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Hacker School Soylent

cookingfor20.com

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Re: Hacker School Soylent

#51

Post by DanBC »

trcollinson wrote: post #38
run4yourlives wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Stop Trolling? Not everyone has access to proper ingredients/tools/knowledge that are required for maintaining a proper diet. Actually, everyone does have this. Whether they choose to use it is another story. I've yet to meet a person on this planet though that doesn't know that you can't survive on chocolate and potato chips. The stomach cramps are a pretty good clue. The vast majority of food is perishable and does…

Wow, I'm sorry but do you really believe this statement: "Actually, everyone does have this. Whether they choose to use it is another story. I've yet to meet a person on this planet though that doesn't know that you can't survive on chocolate and potato chips. The stomach cramps are a pretty good clue." Are you trying to say you have not met any person, ever, who does not have the money or ability to find good, whole…

> Are you trying to say you have not met any person, ever, who does not have the money or ability to find good, wholesome foods?

That isn't what they said.

> However, creating a less expensive, highly nutritious, complete food product that is shelf stable and easily transported would save 10's, maybe 100's, of millions of lives.

It already exists. The World Food Programme already has it. Soylent isn't doing anything new. Open Source Soylent isn't doing anything new.

Here's a list of the different feeds the WFP uses (http://documents.wfp.org/stellent/groups/public/documents/co...)

(https://www.wfp.org/nutrition/how-wfp-fights-malnutrition)

(https://www.wfp.org/nutrition/special-nutritional-products)

(http://www.irinnews.org/report/83124/malawi-cheaper-recipe-f...)

Notice that Soylent needs to be mixed with water. Clean water isn't easily available in many areas, so I'm not sure if Soylent are aware of that.

Re: Hacker School Soylent

#52

Post by DanBC »

camdykeman wrote: post #45
DiegoNolan wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I could and would argue that sleeping is a good use of time.

So if starting tomorrow, you knew that your body only required you to sleep for one hour a night to maintain and repair itself instead of 7-8 you would continue sleeping 7-8 simply because you think its a good use of time? I doubt it. You might still lay around in bed on your days off, or you might stay in bed to procrastinate when faced with something to do that day, but arguing that it would still be a good use of…

Most people genuinely would like to stay in bed for 8 hours a night, even if a safe, effective, NO_SLEEP_PILL was released that allowed your body to safely get by on just an hours sleep per night.

Sometimes people would chose to sleep less - crunching work, or partying, or whatever. But mostly I really think people like that time.

Re: Hacker School Soylent

#53

Post by DanBC »

camdykeman wrote: post #19

This mix is completely devoid of BCAAs. Soy protein has no branch chain amino acids - meaning it completely lacks THE fundamental building blocks used in building all bodily tissue. Look more into different kinds of protein. You might also want to do this for your carbs. Suggesting that brown sugar is a good way to "top up" our carb load is terrible advice - all cane sugars are simple sugars, meaning they jack up you…

> At least Rhinehart’s project is presented as an experiment

Wait, what? Have you read the crowd funding page for Rhinehart's project?

(http://www.soylent.me/)

It's terrible. It claims it's safe, and puts you in optimum health, and etc etc.

> Theres an ethical responsibility involved in projects like this that the OP is blatently neglecting.

I agree. I think these are terrible ideas.

Re: Hacker School Soylent

#54

Post by camdykeman »

run4yourlives wrote: post #35
camdykeman wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its not about whether you "like food" or not. • Not everyone has access to proper ingredients/tools/knowledge that are required for maintaining a proper diet. • The vast majority of food is perishable and does not transport/keep/distribute well. • Lots of people like food too much and overindulge. Your analogy of sex would be more appropriate if you made it analogous to sleep. Many people out there love to sleep. But…

Stop Trolling? Not everyone has access to proper ingredients/tools/knowledge that are required for maintaining a proper diet. Actually, everyone does have this. Whether they choose to use it is another story. I've yet to meet a person on this planet though that doesn't know that you can't survive on chocolate and potato chips. The stomach cramps are a pretty good clue. The vast majority of food is perishable and does…

I'd like to point out that I'm as skeptical of Soylent as anyone else, but I'll start from the top.

Your synical tone, mocking comments, and blatant insults - based entirely on personal opinion - classify this as trolling.

Saying that everyone has access to food/tools/knowledge... i dont think I really need to touch this, Im sure even you realise your error in making this comment.

As for storage/transport vs local growing - go grow a sustainable crop during a drought. Grow one in contaminated or depleted soil. Grow one during a war. If you can manage any/all of these things then Soylent is the least of your problems because you've just solved the global food crisis and you're an international hero so you don't need to be bothering me anymore.

Overindulgance & Slimfast .... slimfast only demonstrates the validity of portioned drinks as a weight-controller so I'm not sure where you're going here.

There is no race to win - find a competetive career and get back to me on this one. Also, just because you choose how to spend you time doesn't mean there is no 'inefficient' or 'wasted' time. Go stare at the wall repeating "gummybears" in your head for the next hour and then tell me all about the value you found in it.

Lastly, whats 'abnormal' is saying "I don't get how anyone sees a positive outcome for [40% of people too damn fat for their own good]".

Writing off 40% of the population simply because they suffer with food and weight problems. THATS abnormal.

