# You are allowed to have food in two out of three ways. Pick your two: Fast, Fresh, Free. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 3, 2016, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-allowed-to-have-food-in-two-out-of-three-ways-pick-your-two-fast-fresh-free/767554 "2016-10-03T06:49:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Roland\_Orzabal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@Roland\_Orzabal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roland_Orzabal)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2016, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-allowed-to-have-food-in-two-out-of-three-ways-pick-your-two-fast-fresh-free/767554/21 "2016-10-03T14:21:54Z")
Fast and fresh, no question. There’s plenty of absolutely amazing food around the world that can be had for next to nothing. Even if we’re not allowed to go international (or there’s a price conversion or somesuch), instant access only to places I’ve already visited within the continental U.S. would result in me spending slightly less money for much better food than I currently do. The only exception would be if there were no rules on sharing, at which point the power to summon instant sub-par eats at will would make for a hell of a combination lunch counter/charity model. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2016, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-allowed-to-have-food-in-two-out-of-three-ways-pick-your-two-fast-fresh-free/767554/22 "2016-10-03T14:29:52Z")
Fresh and Free hands down! I barely eat on a normal schedule as it is, so this is friggin perfect. And I don’t have to pay for food ever again? Apologies to the poster up above, but this would save me a ton of money that I could use in the long-run. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2016, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-allowed-to-have-food-in-two-out-of-three-ways-pick-your-two-fast-fresh-free/767554/23 "2016-10-03T15:59:18Z")
Hmmmm… _fresh_ Twinkes! ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2016, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-allowed-to-have-food-in-two-out-of-three-ways-pick-your-two-fast-fresh-free/767554/24 "2016-10-03T16:14:20Z")
If this is truly forever then free will have to be one of my choices. It is ridiculous to say we basically eat for free now. Food takes up way to much of my budget as it is. I can afford it now but in a few years when I want to retire it will be more important to have the savings. Waiting 5 hours is out if it means no ice cream ever again. So I’ll take fresh. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2016, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-allowed-to-have-food-in-two-out-of-three-ways-pick-your-two-fast-fresh-free/767554/25 "2016-10-03T16:19:55Z")
Fast and fresh. I value the experience too much to care a lot about what it costs. _Especially_ since the OP specifies that my costs will remain the same. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2016, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-allowed-to-have-food-in-two-out-of-three-ways-pick-your-two-fast-fresh-free/767554/26 "2016-10-03T17:02:09Z")
> [@kk\_fusion](#): > > Fast and Fresh. As others have remarked in this forum, food is such a small part of the average American’s expenses that it is basically free already. Hardly free, but yes, Fast and Fresh after the Op’s clarification of what he meant. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2016, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-allowed-to-have-food-in-two-out-of-three-ways-pick-your-two-fast-fresh-free/767554/27 "2016-10-03T17:22:48Z")
If I choose fresh and free, what happens when I go to a restaurant? (Which is where I will be eating a lot of the time since it’s free.) I sit down at the table, order a salad to start, a filet mignon with two sides, and a bottle of decent red wine. What do the waiter and the kitchen staff do? ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2016, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-allowed-to-have-food-in-two-out-of-three-ways-pick-your-two-fast-fresh-free/767554/28 "2016-10-03T17:26:22Z")
fast and fresh. The price of food doesn’t bother me. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2016, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-allowed-to-have-food-in-two-out-of-three-ways-pick-your-two-fast-fresh-free/767554/29 "2016-10-03T17:42:40Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Fast and fresh. I value the experience too much to care a lot about what it costs. _Especially_ since the OP specifies that my costs will remain the same. Exactly. The way I’m looking at it is that the options we’re presented with are that if we don’t choose “Fast” or “Fresh”, there’s a clear negative component- the food is deliberately much slower than your current norm, and much less pleasant than the current norm. If you don’t choose “Free”, nothing really changes. So for me, I’d happily take instantaneous awesome food for the normal prices- it’s a win-win. Any of the other options that I’d get for free would be a wash at best, and depending on how I feel about cold/stale/melted food or waiting 5 hours past the point when I’m ready to eat, potentially a big negative situation. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2016, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-allowed-to-have-food-in-two-out-of-three-ways-pick-your-two-fast-fresh-free/767554/30 "2016-10-03T18:04:38Z")
