Food is cheap when labor costs are low all along the supply chain.
So this is kind of giving us a preview of what meals will cost when food production and meal prep are automated.
India's Indira canteen: The best meal you can buy for 13 cents
111–120 of 168 posts
Re: India's Indira canteen: The best meal you can buy for 13 cents
#112For those pointing out that this is "Govt. distortion of markets", please see Agricultural subsidies offered in the US and Europe, which "distort" markets a lot more. Personally, I think this is an excellent idea. I really liked the story of the lady who said that her morning had been freed because she did not have to cook breakfast anymore. And for many of those using this place, it would similarly free up their tim…
During the Second World War, Britain had hundreds of subsidised restaurants. They played an essential role in mitigating the worst privations of rationing, providing a nourishing meal for about $2 in today's money. The restaurants were so popular that many remained open until the 1950s. This policy might be a vote-winner, but it's an honourable vote-winner. Quite aside from the obvious humanitarian justification, inv…
> investments in nutrition have a tremendous RoI
For a US example, school free lunch programs were instituted in 1946 after the US army found that a substantial number of WWII rejected draftees were rejected because of malnutrition problems.
Re: India's Indira canteen: The best meal you can buy for 13 cents
#113I believe these are subsidized (the article does mention economists complaining that these are a drain on the exchequer). A more subtle point is that these subsidized "canteens" are in urban India, which is already much better off than rural India, where people even now regularly die of hunger[1]. I'm not saying urban poverty isn't a real issue, but the scale of poverty in rural India is much greater. It's worth noti…
> It's worth noting that you can get free food in many places in India (and in some cities in Europe and the US), via the Sikh langar[2] which is funded by charity and volunteers. Incidentedly, Indira Gandhi (After whom the Indira canteen is named) was assassinated by Sikhs. Does the naming of the canteen have anything to do with the assassination ?
I doubt the naming has anything to do with it. It is a nice initiative and independent of any attempts to tie it to any history and good to see initiative to see happening in other areas of India.
Sikhs from the Punjab province of India have a free community kitchen for anyone from any background to break bread together, each day.
It is a vegetarian meal designed to express and practice equality among all of humanity and was in part meant to abolish the caste system.
Anyone can go into any Sikh place and have a free meal anywhere in the world. I don't have the link handy but it works out to a few million meals a day around a the world for free, paid for solely by donations.
Re: India's Indira canteen: The best meal you can buy for 13 cents
#114I have seen these in bangalore, in fact there is one very close to my office. One of the things that concerns me with such projects is that how they effect other eateries in the area. The one near my office that opened recently is on a street with about 5 other eateries. Having a eatery which is subsidized by government distorts this local market and adversely affects the other businesses in the area since they also…
Doesn't this also open up the opportunity to value add? If the food is bland they can sell sauce packets to spice it up, sides, drinks, etc. The money they saved on food could be money they now have to spend on other things.
Re: India's Indira canteen: The best meal you can buy for 13 cents
#115I believe these are subsidized (the article does mention economists complaining that these are a drain on the exchequer). A more subtle point is that these subsidized "canteens" are in urban India, which is already much better off than rural India, where people even now regularly die of hunger[1]. I'm not saying urban poverty isn't a real issue, but the scale of poverty in rural India is much greater. It's worth noti…
There are not that many Sikhs around. 22 million in a country of 1.2 billion. Most live in the north. You can't easily go get food from Sikhs.
There is a large Sikh diaspora in my country, Canada. Anyone can go into a Sikh temple here and be fed, although I don't imagine many people know that.
Also, every week a Sikh group feeds the homeless and disenfranchised on East Hastings in Vancouver.
So yes, I can in fact easily get food from the Sikhs. :) And I have, when I was amongst the disenfranchised. It was very appreciated.
Re: India's Indira canteen: The best meal you can buy for 13 cents
#116To all of you arguing about how this is a market distortion; about economists who argue about "drain on the exchequer"; and to those logicians arguing about fallacious fallacies - did y'all have breakfast this morning? Yes? Good. Well, those people eating in those canteens might not have been able to have breakfast, but for those subsidized canteens. We should not put economics and "the market" on a pedestal. If something is the right thing to do, it is the right thing to do. As someone pointed out, Britain provided subsidized restaurants. US provides farm subsidies. "Market" is good if it does good for the people. Otherwise there is no point in being wedded to an ideology.
Re: India's Indira canteen: The best meal you can buy for 13 cents
#117Earlier quoted context omitted.
You are committing a fallacy fallacy fallacy. If an argument is fallacious, it definitely is wrong. The proposition supported by that argument might still be right however.
If an argument is fallacious, it definitely is wrong. F^4: Not necessarily. For example, some would argue that an argument is not necessarily "wrong" if it is logically sound and produces a correct conclusion, even though it is fallacious because unbeknownst to the participants there is both a false premise and countervailing unknown factor. See Gettier Problems: http://www.iep.utm.edu/gettier/ . F^5: The notion that…
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Re: India's Indira canteen: The best meal you can buy for 13 cents
#118Earlier quoted context omitted.
For some of the poor, just like they don't have access to food, they don't have access to contraceptives (or sex education).
As an aside, India's birth rate has been dropping precipitously over the last few decades. In 1960 the birth rate was 5.9 per woman; today it's 2.4 and still falling. India's birth rate is now lower than America prior to 1970. At current trends, the birth rate in India will drop below the replacement rate within a decade. https://www.google.com/publicdata/explore?ds=d5bncppjof8f9_&...
I'd be shocked if it hadn't it's a trend that recurs every time a country improves it's economic state and women become part of the work force.
Re: India's Indira canteen: The best meal you can buy for 13 cents
#119Earlier quoted context omitted.
There are not that many Sikhs around. 22 million in a country of 1.2 billion. Most live in the north. You can't easily go get food from Sikhs.
There is a large Sikh diaspora in my country, Canada. Anyone can go into a Sikh temple here and be fed, although I don't imagine many people know that. Also, every week a Sikh group feeds the homeless and disenfranchised on East Hastings in Vancouver. So yes, I can in fact easily get food from the Sikhs. :) And I have, when I was amongst the disenfranchised. It was very appreciated.
How is the wealthiest province of Canada even remotely comparable to India in the aggregate?
Re: India's Indira canteen: The best meal you can buy for 13 cents
#120To all of you arguing about how this is a market distortion; about economists who argue about "drain on the exchequer"; and to those logicians arguing about fallacious fallacies - did y'all have breakfast this morning? Yes? Good. Well, those people eating in those canteens might not have been able to have breakfast, but for those subsidized canteens. We should not put economics and "the market" on a pedestal. If some…
What makes you think that US farm subsidies are a good idea?