Re: Hacker School Soylent

#55

Post by jljljl »

trcollinson wrote: post #38
run4yourlives wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Stop Trolling? Not everyone has access to proper ingredients/tools/knowledge that are required for maintaining a proper diet. Actually, everyone does have this. Whether they choose to use it is another story. I've yet to meet a person on this planet though that doesn't know that you can't survive on chocolate and potato chips. The stomach cramps are a pretty good clue. The vast majority of food is perishable and does…

Wow, I'm sorry but do you really believe this statement: "Actually, everyone does have this. Whether they choose to use it is another story. I've yet to meet a person on this planet though that doesn't know that you can't survive on chocolate and potato chips. The stomach cramps are a pretty good clue." Are you trying to say you have not met any person, ever, who does not have the money or ability to find good, whole…

Soylent.me is selling a month supply of soylent for $270 (International). That requires a wage of $9 per day, which is well above the $1 per day poverty limit. On an annual basis, that comes down to $3,240 per day, more than the per capita GDP of some of the countries outside the US to which you are likely referring [1].

What about at scale? A 14 oz. tin of Ensure powder costs $9 at Walmart [2]. It provides 7 servings, which comes out to $1.29 per meal or $3.30 per day. Cheaper, but still not quite there - It would need to sell for I'm sure it's possible to supply Ensure/Soylent at a sufficient price, especially if you subsidize it heavily through government programs or charity. But this of course get's into the distribution and logistical problems that really plague attempts to solve food shortages through clever solutions. This also ignores the potential negative economic and political impacts of making entire countries reliant on a food product distributed to their people through an outside agency.

All this is to say, I do not think this is as clear cut a solution as you are pointing out.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nomin... [2] http://www.walmart.com/ip/Ensure-R-Powder-Vanilla-14-oz-can/... [3] I know using Walmart's price isn't a perfect analysis, but I needed a quick reference to frame the conversation

Re: Hacker School Soylent

#56

Post by DanBC »

dpcx wrote: post #25
DanBC wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Walgreens sells Ensure. ( http://www.walgreens.com/search/results.jsp?Ntt=ensure&x=-18... ) A six pack costs $8.50 ( http://www.walgreens.com/store/c/ensure-nutrition-shakes-liq... ). Each bottle is one serving, and contains 250 kCalories. ( http://ensure.com/products/ensure ) Here's a list of the Walgreens locations in SF. ( http://www.walgreens.com/storelocator/result.jsp?oTrk=1&_req... )

Have you ever actually drank Ensure? I like them. But I need at least 2, sometimes 3, to actually feel full. That's still $4 or so for a meal.

Yes. I think they're revolting. I wouldn't be able to live on them.

I didn't search for the cheapest option, so maybe the cost could come down a bit? I don't know if the other products make you feel fuller?

You're right about it being an expensive way to live.

Re: Hacker School Soylent

#57

Post by tantalor »

freeasinfree wrote: post #36

"I’m putting this and future recipes on GitHub, and when I get a chance I’ll add data on individual ingredients and nutrients, probably as Ruby hashes and JSON objects." Why? Why does everything have to be treated like code?

Perhaps so you can tweak it to your tastes, e.g., "extra 10% carbs for me, please."

Re: Hacker School Soylent

#58

Post by DanBC »

guizzy wrote: post #29
derekp7 wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So this is different than Slimfast -- how? From what I understand, Slimfast is pretty close to a meal replacement. Or is this intended to be in the same category?

Slimfast and other similar meal replacements (like Ensure) are not really balanced for normal, active people. They're meant for people who want to diet or are unable to eat solid food.

> [...] meal replacements (like Ensure) are not really balanced for normal, active people. They're meant for people who [...] are unable to eat solid food.

Ensure (etc) are aimed at medical uses. That's because most people find the idea of liquid feeds weird.

But if you want to live on liquid food there's nothing to stop you using Ensure, even if you're a fit healthy active person.

Re: Hacker School Soylent

#59

Post by DanBC »

jonathanjaeger wrote: post #37

"...soon I wouldn’t be in Boston to benefit from the group’s joint purchases of 50-pound sacks of maltodextrin." Everybody seems to be harping on the issue that they like eating food, so why replace it. I'd love to have a great on-the-go shake that's better than meal replacement alternatives, however all this emphasis on maltodextrin as the main carb source makes me reconsider ever buying these Soylent, or similar, p…

> I'd love to have a great on-the-go shake that's better than meal replacement alternatives,

What are meal replacement alternatives? (Things like Ensure or slimfast? or something else?)

What would make Soylent or OSSoylent better than meal replacement alternatives?

Re: Hacker School Soylent

#60

Post by tantalor »

jack-r-abbit wrote: post #11

This is the first I'm hearing that "soylent" is "an open-source food movement". I thought is was one guy that tried some stuff and now is starting to build a start-up around it. It also seems weird that what is labeled as the flagship “distro” of this so-called open-source movement is not actually open-source. So now I'm confused. Is this just a wording issue I'm confused about? Are we using "open-source" for everyth…

I think the author is a little confused. The Soylent Corporation (soylent.me) has not said anything about publishing or "open-sourcing" the recipe. I doubt they would.

They will be required publish the nutrition facts and ingredients, but that's not the same as a recipe.

Also, "Soylent" at this point refers to their product, so using their name for your DIY version risks serious trademark infringement.

EDIT: They do plan on publishing the "formula" (http://discourse.soylent.me/t/will-the-official-soylent-reci...)

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