Does fresh mean "just prepared "? Or does not picking fresh mean spoiled / stale? Do I have the means to heat it up? I care very little about eating for the most part so as long as it’s not dangerously old or inedible I don’t particularly care if it’s fresh. ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2016, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-allowed-to-have-food-in-two-out-of-three-ways-pick-your-two-fast-fresh-free/767554/31 "2016-10-03T18:35:29Z")
I don’t get the 5 hour delay from hungry but I assume that means I’ll only be eating two meals a day if I don’t pick Fast. I get hungry about 10 AM so my first meal would be at 3 PM and then it normally takes me 6 hours to get hungry again so my next meal would be at 2 AM then 1 PM and midnight. Maybe I’d only eat once per day 5 hours is a long time to wait on top of being hungry between meals assuming 3/ day in a 16 hour day. That being said I can easily last on one to two meals per day. I’ll take fresh and free. Unlimited sushi lunches every day maybe at [Urasawa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urasawa_(restaurant)). ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2016, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-allowed-to-have-food-in-two-out-of-three-ways-pick-your-two-fast-fresh-free/767554/32 "2016-10-03T18:35:59Z")
Fast and fresh. I don’t spend enough on food to make free an important consideration. In my personal budget, I even consider food to be exempt, meaning I can spend as much on it as I want, because I know that it’s only going to be a tiny amount. OTOH, for various reasons I end up eating a lot of food that’s not at peak freshness (just finished a particularly mushy apple), so fresh would be a real improvement. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2016, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-allowed-to-have-food-in-two-out-of-three-ways-pick-your-two-fast-fresh-free/767554/33 "2016-10-03T18:43:09Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > I think most are misunderstanding how I meant the “fast” option or that I didn’t properly explain how I meant it: > If you don’t have that one, what it means is that…the five hour countdown doesn’t start until you are hungry and actually want to eat right then. There is no planning in advance. The timer doesn’t start until you’re like “Okay, I’m ready to eat now…very hungry. When is the food going to be ready?” Five hours starts then. If you can wait another five hours from that point when you are ready for the food, though, well…then more power to ya. 😛 > Think you can just go “Okay, I’ll be ready to eat in five hours, I think I’ll be hungry about then, so I’ll say I want it now”? Sorry, doesn’t work that way. Not how I intended it, anyway. You have to be very hungry already and only then will you have to wait the five hours. If you say “I request this food” and then wait five hours and expect it to show up, it won’t. And when you go “Huh? Where’s my food”, the answer will be “Oh, you want food now? You gotta wait five hours” and when you go “But I already waited five hours!” the answer will be “You weren’t hungry then… right now, when it’s the time where you ACTUALLY want the food…THAT is when the five hour time starts.” And that’s with every food you will ever eat, ever…for the rest of your life. No snacking while you’re waiting, you have to wait five hours before that snack, just like all other food. > > Not changing the goalposts, that’s how I meant it to be from the start, I guess I didn’t make it clear. If most of the answers are still saying “I’ll do without that one”, though, well, okay. I’m sorry, but this isn’t even about fast anymore. Under this arrangement, you can’t eat on your lunch break at work, you can’t have dinner with your date, you can’t have popcorn at the movies. You can’t have breakfast unless you wake yourself up in the middle of the night and hope you’re hungry enough for your request to take effect. You can’t have lunch until five hours after you’re not hungry from breakfast and that’s… what? like 3 pm? So then you’re lucky if you get dinner before you go to bed. If you get hungry before you go to bed, then the food arrives while you’re asleep. So, the way you’ve defined it, fast and fresh are the only options that let you continue living like a human being. Oh wait… what if I’m hungry for caviar, lobster and champagne, but I can’t afford it? I guess I’m screwed because the food god knew what I really wanted… but I won’t get it because I can’t afford it. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2016, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-allowed-to-have-food-in-two-out-of-three-ways-pick-your-two-fast-fresh-free/767554/34 "2016-10-03T18:44:03Z")
