/cook at home
-lack of a proper pantry and cookware
-poor nutritional education
-addiction to sugar/fatty foods


Telling someone how to cook cheaply is like telling them how to save for a rainy day. What makes the most sense on paper doesn’t always play out when life gets in the way.

[AlwaysFocus]

I mean time is money, we make alot at home but also get takeout once in awhile. But thats from restuarants or Pho places.

Some of it is a rip off, but some is not. Definitely do not eat "fast food" as a dinner though, if anything its in a pinch for convenience in a time when I might be rushed.

[z4v4]

Eating out is always more expensive relative to the same food, but unhealthy food, per calorie, on average, is cheaper. You can buy 3 pounds of pasta for $2, that's like 4800 calories. Try seeing how many calories from fresh vegetables you can get for $2.

[Dave22reborn]

Some of these places are lucky to have a Dollar General as their grocery store and of course no fresh anything there.

Some of you watch waaaaay too many movies.

[AriGhold]

Some of you watch waaaaay too many movies.

Help us out. Go door to door on your next shift. We can come up with poll questions and get to the bottom of this.

[Dave22reborn]

Eating out is always more expensive relative to the same food, but unhealthy food, per calorie, on average, is cheaper. You can buy 3 pounds of pasta for $2, that's like 4800 calories. Try seeing how many calories from fresh vegetables you can get for $2.

Cut out the booze and cigarettes then, now whats the excuse?

[Dave22reborn]

Help us out. Go door to door on your next shift. We can come up with poll questions and get to the bottom of this.

I'm talking about the lack of grocery stores.

One year in, has Whole Foods helped fix one of Chicago’s toughest neighborhoods?

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.mar...E-5F86E81714D2

Have organic veggies, a full butcher’s case and stacks of sparkling LaCroix at Whole Foods helped transform one of Chicago’s poorest and most violent neighborhoods?

It’s been one year since the long-anticipated Whole Foods Market opened in Englewood, a contributor, mostly through gang activity, to Chicago’s infamously high murder ranking. It’s also home for hard-working families struggling to thrive in a “food desert” that lacked supermarkets much beyond the couple of grocery aisles in the drugstore or liquor store.

[NYPat]

I'm talking about the lack of grocery stores.

One year in, has Whole Foods helped fix one of Chicago’s toughest neighborhoods?

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.mar...E-5F86E81714D2

Have organic veggies, a full butcher’s case and stacks of sparkling LaCroix at Whole Foods helped transform one of Chicago’s poorest and most violent neighborhoods?

It’s been one year since the long-anticipated Whole Foods Market opened in Englewood, a contributor, mostly through gang activity, to Chicago’s infamously high murder ranking. It’s also home for hard-working families struggling to thrive in a “food desert” that lacked supermarkets much beyond the couple of grocery aisles in the drugstore or liquor store.

Probably still out of their price range. Just a guess.

A local teacher told the Tribune that he sees teachers, cops, social workers and people aimed at “gentrifying” the neighborhood shopping when he shops there, but doesn’t feel it’s yet the go-to for locals.

[StoliFun]

Cooking at home is cheaper. It is also rather less convenient and requires planning and skill, and many people dont live in bourgeois communities like many of us where we are only a few miles away from multiple supermarkets, farmers markets, farm stands, etc. Grocery shopping can become a lot less convenient when you live in the ghetto and rely on the bus.

[Dave22reborn]

Probably still out of their price range. Just a guess.

They have a Food 4 Less as well, now what?

Also, they're given one of the best grocery stores, and you still have excuses?

[Dave22reborn]

Cooking at home is cheaper. It is also rather less convenient and requires planning and skill, and many people dont live in bourgeois communities like many of us where we are only a few miles away from multiple supermarkets, farmers markets, farm stands, etc. Grocery shopping can become a lot less convenient when you live in the ghetto and rely on the bus.

Latino neighborhoods are filled with farmers markets, they made it happen.

And I just provided an example of 2 grocery stores being in a neighborhood that is 20 square blocks.

[Godfrd824]

The answer is obvious to anyone who isn't brain dead, but in years past the argument was that poor people could only afford to eat unhealthy options, that somehow McDonalds was cheaper than buying groceries and cooking for yourself.

You know, because Poor people couldn't be at fault, it couldn't be their own choices which cause them to eat unhealthy fast food more frequently than healthier options.

... one thing with this quarantine, I expect most of us are cooking more for ourselves. Does anyone still maintain unhealthy choices are cheaper than taking time and cooking for yourself at home?

A McDouble costs about $1.50. Tell us, can you make a burger for $1.50? How about $5?

A burger made at home is technically cheaper than one bought from McDonald's, but you're not thinking critically. You can't go to the store and buy 3oz of beef, one bun, two slices of cheese, a slice of pickle, and 1/4th ounce of minced onion, and one tablespoon of mayo, mustard and ketchup. No, you need to buy $15 worth of ingredients, and then you need to take time to cook it, and you have to know what you're doing, or it will taste like shyt. Also, junk food and fast food is all fortified, trying to get all of your micronutrient needs from a wholesome organic meal on the cheap is almost impossible.

[Mark1T]

I make casseroles with healthy ingredients, like: chopped fresh baked chicken breasts, leg or thigh, non-fat cream of mushroom soup, chopped onion, low-fat mozzarella and I change up some other ingredients and bake. Or, I will make enough lasagna sauce to last all week and make different dishes in the week with pastas, rice, pizza, lasagna. Or, make fresh black beans or pintos, mash them myself, make fresh guacamole, fry some good yellow corn tortillas, make fresh pico de gallo and eat meatless or add some taco meat.

I throw in some veggies. Much less spend than going out, but takes planning.

[DuracellBunny]

I make casseroles with healthy ingredients, like: chopped fresh baked chicken breasts, leg or thigh, non-fat cream of mushroom soup, chopped onion, low-fat mozzarella and I change up some other ingredients and bake. Or, I will make enough lasagna sauce to last all week and make different dishes in the week with pastas, rice, pizza, lasagna. Or, make fresh black beans or pintos, mash them myself, make fresh guacamole, fry some good yellow corn tortillas, make fresh pico de gallo and eat meatless or add some taco meat.

I throw in some veggies. Much less spend than going out, but takes planning.

If you like cooking, try fabada. Proper man food.

[Mark1T]

If you like cooking, try fabada. Proper man food.

I do and I will. Thanks.