I agree, people are lazy slugs! They take the easy way out, often unhealthy! Watch the movie "Walley"! That is where we are heading! Go anywhere and you see, fat, wobbly, sickly, people, barely able to waddle from their cars into the store to buy more garbage food!
They ride those electric carts, which their grotesk and immense bodies almost hide the electric carts! Sickening to see how big they are!
I have been cooking for my wife and daughter for over 25 years! I love to experiment, I use mostly fresh ingredients. i love my wok, frypan, and pressure cooker! I can make anything nyou throw at me, even game animals. Squirrel, venison, rabbits, to name a few. Garlic is my favorite spice, next to salt & pepper, thyme and rosemary! I just made a whole Turkey, it was so good, I made pan gravy, just by adding a little water and cornstarch mix. White rice and some vegees. We had a royal feast! My daughter loves to come home from college just to enjoy my cooking! This Easter I made a traditional, roast pork, rubbed with garlic, coarse salt, pepper & oregano! Suculent! Sweet taters, rice & beans! Heavenly! I am healthy, don't smoke or take anything other than a few aspirins now and again. I keep active, firewood, organic gardening, quad & motorcycle riding, auto repair, oil changes, tune ups, hobbies- too numerous to mention, and so much more! We just got a Wii and I love to do the dance routines and sports games! More exorcize for me the better! I have no doctor, except a good friend, who does plastic surgery! He can't believe I don't go to his friends, the other doctors. I say, "if I'm not sick why go " he laughs and says I'm right! So wake up people, drop the junk food and live healthy! Real men don't cook, HA HA HA !

Perhaps youv'e outlined the answer to your own question.It isn't the money.It isn't for health and longevity.It is for self indulgence.We will have our comforts and when we are denied them,we will find what we want elsewhere.It isn't even a lack of self discipline which would imply a lack of ability to "do whats best". I like it! I want it! I'll get it......

So your complaining that people buy spam instead of turkey or chicken...? Hmm... and I though Cancer was important.

Most Americans do not take into fact the cost in the long run just the one in the present and already ready to be cooked. The most sad part is Americans many of them go to fast food restaurants and or buy pre-heat meals that cost more than the fresh whole meat that is most likely cheaper. If we spent less time spending on quick meals and more on healthier and probably cheaper meals maybe we be a bit more rich and more healthy.

But pre-packaged food comes pre-poisoned! Lead and Botulism, yay!

I have noticed this phenomena in many others (some rather close to me, actually) where they'd rather buy a bunch of 99 cent boxes of frozen food (about 2-4 ounces) then get the fresh and have to make it themselves, despite the fact that fresh is both cheaper and healthier :-)

Someone I respected (but I forget exactly who) once said "being poor is expensive." For instance, your fresh alternatives assume refrigeration, cooking equipment, assorted pots and pans, some talent, some (personal) energy, and time that is not just "available" but also "convenient" to a normal eating schedule. But yeah, I'm always a bit shocked at what people consider "inexpensive" eating. For the cost of a meal at McDonalds, you can eat SO much better. If you (can and will) cook, or at least investigate. There seems to be a whole class of food that people have labeled "expensive and difficult" just because it's served in good restaurants (at a high price). but it's really not... (Other examples. A regular school lunch I pack for my son is some pre-cooked (frozen) shrimp. Sure, they're $8/lb or so (two-pound bag from costco), but a serving is about 1/5lb. And last week I sent an Artichoke to school for my daughter's lunch ($2.50?) (incidentally impressing her classmates. Though it really wasn't that much tougher to prepare than a sandwich.) Compare to the "hot lunch" served by the school for $4-7...)

Don't even get me started on this topic... people that eat fast food everyday and buy things like Kraft mac'n'cheese and Spam make me crazy. They say they're too busy to cook and that it's too expensive, and that's so wrong. I work 40+ hours a week as a manager, go to school two days a week, and intern two days a week and I still find time to cook nearly everyday. And sometimes, when I feel lazy, I don't go out and waste my money on empty calorie fast foods. I'll make something like quesadillas, grilled cheese, peanut butter and jelly with a side of fruit or even just eat a bowl of bran cereal and be happy. :P I think the real problem is that cooking has stopped being passed down. It's not really taught in schools anymore. People are very hopeless when it comes to that sort of thing. They just don't know any better. This, I guess, is yet another reason why I've chosen to be a health educator. ;)

Can you buy pre-prepared SPAM fritters in the USA?

L

I have only ever used Spam one time.....many years ago, I wanted to bring a dish to our church picnic, and so I got a fairly uncomplicated recipe for scalloped tators n cheese, that called for about a pound of ham. My parents had no ham in the house, but we did have this can of Spam no one seemed to want. It actually turned out very good, but I wouldn't eat it unless it was nearly hidden in a casserole like I did with it. . .

answer d) All of the above. By the way, you buy ground beef at $2.52/lb which is ground up mystery beef trimmings of maybe 10-20% saturated fat, whereas the Bottom Round Roast from probably a single source of cow with maybe some fine marbling at $2.19/lb could be ground easily at home. So, more proof for the pudding.

Basically, Americans, and money-conscious people in general, have a theory - If it is in a can, it must be cheap. "Oh! A can of greenbeans is sixty nine cents! Holy s***!" Too bad they don't realize that they can home can their own for even less. And the only good spam is when it is eaten camping. When camping, everything tastes good, with the exception of bacon flavored spam. That is never good.

Yes but SPAM is good. In Hawai'i we make SPAM Musube. It is a block of rice with a slice of SPAM fried terriyaki placed on top and wrapped in nori seaweed. It's not the price. People are just now discovering how MMMMMMMMMMmmmmmmm Good ! Dr.Bill 73's

Tool, it appears that you have not heard that "man's intelligence has a limit, but not his stupidity". That you raise is undeniable, but a slight sample. How do you explain smoking? What about addictions in general? And wars? And fundamentalism? I am happy to consider myself a "reasoning person", but they are innumerable the stupidities that I have committed (and continue to commit, if health permits me) throughout my life.

(Tool, parece que no te has enterado de que "la inteligencia del hombre tiene un lìmite, pero no así su estupidez" Eso que tú planteas es innegable, pero es una ligera muestra. ¿Cómo explicas el hábito de fumar? ¿Y las adiccones en general? ¿Y las guerras? ¿Y los fundamentalismos? A mí me satisface considerarme una "personal racional", pero son incontables las estupideces que he cometido (y seguiré cometiendo, si la salud me lo permite) a lo largo de mi vida.)

Haha yeah, I have thought about this before and your 110% right.

XD