• stray@pawb.social
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    12 hours ago

    Sorry if I’m misunderstanding the problem, but aren’t foods like beans and rice which can be ordered in bulk online a good solution for people stuck in food deserts? I would think that anything with a long shelf life would be superior to perishables. (American eggs have to be refrigerated, right?)

    • Croquette@sh.itjust.works
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      10 hours ago

      It’s a multifaceted problem, and you are thinking in terms of people getting the best for their money instead of people being starved and trying to make a dollar last.

      1. Buying in bulk is expensive upfront. If you are squeezing pennies, it is probably not an option for you.

      2. Eggs have different nutrients that beans don’t have. One of them being fat for example. If you can’t get it from eggs anymore, you need to add that cost as well to your expenses.

      3. People that lives day to day with a squeezed budget have to pivot right now, as in today, to different sources of food. I can afford to phase out expensive food from my diet, but for many people it’s the difference between starving or not today. If you already don’t have much options, switching on a dime isn’t realistic.

      • stray@pawb.social
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        8 hours ago

        you are thinking in terms of people getting the best for their money instead of people being starved and trying to make a dollar last.

        I’m not, actually. When I say “in bulk” I don’t mean a 20kg sack. 500g of rice or dry legumes goes a long way for a low price.

        When we were starving we mostly got whatever was on sale or short-dated, so we ate different things all the time out of necessity, but dry goods were always reliable, which is why I asked about them.

        • Croquette@sh.itjust.works
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          7 hours ago

          Dry goods are still reliable, but the issue at hand is that a dozen eggs are now 8-9 dollars, and that rise was pretty fast.

          People relying on eggs for survival and not part as a diversified diet need to switch to other sources right now which they might not have available. You won’t survive on rice only. Beans should definitely be added to your diet for their health benefits and as a way to be less insecure with food. However, eggs were also playing that part and now it’s not reliable anymore.

          In a vacuum, it isn’t that big of a deal, but in reality, already strained people are even more strained right now and the egg prices exploding is just another kick in the guts.