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McDonald's is losing its low-income customers

latimes.com

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Re: McDonald's is losing its low-income customers

#431

Post by dyauspitr »

shagie wrote: post #275
ponector wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>>> decent equipped kitchen, with enough room, knives and other tools are needed But you don't need too much to cook a healthy food. One pan, one pot, one knife and a spatula. Yes, not everything could be cooked with such setup, but tons of healthy cheap food.

The per person time commitment and food options for cooking for one is difficult. I would contend it's harder to cook a balanced meal for one person than it is for a family of four. Buying things with portions for single servings has a premium on the price. Buying things at family size portions means that you have to have that for four nights in a row otherwise you've got wasted food (that is more expensive than the…

Caloric intake != healthy, good food to be obvious

Re: McDonald's is losing its low-income customers

#432

Post by wahern »

johnisgood wrote: post #331
andyjensen wrote: post #319

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you are having a too black and white opinion on the issue. As a founder it is actually cheaper for me to spend 1000$ on restaurant and take-out food per week than wasting time cooking for myself. Plus you support local businesses by eating out

It is cheaper to spend 1000$ on a restaurant than to take an hour or two to cook a very low-effort food that takes max 2 hours to cook and lasts for 3 days? I'm genuinely baffled. Personally I would not call it a waste of 2 hours. Either way, if you can afford it, then Godspeed. :D I definitely do not have 1000 USD per week for food. I do not even have 100 USD per week for food.

I have a friend who, once he started steadily making mid-high six figures in Silicon Valley, began taking the HOV lane on his commute into work, despite driving alone. The calculus was easy. Assuming $500,000 salary (I think he made more), 8 hour days, 50 weeks a year, that's $250/hour. As a manager, he couldn't shuffle his schedule around very easily, unlike when he was programming and could come in late and leave late, or when you're a young programmer and come in early and leave late (or just sleep under your desk). The 30+ minutes saved during his commute each day was well worth the amortized cost of some tickets, and that's before accounting for the stress saved, marginal value on the dollar, additional personal time, etc. Though, when he told me this he hadn't yet accumulated many, if any, tickets, and I don't think automated occupant detection had been installed.

In the past couple of years there's now a toll option for some HOV lanes, which is how it should be. He's generally a very conscientious person, but time is money, particularly so when you're well remunerated.

Re: McDonald's is losing its low-income customers

#433

Post by IAmGraydon »

globular-toast wrote: post #254

I think the sad thing is that "high earners" are eating at McDonald's now.

Are they though? I work in an office full of high earners and can’t remember the last time I saw a McDonald’s bag. I actually have access to McDonalds foot traffic data (also due to my work) and will have to run an analysis to see what trends I can uncover.

Re: McDonald's is losing its low-income customers

#434

Post by GOD_Over_Djinn »

fragmede wrote: post #409
GOD_Over_Djinn wrote: post #394

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s not anti-social, it is pro-social. To stand for the right of people to live freely, for children to get an education and to socialize with their peers, for businesses to serve their communities and provide jobs for people to feed their families. You are the anti-social one, who would condemn entire populations to house arrest based upon dubious-at-best ideas. In my city, even outdoor gatherings of more than five…

Basic logic here: the things you’re defending only work when the people who make them possible aren’t getting knocked out by uncontrolled spread. Kids don’t get an education if teachers and staff are sick. Businesses don’t serve communities if workers are out in waves. Families don’t stay afloat if workplaces shut down because too many people are ill. You can absolutely critique the execution and the results. Plenty…

[flagged]

Re: McDonald's is losing its low-income customers

#435

Post by wahern »

hyperpower wrote: post #295
bastawhiz wrote: post #292

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I went to the grocery store and bought six meals worth of whole foods for two people two weeks ago. Rice, veggies, two fish meals, two meals based on eggs (I already had the eggs), one meal based on chicken. Thirty grams of protein for each meal. I had staples in my pantry already. I aimed for 2200 calories per person per day. I didn't buy organic because it's more expensive. This wasn't Whole Foods or some bougie st…

$35 for 6 meals for two people at McDonalds? What? Where I live, one meal at McDonalds is about $12. So 6 * 2 * 12 = $144. Not that much of a difference. Also, if you aimed for 2200 calories per person per day with that $170, then it isn't really fair comparing to a single McDonald's meal, is it? It sounds like buying whole foods is cheaper.

Does McDonalds not have the $5 McValue Meals where you live? In the Bay Area, $5 + tax gets you a McChicken, 4 chicken nuggets, small fries, and small drink. $6 to upgrade to a McDouble cheeseburger instead of the McChicken. Altogether ~1000 calories per meal.

That's darn good value for your money, at least for a prepared hot meal that's convenient in most locales. $5 for ~1000 calories, plus the ingredients are fortified; the lack of fiber notwithstanding, it's not a horrible thing to eat several times a week. I live in SF where McDonalds is not very convenient, and where food prices, including prepared takeout, aren't too bad if you know where to go--my wife sometimes brings empty casserole dishes to one of our friendly neighborhood Chinese restaurants to fill up, without paying extra, though for us it's fortunately more about convenience when raising two kids with a bunch of extracurriculars than it is about penny pinching.

