$1500 to Make a Sandwich From Scratch

[Ben]

Actually an interesting perspective on just what it takes to produce the fixins for your sammy. Obviously he went a little overboard with things like flying to the ocean for salt water for salt, but otherwise, a pretty good summary of the growing, raising, and killing (and work!) that goes into an everyday food item like a sandwich. He does a whole video series on this, which I'm going to check out, but the video at the URL gives a good executive summary.

http://fortune.com/2015/09/23/1500-sandwich-from-scratch/

[brimic]

IOW, capitalism builds wealth through refining resources into better products, then trading those products for other refined products. Everyone gets wealthier and a higher standard of living in the process.

That sandwich costs $5 in America... probably actually does cost $1500 in venezeula.

[Ben]

Unless I missed something, I don't think the guy was making any political statement, I think he was just doing a hipster thing. I thank God I live in a country where I can either go into a sandwich shop or by all the ingredients at the grocery store, all for a pittance and with a negligible time commitment.

I just thought it was an interesting process from the POV of TEOFWAWKI and I have a hankerin' for a sandwich. My dad always talks about how they grew all their own food on their farm in Germany. About the only things they bought at the store were sugar and salt. They took wheat to the miller and traded "X" bushels for "Y" kg of flour, but made their own butter, cheese, etc. and grew all their own meat, vegetables and fruit. They did some trading with neighbors, but otherwise food was work, and it required processing equipment as well.

[French G.]

Hey, it's my BLT standard! I like dabbling with self sufficiency, but I have for a long time said if you can make a BLT entirely out of your back yard, only then can you claim self sufficiency. L and T easy. B starts easy, but now grow food for the proto bacon and house it. Now process and cure it. Voila, bacon! Crap, no bread..... Oil for mayo..... Seems like a lot of work.

Then you get to all the B's the sammich maker wants and she isn't making any since you haven't finished her list while you were screwing around with that smelly pig!

[Ben]

Hey, it's my BLT standard! I like dabbling with self sufficiency, but I have for a long time said if you can make a BLT entirely out of your back yard, only then can you claim self sufficiency.

Really, instead of money, he should have tied it in to time. From the time it takes to grow the plants or the meat, to the time and the labor of making the condiments.

[MechAg94]

Really, instead of money, he should have tied it in to time. From the time it takes to grow the plants or the meat, to the time and the labor of making the condiments.

I am thinking more like the number of hours in a year to make a sandwich every day. 

Either way, I have heard it talked about before that Americans spend less % of their income on food than just about anywhere else. 

[RoadKingLarry]

I have many times made entire meals of food produced/taken on my own property.
Pork and occasionally venison and fish.
Potatoes, corn, wheat for bread, tomatoes, beans or whatever else I could grow in my garden.
Fruit and honey for sweets. I did briefly dabble in egg production and had a couple of dairy goats but I don't have time at the moment for too much in the way off livestock. I did have to buy hay and feed but did a bit of trade/barter for some of that even.
About the only thing I can't really produce or procure locally other than retail is salt.
I've gotten lazy the last 6-7 years and would rather spend my free time simply messing about in boats.

[Perd Hapley]

https://youtu.be/R5Gppi-O3a8

[Firethorn]

Unless I missed something, I don't think the guy was making any political statement, I think he was just doing a hipster thing. I thank God I live in a country where I can either go into a sandwich shop or by all the ingredients at the grocery store, all for a pittance and with a negligible time commitment.

Well, also a statement of economics, cooperation, and all that, much like the video of Milton that fistful linked.

Really, instead of money, he should have tied it in to time. From the time it takes to grow the plants or the meat, to the time and the labor of making the condiments.

But time equals money, so same thing in the end.

[RoadKingLarry]

https://youtu.be/R5Gppi-O3a8

You/He/They didn't build that...

[Scout26]

We need Mr. Friedman....

[Ben]

But time equals money, so same thing in the end.

This is true, but perception-wise (at least mine) I'd about pay the $1500 before I went through all that work. 

I'd actually be interest in the time/money differentials for each successive sandwich after the first one. I would think at sandwich #2, you'd already be down to $150 and also about 1/10th of the hours. Of course I guess that goes up again (for time at least, since your food sources should be reproducing, so you're not buying seed or animals) with the first sandwich of season #2.

[MechAg94]

This is true, but perception-wise (at least mine) I'd about pay the $1500 before I went through all that work. 

I'd actually be interest in the time/money differentials for each successive sandwich after the first one. I would think at sandwich #2, you'd already be down to $150 and also about 1/10th of the hours. Of course I guess that goes up again (for time at least, since your food sources should be reproducing, so you're not buying seed or animals) with the first sandwich of season #2.

That is why I was curious about a sandwich every day for a year.  Once you have farming and such going, the cost/hours would level out at some point.