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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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?
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.