
Where even Walmart won't go: how Dollar General took over rural America - axiomdata316
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/aug/13/dollar-general-walmart-buhler-haven-kansas
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freedomben
> _Dollar General’s aggressive pricing drives locally owned grocery stores out
> of business, replacing shelves stocked with fresh fruit, vegetables and meat
> with the kinds of processed foods underpinning the country’s obesity and
> diabetes crisis._

I'm sympathetic to this, truly. I believe that our food is killing us. The
processing, use of GMOs, pesticides, and insane levels of sugars are making us
sick.

That said, I'm torn economically here. If these towns are really doing that
bad, is making food cheaper really evil? Isn't processed food better than no
food? I used to be that poor, and I would have much preferred food that is bad
for me to food I couldn't afford.

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warent
I'm not convinced that the only economically viable options are "affordable
processed foods or expensive good foods." Put on your tinfoil hat, because
those being the only options is actually an artifact of a rigged system that
is manufactured by massive food industries which exist on selling obsolete
products/ingredients.

For example, sugar as a sweetener in soft drinks and juices is now obsolete.
It can easily and affordably be replaced with stevia. But massive sugar
companies are already making loads of money selling their product, so they
have no reason to pivot.