Fast and fresh. I was going to say “Free and Fresh” until **IT** explained. Being a diabetic I can’t really wait for 5 hours once I’m hungry. It would eventually be painful and a bit deadlyish. I hate having to cook and also spend money on food, but if the fast part meant I get whatever I want just showing up in front of me, that is worth the cost. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2016, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-allowed-to-have-food-in-two-out-of-three-ways-pick-your-two-fast-fresh-free/767554/35 "2016-10-03T19:00:27Z")
> [@Larry\_Borgia](#): > > If I choose fresh and free, what happens when I go to a restaurant? (Which is where I will be eating a lot of the time since it’s free.) I sit down at the table, order a salad to start, a filet mignon with two sides, and a bottle of decent red wine. What do the waiter and the kitchen staff do? A follow up question. Let’s say i choose fast and fresh. I request a New York strip, medium rare, with tarragon butter sauce. I’d like a salad of mixed greens, tomatoes, onions and feta with oil and vinegar to start, and side dishes of sauteed zucchini and a baked potato with sour cream and chives. Also a dinner roll, a half bottle of a good Cabernet, a glass of filtered room temperature water, and, what the hell, a scoop of raspberry sorbet and coffee (cream, no sugar) for after. Do I pay what I’d pay if I bought the ingredients at Safeway, or what I’d pay in a steakhouse? Crap, now I’m hungry. ---
**Author:** ![The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_wind_of_my_soul)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2016, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-allowed-to-have-food-in-two-out-of-three-ways-pick-your-two-fast-fresh-free/767554/36 "2016-10-03T19:06:04Z")
Fast and fresh. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2016, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-allowed-to-have-food-in-two-out-of-three-ways-pick-your-two-fast-fresh-free/767554/37 "2016-10-03T19:20:51Z")
Seems to me, at least where I live, its already fast and fresh. Food god must have just come by. I’ll take free and fresh. I likes me a deal! And lobster ain’t cheap. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2016, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-allowed-to-have-food-in-two-out-of-three-ways-pick-your-two-fast-fresh-free/767554/38 "2016-10-04T14:20:48Z")
Free, no doubt about it. I don’t think some folks realize how big of a chunk of our earnings go toward food. And I’m going to assume it’s food and not “human chow”. If it’s just “human chow” I’ll go with fresh… if I can afford it. Same as always. Fast is never really an issue. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2016, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-allowed-to-have-food-in-two-out-of-three-ways-pick-your-two-fast-fresh-free/767554/39 "2016-10-04T17:08:05Z")
Not to fight the hypothetical, but I agree with **dracoi** that the parameters around the ‘Fast’ choice are vague and onerous enough that it’s not really a choice of the same magnitude of the other two at all; and I’m not even sure how the Food God would know when I am “really” hungry and when I’m just willing to eat. I mean, right at this moment I’m hungry. But I know I’m going out for an early dinner tonight, so I’m fine waiting until then to eat, so I don’t spoil my appetite and so I don’t end up eating too much today. So, I am honestly hungry now. Is it hungry enough, or because I’m not ‘planning’ on eating right now, does my 5 hour clock not start ticking until I sit down in front of an empty plate at 6PM? ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2016, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-allowed-to-have-food-in-two-out-of-three-ways-pick-your-two-fast-fresh-free/767554/40 "2016-10-04T17:11:14Z")
That said, I pick “fast and fresh.” It would be just like my current life, except any food I want appears before me (at market rate). I give up nothing and get instant access to the freshest food I can imagine. Fast and fresh is the only choice with no down side, so I pick that! Giving up ‘fast’ or ‘fresh’ means a major decrease in my quality of life. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-allowed-to-have-food-in-two-out-of-three-ways-pick-your-two-fast-fresh-free/767554.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-allowed-to-have-food-in-two-out-of-three-ways-pick-your-two-fast-fresh-free/767554.md?page=3)