Vegan vs cow beef costs

Also, McDonalds is now more expensive than Chipolte (adjusted for the size of the meal). Chipolte bowls are massive compared to a burger.

If I were poor, I would only eat sugar and drink kitchen oil. Cheapest price per calorie. As for vitamins, I would get those by foraging food.

Maybe rice, potatoes and flour are also good price.

Avoid vegetables and fruits and meat at all cost. Too expensive.

As for protein, cheapest sources are milk, peanuts and eggs.

For sugar, cheapest source is obviously sugar itself.

For oil and fat, kitchen oil is cheapest.

With these 5, you cover all basic calories, at a price which is much lower than what Americans usually pay for food.

You also cover a lot of vitamins with kitchen oil, milk, peanuts and eggs.

Vitamins which lack are Vitamin C and Vitamin K a bit, but you can make up for these by occasinally eating a lemon and spinach, or by saving money by simply foraging a bit for food if there are such areas in your area.

A little bit of AI correction here:

Your argument is largely correct from an economic perspective: a surprisingly cheap diet can provide most of the calories and macronutrients necessary for human survival and basic functioning.

However, there are a few nutritional distinctions worth making.

1. Your five basic foods

Food Main nutritional contribution

Milk Protein, fat, calcium, B12, riboflavin

Peanuts Protein, fat, vitamin E, magnesium, niacin

Eggs Protein, fat, vitamins A, D, B12, choline

Sugar Cheap carbohydrates and calories

Vegetable oil Extremely cheap calories, essential fatty acids (depending on oil)

Together, these provide:

1. Carbohydrates
2. Protein
3. Dietary fats
4. Essential fatty acids
5. Several important vitamins and minerals
6. A substantial amount of daily energy at relatively low cost.

2. What is missing?

There are some nutritional gaps beyond vitamin C and K.

Nutrient Potential problem Cheap solution

Vitamin C Very little Lemon, cabbage, peppers

Vitamin K LowSpinach, cabbage, wild greens

Fiber Very little Beans, cabbage, wild plants

Potassium Potentially insufficient Potatoes, beans, vegetables

Iodine Depends on milk and other foodsIodized salt

Omega-3 Potentially insufficient Flaxseed, walnuts, certain oils

One important distinction: vegetable oils aren't interchangeable. For example, sunflower oil provides vitamin E but relatively little omega-3.

3. Foraging could reduce costs further

Common Nettle - The Foraging Foodie

Dandelion. Freshly picked dandelion leaves in plate.

Foraging in March: spring's edible plants - Woodland Trust

4

Depending on the area, some inexpensive or freely available nutritional sources include:

1. Nettle: vitamin C, vitamin K, minerals.
2. Dandelion leaves: vitamins A, C and K.
3. Chickweed: vitamin C and other micronutrients.
4. Wild garlic: vitamins and minerals.

Naturally, correct identification is essential. Some poisonous plants resemble edible ones.

4. The bigger economic argument

Your idea illustrates an important distinction:

The cost of obtaining sufficient calories and essential nutrients is not necessarily the same as the cost of eating a varied, convenient and enjoyable diet.

A person doesn't necessarily need expensive meat, processed foods, supplements or elaborate meals to meet basic nutritional requirements.

There are two things I would change in your proposed diet:

1. Include some cheap vegetables or legumes regularly rather than relying on occasional vitamin supplementation through foraging.
2. Don't let sugar and oil dominate calorie intake. They are cheap energy sources, but provide very little nutritional value per calorie.

Overall, your five-food foundation is economically interesting, but adding a few inexpensive foods such as cabbage, beans and potatoes would make it considerably more nutritionally complete.

After discussing it with AI, cheapest complete diet might be this:

Sugar, kitchen oil, milk, eggs, peanuts, spinach and lemon, potatoes, salt, cabagge, sunflower seeds, walnuts, hazelnuts, apples, ground flaxseed,

Walnuts, hazelnuts and apples are optional, someone who has land to grow them on gets them cheaper.

All the items you listed have gone up in price.

Still the cheapest options.

When I was growing up, a McDonald's opened up in our neighbor hood. This was in the 1950's The total cost for 3 meals was $1.

Its 1$ now too. You can buy 1 kg of sugar for around 1$. Thats 3300 calories, almost 2 days worth of calories.

The problem with people is that they buy expensive food and then complain that food is expensive. Just buy cheaper food.

I went over it with AI, and cheapest full diet is probably this:

1. Milk
2. Eggs
3. Peanuts
4. Flaxseeds
5. Spinach
6. Cooking oil
7. Iodized salt
8. Sugar
9. Potatoes
10. Cabbage
11. Carrots

The cost of this diet is basically just 100$ a month in USA, according to AI.

Of course, if you prefer an incomplete diet, you can just go with milk, eggs, sugar, kitchen oil, cabbage, and salt, and maybe potatoes. Price of this is just 60$ a month.

With your graduate degree in nutrition from Trump University, who are we to argue.

Poor people cant care for nutrition. Healthy nutrition is a privilege of the wealthy class, not poor class or plebs. Not that average American diet is actually healthier than the one I wrote.

But sugar is fuel for brain, so if poor person eats more sugar, poor person becomes smarter, and maybe even succeeds in life by climbing up to lower middle class.