On Sun, 09 Dec 2007 10:24:07 -0800, Darren New wrote:

> Incidentally, in the US, it's often cheaper to eat out at an inexpensive
> restaurant (like pizza of McD) than to buy fresh food to prepare at
> home. That's why poor people get fat here.

I don't know about cheaper, but easier it certainly is.  Especially with 
a bunch of kids that need to be fed.

I've noticed the disparity between the cost of healthy food and the cost 
of "junk" food and have commented on it to friends/family around here; 
$0.75 for a Coke vs. $1.50 or $2.25 for a bottle of orange juice, that 
sort of thing.

But we've done a little analysis on our own menu (as we used to eat out 
several times a week) and have found, for example, that going out and 
having chicken fettuccine is much more expensive than making it at home.

4 portions of the above made at home costs us about $4.  Getting it while 
eating out costs nearly $35.

Similarly, if we were to make 1/4 lb hamburgers at home, the cost works 
out to about $1.25 using organic beef.  If we got lower quality beef, we 
would be sub-$1.  The disparity in cost isn't as large as something like 
the chicken pasta.

It does, of course, help to have equipment to make the food in, and as a 
throwaway society, we tend to spend more on the equipment than we should 
(because we have to buy it several times).  So equipment costs aren't 
factored into those costs.

But the number of times I've made homemade fettuccine, the cost of the 
pasta roller/cutter (and the Kitchen Aid mixer it attaches to) is down to 
pennies per serving.  But having been near bankruptcy myself years ago, I 
know that paying the bills and buying equipment to make good inexpensive 
food is nearly impossible.

Jim

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