FWIW, I love cooking and cook as much as I can, usually at least 3 times a week, which with leftovers means 4 or 5 dinners. But between cooking, cleaning, and shopping, it can be be quite time consuming, and excepting myself, the rest of the family isn't keen on eating beans 3 nights a week. (I'm only allowed to make Red Beans & Rice a few times a year. Ditto for similar big pot meals :(

Re: McDonald's is losing its low-income customers

#436

Post by smcameron »

iteria wrote: post #410
epolanski wrote: post #358

I never understood how can eating at McDonald's be cheaper than cooking your own meals. I'm not from US, but checking US grocery shops, you can eat meals made of chicken breast, bread and vegetables well below 5$ per person, well below 20$ in total for a family of 4. Yet every time I see those discussions, fast food is always presented as a cheaper option?

When you are a single person, the math changes. It can be cheaper or even break even to eat out every day. Especially if you lack the ability to eat and/or store the minimum package amount before it goes bad. This was a massive issue in my youth before I could save up buy stuff to make things last longer in the freezer while still tasting good. It was literally break even to cook vs eat out. Thus it was actually more…

> When you are a single person, the math changes.

No, you just have to cook meals that freeze well and learn to use your freezer.

Re: McDonald's is losing its low-income customers

#437

Post by rootusrootus »

diogenescynic wrote: post #381
rootusrootus wrote: post #263

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I certainly got tired of the people who decided the answer was to become antisocial and not even try to mitigate the risks, and then shame anyone who did. Lost a bit of my faith in humanity. Well, more than a bit, I think.

>I certainly got tired of the people who decided the answer was to become antisocial and not even try to mitigate the risks, and then shame anyone who did. Lost a bit of my faith in humanity. Well, more than a bit, I think. The masks didn't do shit and neither did vaccinations. It was all scaremongering. Don't you get it? Israel had nearly 100% vaccination rate but didn't do any better than Gaza which had none. Masks…

> Is it willful ignorance?

I think it might be. In my experience, the ignorance goes together very closely with political ideology. That also ends up being a pretty good predictor of who thinks masks were supposed to protect the wearer versus who thinks they were to try and slow down the transmission rate from infected people.

Anyway ...

West Bank and Gaza: 941.84 deaths per million people, 29% vaccination rate by end of 2021.

Israel: 887.20 deaths per million people, 64% vaccination rate by end of 2021.

Re: McDonald's is losing its low-income customers

#438

Post by _heimdall »

ac29 wrote: post #423
_heimdall wrote: post #418

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd be curious for a silent down vote to actually comment here. Do you take issue with the prices of meat and produce in my area?

I didnt vote one way or another but its odd to compare the cost of meat to the cost of produce. Far different calorie density and nutritional profile. Maybe your point is that you spend about as much on meat as you do on produce, but that depends on your specific diet since they are not equivalent food groups.

The prior comments were discussing the cost of healthy meals.

Calories aren't a good measure of anything beyond burning your food. Unless your body works similar to a steam engine, it really doesn't matter how much energy you can put into water by setting your food on fire.

My point was simply that I spend roughly the cost of quality meat in my area is on par with or cheaper than quality produce given what I need to put into a meal to feel full and satiated. My point isn't that I eat only meat, I don't know the last time I had a meal that didn't also include vegetables or bread, for example. I was only calling out that one doesn't need to stick to vegetables for a reasonably priced healthy meal, at least where I live.

Re: McDonald's is losing its low-income customers

#439

Post by ragequittah »

vunderba wrote: post #421
johnisgood wrote: post #378

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It still baffles me that people compare cooking to playing an instrument. It really is not that difficult to cook, depending on what it is. Do people know how to make schnitzel (breadcrumbed meat)? Make fries? Make rice? Make boiled potatoes? Or are those things difficult as well? Making a stew out of legumes is not that difficult either. Boil your legumes, then mix eggs, flour, and paprika together, put it in oil, h…

Agreed. The analogies to playing a musical instrument or speaking a foreign language are pretty silly. Cooking (provided you have access to some simple cookware) is literally printing out the recipe and FOLLOWING THE DAMN INSTRUCTIONS . If that’s beyond someone’s abilities then I weep for the general state of mankind.

You can get good enough cookware for the price of a couple of McDonald's meals too. We don't all need $100 pots and pans. I feel like the people arguing that cooking is a giant obstacle can't be doing it in good faith. Watch a YouTube video and throw a couple of eggs in a $10 pan already.

Re: McDonald's is losing its low-income customers

#440

Post by vivzkestrel »

delichon wrote: post #209

> Her brother, who works as a cashier, can’t afford meals out at all, she said. The cost of his diabetes medication has increased greatly, to about $200 a month, which she helps him cover. This is an often unacknowledged part of the cost of fast food. It turns susceptible people into diabetics. As a diabetic there is little I can eat there, since I manage it with food not drugs. When I do I get a burger and throw out…

very stupid question, why dont we have a startup say from india that ships container full of diabetes meds directly to people that need them and a person in the USA who handles the distribution. Even with shipping cost included, I dont think it ll be more expensive
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