Americans now spend more in bars & restaurants than grocery stores

[JGS1980]

We didn't eat out that much in the Before Times, and the pandemic has decreased our frequency even more. We used to eat out as a family about once a week. Now DH and I have "date night" about once a month (we get take out and drive to a scenic spot to eat) and once every 2 months we get take out for the whole family. One of the reasons is that due to the threat of food shortages last spring, I now keep a ridiculous amount of food in the house. We have a big selection of lots of things at all times. So I basically never opt for restaurant food just because I don't have anything inspiring in the house like in the olden days. I'm also never too worn out from my commute to feel like cooking.

I put in a garden last spring (see previous fears about not having enough food). Since I also now work from home the garden is extremely well tended and produced a ton of food last summer. It's relaxing to take a 10 min break to pull a few weeds and pick a snack. There's also no way I'm going to let any of that produce go to waste after I've put so much work into growing it. Turing the veggies into dinner is a pleasure rather than a chore. These are both habits I hope to continue with long term, but realistically I don't think I'll ever get over the anxiety I felt from worrying that we might not even have access to much produce.

Wins the thread

[partgypsy]

I really like the idea of going "out" to eat aka a picnic. Finally picnic weather!

[Reynold]

• Given the increased pressure on the daily schedule (work hours) and the unwillingness of men to share equitably in the household duties that still exist, the fact that food preparation has been outsourced to the public sector is not at all surprising. One could argue that this is true for other household duties as well--buy new clothes instead of sewing a pocket/hem, pay a maid service instead of doing one's vacuuming/dusting, etc.

This is a very good point, cooking is not the only thing outsourced by households compared to 20-30 years ago.  Growing up, I made some money mowing lawns, but I almost never saw a "lawn service" truck in the neighborhood doing lawn care (trimming, weeding, etc.) and I never even heard of gutter cleaning services.  Now, its a rare commute when I'm not detouring around a truck with crew doing lawn care, and we are constantly getting mailers for gutter cleaning and other services.  The grocery stores have much larger "pre-prepared" food sections than they used to.  Good luck even finding a fabric store with supplies to make or repair clothes, it is now a specialized hobby, not something anyone "normal" would do to save money. 

[dragoncar]

• Given the increased pressure on the daily schedule (work hours) and the unwillingness of men to share equitably in the household duties that still exist, the fact that food preparation has been outsourced to the public sector is not at all surprising. One could argue that this is true for other household duties as well--buy new clothes instead of sewing a pocket/hem, pay a maid service instead of doing one's vacuuming/dusting, etc.

This is a very good point, cooking is not the only thing outsourced by households compared to 20-30 years ago.  Growing up, I made some money mowing lawns, but I almost never saw a "lawn service" truck in the neighborhood doing lawn care (trimming, weeding, etc.) and I never even heard of gutter cleaning services.  Now, its a rare commute when I'm not detouring around a truck with crew doing lawn care, and we are constantly getting mailers for gutter cleaning and other services.  The grocery stores have much larger "pre-prepared" food sections than they used to.  Good luck even finding a fabric store with supplies to make or repair clothes, it is now a specialized hobby, not something anyone "normal" would do to save money.

Just a note, “public sector” doesn’t meant businesses it means government[/list]

[clarkfan1979]

I had a few friends that traveled quite a bit for their career when they were in their late 20's and early 30's. They had some very negative attitudes regarding the grocery store. This is mostly because they would go out of town for 4-5 days at a time and their food would spoil. They gave up on grocery shopping completely and just ate out at restaurants 24/7.

They tried to tell me that restaurants are cheaper than the grocery store. I was in grad school and I spend about $200/month on groceries. They spent around $25/meal. We lived in different states at the time, so they just said, "You don't know the groceries stores here. They are really expensive." Whatever.

[maisymouser]

We didn't eat out that much in the Before Times, and the pandemic has decreased our frequency even more. We used to eat out as a family about once a week. Now DH and I have "date night" about once a month (we get take out and drive to a scenic spot to eat) and once every 2 months we get take out for the whole family. One of the reasons is that due to the threat of food shortages last spring, I now keep a ridiculous amount of food in the house. We have a big selection of lots of things at all times. So I basically never opt for restaurant food just because I don't have anything inspiring in the house like in the olden days. I'm also never too worn out from my commute to feel like cooking.

I put in a garden last spring (see previous fears about not having enough food). Since I also now work from home the garden is extremely well tended and produced a ton of food last summer. It's relaxing to take a 10 min break to pull a few weeds and pick a snack. There's also no way I'm going to let any of that produce go to waste after I've put so much work into growing it. Turing the veggies into dinner is a pleasure rather than a chore. These are both habits I hope to continue with long term, but realistically I don't think I'll ever get over the anxiety I felt from worrying that we might not even have access to much produce.

Wins the thread

+1

[Chris Pascale]

Who are these Americans? I mean, I spend a ton on groceries, but less than $100 a year at bars, and couldn't say how much at restaurants, but for some perspective, I got my wife a $200 gift card to a French restaurant 6 weeks ago and we still haven't gone. Though she did use the $25 gift card to the taco shack I also got her pretty quickly.

[dragoncar]

Who are these Americans? I mean, I spend a ton on groceries, but less than $100 a year at bars, and couldn't say how much at restaurants, but for some perspective, I got my wife a $200 gift card to a French restaurant 6 weeks ago and we still haven't gone. Though she did use the $25 gift card to the taco shack I also got her pretty quickly.

Well you got her the gift card but that doesn’t mean she has to take you.  Presumably she already went with her boyfriend

[Chris Pascale]

Who are these Americans? I mean, I spend a ton on groceries, but less than $100 a year at bars, and couldn't say how much at restaurants, but for some perspective, I got my wife a $200 gift card to a French restaurant 6 weeks ago and we still haven't gone. Though she did use the $25 gift card to the taco shack I also got her pretty quickly.

Well you got her the gift card but that doesn’t mean she has to take you.  Presumably she already went with her boyfriend

Nice.

One night we were at a party and "50 Shades" was in theaters. She mentioned that she wanted to go so I told her if she wanted to watch that kind of trash she should ask her boyfriend.

Anyway, we kicked out of there about 9:30 and the theater was frickin packed. I'm rubbing elbows with this old lady and half of my not-necessarily-unwelcome comments went her way.

It was a good time.

[kuritzl]

I worked at BigFoodCo (name withheld to protect...)
50% of the revenue came from the food service division 50%, but was less than 5% of the food.