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by aziaziazi·3mo ago·view on hn ↗
The comparaison of chicken and tomatoes is a strawman.

First off: people don’t swap them in their diet, a better exemple would be wheat or soy - which are what the 0.99/p chicken eat [edit: and it's closer in term of nutrients].

Second: the shelf price you mention includes gouvernement subsidies and economy of scale. The grains price should be the one paid by the fermer, adjusted for smaller packaging. Your comparaison may stands where you live because of political choices and societal evolution. It doesn’t in a more liberal and non regulated juridictions, does it?

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>The comparaison of chicken and tomatoes is a strawman.

It's a direct answer to the question asked by the parent.

The answer is: no, vegetables are not cheaper than meat in the US.

It is perverse. Which is my point: what enables the low, low price of chicken isn't merely the laws of supply and demand.

>First off: people don’t swap them in their diet, a better exemple would be wheat or soy

Those are not vegetables. Those are grains and legumes, respectively.

>Second: the shelf price you mention includes gouvernement subsidies and economy of scale.

No shit.

Which is my point exactly: the problem is addressed by government regulation, and exists because of government regulation, including, but not limited to, subsidies to particular forms of farming, and ag gag laws.

>Your comparaison may stands where you live

Well of course I can speak about where I live.

And yeah, we're talking in English on a US-based website (specifically, a Silicon Valley one). I am talking about the US, a country of about 350M people.

It's not like I'm talking about a small state few people have heard of with no impact on anything. The situation in the US matters because it influences a lot.

Canada isn't that different from the US food-wise, for that matter.

Ah I might be confused by my low english skills but it seems grains and legumes are vegetable. I was curious and a quick search returned several sources confirming that however I'd be pleased to learn other usages.

> a plant or part of a plant that is eaten as food. Potatoes, beans and onions are all vegetables.

https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/englis...

I'm don't want to argue on definitions though but the chicken/tomatoes comparaison hardly make sense in an answer to satvikpendem: he mentioned vegatable in comparaison to meat in a poor people diet. In that situation one would certainly aim mainly for cheap and nutritious staples AKA grains and legumes instead of tomatoes.

At least we agree on the regulation impact! I wish you a pleasant Californian day :-)

They are vegetables technically speaking, the parent is being too literal and obtuse with their inference of what I was talking about.
If you are going to be that literal then I'm not sure what to say. By vegetables yes I meant a plant based diet (including legumes and grains which are vegetables technically speaking) vs one with meat, not literally tomatoes versus chicken. You might have given a direct answer but it's not what was implied in the context of the thread. I do agree that there is a big problem with the current regulations and subsidies artificially pushing down the price of meat, yet even still it is cheaper to not eat meat. And I say this as someone who does eat meat.

Aside, I'm not sure why you're being so aggressive in your comments, it doesn't make for good discourse when one says things like "you've completely missed the point" or "no shit" or the oft seen pattern of quoting and rebutting each line. If I were to speak to my friends that way I'd quickly lose friends.