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How America got hooked on ultraprocessed foods

nytimes.com

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Re: How America got hooked on ultraprocessed foods

#41

Post by thatfrenchguy »

FirmwareBurner wrote: post #31
SirFatty wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"...how hard it is to find healthy food options compared to the unhealthy ones." Sure, if you limit your purchases to Dollar General and Casey's. If you spent time in an actual grocery store, you'd find that your comment isn't true.

>If you spent time in an actual grocery store, you'd find that your comment isn't true. Also as "an European" whatever that means, I only spent a couple of months in the US as a tourist, and had no issues finding healthy foods from leafy greens, to good meats in places like Wholefoods. If he couldn't find it while actually living there, tells me he's not commenting in good faith.

I mean, Whole Foods targets upper middle class folks, you’re far away from the average American experience

Re: How America got hooked on ultraprocessed foods

#42

Post by lapetitejort »

johnrob wrote: post #13
Herring wrote: post #5

For convenience, my rice cooker has been a godsend. I'm basically making homemade chipotle bowls every day.

If you don’t have one, try an Instant Pot which can pressure cook (in addition to rice cooker features). Dry beans can be ready to eat in an hour.

Similarly, get a sous vide setup with vacuum sealer. Buy chicken breast and dump it into a bag with a bunch of seasoning. Because sous vide heats it just above bug-killing temperature and will not burn the meat, you can leave it in for an indeterminate amount of time (on the scale of hours, not days) and take it out when desired.

Re: How America got hooked on ultraprocessed foods

#43

Post by garciasn »

vel0city wrote: post #28
garciasn wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Depends on the grocery store. If you shop exclusively at Target, a company that caters primarily to those who ‘prepare’ as opposed to those who ‘cook’ you’ll find less healthy options than actual grocery stores.

That depends a lot on the Target. One location around me only has a very small produce section for their groceries with everything else pretty much being prepackaged products. Another location has quite a large produce section along with a deli, a butcher counter, and a bakery.

I was speaking about SuperTargets, not standard Targets.

And I’m not sure why folks are downvoting this; objectively, Target has limited and terrible selection compared to standalone grocers.

Re: How America got hooked on ultraprocessed foods

#44

Post by SoftTalker »

vector_spaces wrote: post #33
SirFatty wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"...how hard it is to find healthy food options compared to the unhealthy ones." Sure, if you limit your purchases to Dollar General and Casey's. If you spent time in an actual grocery store, you'd find that your comment isn't true.

In large swaths of the country, these "non-grocery stores" are a lifeline, as they are the only option. In others, you don't even have that -- gas station convenience stores might be that lifeline instead. [1] I am familiar with what the grandparent is referring to, having spent a decade running purchasing teams in US grocery stores. Even in urban areas with many different food retail stores, a typical supermarket in…

For most US supermarkets, shop around the perimeter and avoid anything in any of the center aisles. While individual floor plans vary, that tends to route you to the fresh produce and meats and dairy and avoid most of the ultraprocessed packaged stuff.

Re: How America got hooked on ultraprocessed foods

#45

Post by nradov »

throwway120385 wrote: post #30
nradov wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every grocery store where I've shopped has yogurt with no added sugar. It's right there on the shelf, just look at the label. Antibiotic resistance is a concern but the FDA has made progress in that area. https://www.fda.gov/animal-veterinary/safety-health/antimicr... The EU bans routine antibiotic use for promoting animal growth but antibiotics are still widely used for other purposes. https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/n…

It's marked as "plain" yogurt. You can still find adulterants in it, just not added sugars. For example Trader Joe's "plain yogurt" is a mixture of yogurt and buttermilk.

I don't understand your comment. Trader Joe's sells plain yogurt with no added buttermilk.

https://www.traderjoes.com/home/products/pdp/greek-whole-mil...

Or you can buy essentially the same thing for less at Walmart.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Mountain-High-Low-Fat-Yogurt-Vani...

While there are some people who live in "food deserts" with very limited options, complaints by most HN users about the difficulty of finding healthy food don't align with reality.

Re: How America got hooked on ultraprocessed foods

#46

Post by dgfitz »

Der_Einzige wrote: post #34
SirFatty wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"...how hard it is to find healthy food options compared to the unhealthy ones." Sure, if you limit your purchases to Dollar General and Casey's. If you spent time in an actual grocery store, you'd find that your comment isn't true.

