

Why a Big Mac Costs Less Than A Salad - physcab
http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/09/why-a-big-mac-costs-less-than-a-salad/

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lotharbot
A McDonalds salad costs more than a Big Mac because McDonalds salads typically
come with meat (chicken or bacon). Both of those meats are at least as
expensive as ground beef. The rest of the stuff in a salad (veggies, cheese,
dressing) are more expensive than the rest of the parts of a burger (bun,
condiments). A salad is also more labor-intensive to put together, and
requires greater care to avoid contamination.

When I make burgers and salads at home, it costs me about half as much for a
dinner plate sized salad (no meat) as it does for a quarter pound burger.

Food subsidies are not the major cost driver.

Previous comments on this subject:
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1299264> (me)
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1179551> (cperciva)

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byoung2
One point I didn't see mentioned in the article is that in the case of the Big
Mac, it's likely that McDonalds sells the burger at a lower profit margin so
that they can sell more fries and drinks (the real moneymaker). I'd like to
see the data, but I'd bet that 95% of Big Macs were sold as part of a combo
that included fries and a drink, and 95% of salads were not. To my knowledge,
salads are not included in any value meals at McDonalds. Couple this with the
fact (mentioned in the article) that the ingredients in a Big Mac last longer
in storage than those in salads.

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goalieca
Cutting the corn subsidies would make just about all bad food more expensive.

