In spite of this, I wonder if the most efficient way for society to organize the “last mile” of food preparation would be… communal cafeterias. This assumes several prerequisite changes like spatially denser housing in tighter-knit neighborhoods or campuses where each person is a short walk from the dining hall. Preparing an individual meal is resource-inefficient. Most people probably have fridges less than half-full. Food spoils due to improper storage or inability to finish a jar within ~5 days of opening. Chest freezers don’t get used because they take up a lot of space. Why wouldn’t we take the benefits of industrialization and apply them to meal preparation?

I understand there are practical reasons for each person to have the skills to cook on their own. Certainly in my lifetime I think it will continue to be relevant for all the reasons you stated. But it seems unfortunate that cafeterias are seen either as decadent or for poors, with little space in between.

[–] 7bicycles@hexbear.net 1 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

I am rather sympathetic to the communist cafeteria everywhere system you describe but to be fair if the argument is fully industrialized for time saving canned and frozen meals except good for you and not expensive as all hell would be the way to go here. A microwave / oven combo plus a burner plate doesn't exactly take up much room and you'd skip all the labour cost of having the 24/7 cafeteria going plus spoilage. I think the cafeteria argument is better based on the social aspect honestly. Go with some people outside of your household, meet a neighbour etc. Basically the communist pub.

[–] quarrk@hexbear.net 1 points 42 minutes ago* (last edited 40 minutes ago)

I agree. Suppose you have the same cafeteria just package it up for you to heat at home instead of eating at home. That’s kinda what frozen dinners are, and why I don’t think they are bad in principle. Though, it is imperative that we abolish the single-use plastic and make them more affordable and nutritious.

The main benefit of canning/bottling is obviously shelf life, while prepared meals will expire in a couple days. So it needs to be local and accurately estimated.

[–] danisth@hexbear.net 8 points 22 hours ago

Pardon my bougie perspective because this comes from experience as a tourist, but I think many communities in non-western countries are already oriented this way. I had minimal daily budget so I found places where I could get a prepared meal for barely more than the raw ingredients, and many local families seemed to be there as a daily ritual, not some decadent dining out experience.

[–] DragonBallZinn@hexbear.net 5 points 22 hours ago

Retvrn to mead halls

[–] save_the_humans@leminal.space 3 points 20 hours ago

I dont think banks are friendly to handing out money to cooperatives, and laws and regulations arent exactly well established either, but if 12+ people with roughty $10k each could secure a 5% loan they could probably buy a big apartment building with room to spare. If they dont get outbid, and if the bank agrees, they could share resources, share meals, and "rent" on the loan would be much cheaper than paying a parasitic landlord. 120k is 5% of $2.4 million, and ive seen some nice places listed for that price range when I was doing the math. I forget how much monthy costs on the loan would be, obviously depended on the buildings occupancy, but I remember it was much cheaper than anything else.