To be clear, "actual" grocery store for the purposes of finding reliably fresh and healthy food includes one of the following: 1. Upscale western grocery stores and markets, ideally located within the biggest and most affluent city possible. Pikes place market would be a great example of what I'm talking about for you seattle folks. 2. Asian grocery stores, like "H-mart" 3. Farmers markets, but these are hit and miss…

> America just sucks for foodies who don't have unlimited time to get through the slop.

I think by definition, being a “foodie” means you have, and enjoy finding, the time to sort the wheat from the chaff. Nobody has unlimited time for anything.

“I want to be be a ‘foodie’ but really I just want to be judgy” is a weak argument.

Re: How America got hooked on ultraprocessed foods

#47

Post by nradov »

vector_spaces wrote: post #39
nradov wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every grocery store where I've shopped has yogurt with no added sugar. It's right there on the shelf, just look at the label. Antibiotic resistance is a concern but the FDA has made progress in that area. https://www.fda.gov/animal-veterinary/safety-health/antimicr... The EU bans routine antibiotic use for promoting animal growth but antibiotics are still widely used for other purposes. https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/n…

> Every grocery store where I've shopped has yogurt with no added sugar. It's right there on the shelf, just look at the label. Large parts of the US are designated as food deserts, where one's best option for groceries might be the convenience store attached to a gas station. Good luck finding plain yogurt with no sugar added there. Your specific experience is exactly that. [1] https://ers.usda.gov/data-products/cha…

Food deserts do exist but appear to have no meaningful effect on eating habits.

https://news.uchicago.edu/story/food-deserts-not-blame-growi...

Re: How America got hooked on ultraprocessed foods

#48

Post by SoftTalker »

at-fates-hands wrote: post #25
Insanity wrote: post #2

As a European who moved to Canada and spends a fair amount of time in the States, one thing that really surprised me is how hard it is to find healthy food options compared to the unhealthy ones. Food was a bit of a concern before moving, but I didn't know just how frustrating it would be. Even something as simple as Yogurt is usually insanely sweet / sugary compared to European variants. Ingredients that are banned…

My weekly routine now consists of going to local farmer's market and buying stuff from farms I trust. Going to local butchers to get grass fed, naturally raised meats. Then off to the local grocery store to get whatever else I need that week for the stuff I prepare at home. If you want to eat healthy, you certainly can, but takes quite a bit of effort and some additional cost. Processed and ultraprocessed food has ju…

I don't know why farmers markets are given such a benefit of trust. They are largely unregulated and uninspected. And you'll pay $8 for a head of lettuce.

Re: How America got hooked on ultraprocessed foods

#49

Post by atmavatar »

SirFatty wrote: post #32
garciasn wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Depends on the grocery store. If you shop exclusively at Target, a company that caters primarily to those who ‘prepare’ as opposed to those who ‘cook’ you’ll find less healthy options than actual grocery stores.

Target (and Wal-Mart) are not grocery stores. Sure they have groceries, but a limited select selection compared to a proper store.

That's not quite true for Wal-Mart.

There exist Wal-Mart Supercenters which are basically a full-blown grocery store combined with a traditional Wal-Mart store.

There also exist Wal-Mart Neighborhood Markets which are regular grocery stores.

It's not uncommon for some people to refer to all of them as simply "Wal-Mart", especially if only one of them exists locally.

Re: How America got hooked on ultraprocessed foods

#50

Post by technothrasher »

nradov wrote: post #45
throwway120385 wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's marked as "plain" yogurt. You can still find adulterants in it, just not added sugars. For example Trader Joe's "plain yogurt" is a mixture of yogurt and buttermilk.

I don't understand your comment. Trader Joe's sells plain yogurt with no added buttermilk. https://www.traderjoes.com/home/products/pdp/greek-whole-mil... Or you can buy essentially the same thing for less at Walmart. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Mountain-High-Low-Fat-Yogurt-Vani... While there are some people who live in "food deserts" with very limited options, complaints by most HN users about the difficulty of find…

Even if they did add buttermilk, it would almost undoubtedly be cultured buttermilk, which is really nothing more than very thin yogurt. So I'm not seeing what the issue would be with Trader Joe's adding yogurt to yogurt.
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