It's pretty SAD, but i at least usually limit soda to the occasional treat, enjoy snacking on seeds and nuts rather than chips, and usually enjoy white meat over red. I doubt the cereal i eat is as healthy as advertised, but onions are apparently great and i put those on everything i cook.

Growing up, my diet was almost 100% SAD, with one exception: even poor kids in America generally get fruit. Fruit was available, even if it was just apples/oranges/bananas most of the time.

Almost everything was packaged or made with packaged products (casseroles--the great mid-late-century family filler!). A good home-cooked meal was a meat, bread (or other carb such as pasta or possibly potatoes), and a canned vegetable. This was largely not the fault of my parents; neither of them were taught to cook and both were young and poor. My mother and her siblings weren't even allowed in the kitchen and their generation still had few men who knew how to feed themselves. Of course, that neither of them ever learned to cook is much more on them.

Fortunately for me, I had a natural love of food and curiosity for all things foreign, so I taughtmyself to cook when I was an adolescent. Once I was able to drive, I took over all the grocery shopping.

These days, my diet is maybe 30% SAD. Worse than it used to be because I can no longer cook as much as I used to (disability/health issues) and rely on instant food or delivery more than I would like. I also enjoy the occasional junk food, of course. Mostly, I live on seafood, produce, and simple carbs (white rice or noodles).

Everything is expensive around here so I mostly buy what grows locally or what comes from Madagascar/SA/Réunion..... we're at the end of lychee season now but we've been having about a kilo a day for the past month. It's reasonably cheap for what it is, between 4 and 7e/kg. Mangoes are ending also, haven't had so many this year. I made juice from carambolas the other day. I gotta say I'm guilty of falling for a pastry once in a while, but luckily my wife like to bake so I know what I'm having is reasonably healthy. I must rank low on this sad scale, I guess.

Standard Australian diet

Standard addictive diet

It has global appeal, one of America's big cultural exports is industrialized food!

Tbf the image shown is the snack aisle, but other aisles also exist like with meats, fruits, veggies, milk, etc. It's possible to eat healthy by purchasing food from a grocery store, though not so easy - it takes willpower and discipline, and knowledge, and money - and even more, if you grew up eating unhealthy, then it's even all the more difficult to turn that around to do differently.

Trader Joe's is amazing:-). I highly recommend it if there is one anywhere remotely near someone, and even if there is not then to travel some distance to stock up occasionally. At least in comparison to a grocery store aisle such as shown in the picture, though food from local farmers is surely even better (and I dunno about Whole Foods - probably better still, just perhaps not worth selling a kidney to purchase?).

I estimate my SADness at perhaps 50%, which took enormous effort to even come this far, and it works for me for now. A fruit or sometimes two a day, veggies and beans, even a low level of candy to feed my soul, though I weaned myself off of many forms of that.

Hrm, perhaps everything in moderation, including the practice of moderation itself!? :-P

My diet isn’t too SAD most of the time. 3 meals a week are Blue Apron, which is kind of pricey, but it’s a much healthier option and has taught me how to actually cook. It’s a lot of chicken, salmon, rice, and vegetables. The meals are usually too big, so I take leftovers as 3 lunches a week.

The rest of my meals are sandwiches or salads from local places that are healthier, with a splash of frozen vegetables with rice and usually chicken.

I fill up on seltzer, tea, and water, so I tend not to snack too much. And I try to keep better snacks like fruit and nuts more often than chips or cookies.

My diet has improved considerably since November. I have made a consistent effort to improve my overall health these last few months and that has included improvements to my diet. I have cut all fast food, cut sugary drinks, and have focused on eating only homecooked meals that include lots of veggies, rice, and lean meats. It's been great, and I must say I also feel better for it too. The most notable change is I don't feel so bloated all the time, which is something I had noticed in the past but didn't pay much attention to because it was kinda the norm for me with my old crappy diet. It was well worth the efforts to change.

My diet is very different from this because I don't eat animal products BUT that does not mean my diet is healthy. I eat ridiculous amounts of potato and nuts

The past few years I have been really focused on improving my diet. I especially thank the YUKA app that helps me identify food with additives and toxic shit they put in the foods. It’s quite fucked what they put in our food.

Here is an example of one ingredient in typical ramen noodles…

Quite, lots of pasta and bean tacos, but I don't eat meat except seafood and I try to eat whole wheat and fresh fruit for lunches I pack for work.

I genuinely try so hard. I love cooking, and im the main chef of the family. Really thought id turn it into a career at one point.

The bottom line for everyone is money. Its just unsustainable for most people to prepare food. The price of everything fresh has doubled or tripled, while pre packaged garbage is the same price (or maybe a few cents more than it used to be). My household just got out of qualifying for poverty assistance stuff, we make about 60 a year. I cannot fathom being where i was when i was 18 but in todays america.

I genuinely feel so awful for the younger generation. The min wage federal is the same dogshit its always been. I live in a state that has 15$ min but too little too late, its not enough today. I cant imagine these kids are eating better than i was their age. In fact im willing to bet they eat worse in general than i did.

It feels like were watching the fall of america happen in real time. Food is just one of the many many symptoms of a waning empire.

I grew up with a lot of the "SAD" staples, but my mom always made sure we also had fresh fruits and vegetables, and nearly always ate home cooked meals as opposed to fast food. As an adult, I've carried a lot of those habits with me and continue to at least try not to be a complete fuck with my diet. Though I do enjoy sandwiches of all types lmao

My diet is pretty SAD. It's probably higher quality than average, since I'll avoid the cheapest possible foods that are chock full of artificial this or that, but it's still not as good as eating real food.

It's probably less SAD than my fellow Americans, but still pretty rough. I don't drink sugary drinks and heavily limit the amount of fast food I consume. When I do go out to eat, I stick to local restaurants; I haven't had any of the major chains in years. I can't afford red meat anymore, so my main sources of protein are tinned fish or chicken breasts. Those chicken breasts are part of the problem though, I buy lots of breaded chicken cuts that I can just throw in an air fryer. It's not Tyson, so a little bit better, but still probably not great for me. I also do lots of boxed pastas, usually with canned veggies added in, neither of which I think are that healthy really.

Part of my issue is that I just don't enjoy cooking. Mom hated it too, and I think that rubbed off on me during childhood. I make food pretty purely for sustenance, and see it as a chore.

I'm mostly on keto. so no bread or sugar.. basically 98% of grocery stores are off limits which has been great for weight loss and oddly enough saving money.

I get many looks when buying like 10 racks or ribs, and 4 whole turkeys lol