Calorie density is also mentioned. You have to eat an prodigious amount of kale and celery to get the same number of calories.

When I worked lower paying manual labor jobs (dishwasher, landscaper etc.), fast food was much more alluring than the idea of a salad. I suspect it's largely because I was craving a huge influx of calories, not to mention the food is engineered to hijack our taste buds.

> that kale tastes fine with dressing.

I'm going to have to strongly disagree with you here. I've eaten kale raw, cooked, dressed, spiced, dehydrated, blended, and it still tastes foul. YMMV

When did kale become a thing? I worked in a kitchen two decades ago and its only use was what we put the chicken wings on. I have no idea how grumpy lettuce caught on.

A person needs about 2000 calories a day. It is extremely hard to get that much from fresh produce. You will need to cook something, and that takes may more tine than microwaving a hot pocket.

It is actually easy to get 2000 calories a day on cheap ingredients from fresh produce. It has to do more with dietary habits and convenience than anything else. A cup of beans and a cup of rice can cost less than a hamburger and provide you more than 800 calories while not creating long term problems for your body. A $50 instapot, and you don't even have to actively cook. But well, hamburgers are tasty because of all that salt and sugar, while rice and beans aren't.

Rice is not produce. Beans can be, but typically you are referring to dried beans (or canned) which are not fresh produce.

Right, but you never eat only "Fresh Produce", and you shouldn't either. If you look at Macro nutrients, fresh produce usually isn't the biggest part of your calorie intake unless you include potatoes (they last pretty long tbh). Fresh produce usually provides you other nutrients. I was simply suggesting that there are alternatives to processed food that is equally cheap and accessible, but we just don't want it.

Make sure you soak beans before you put them in the slow cooker. Or else you're poisoning yourself! Uncooked beans contain bad proteins because they are legumes. You either need high heat or to do soak them and pour off the water.

https://www.dadcooksdinner.com/slow-cookers-and-red-kidney-b...

Fresh produce is only cheaper than processed food if you consistently use it before it goes bad, which requires a pretty high level of meal planning ability. I consider myself a good cook and still regularly end up having to throw away spoiled food.

> Consider most fresh produce is Cheaper than processed food.

I think it depends on what produce you want. It's easy to get cheap, reasonable quality fresh veggies, and cheap, low-quality fresh fruit, but good fresh fruit is expensive for me.

> Potatoes are high calorie

They’re about 300 calories per pound. You’d have to eat 7lbs/day to scrape by.

The high calories come from the prep: oil/frying/butter/sauces.