The Wall Street Journal ran a story about how difficult it is to make a meal for one for roughly $3.00. All they did was prove how stupid they are. Look at this photo for 10 seconds and you’ll instantly know why they had trouble putting together this meal.
Notice that these items are the most expensive way to put together a meal of 4 oz. of chicken, a cup of vegetables, a tortilla (why?), and a dairy item. They’re pre-cut and packaged in plastic. They cost more because you have to pay for the labor and materials involved to package them this way.
A whole chicken, you know the kind you have to cut your self, only costs about $1.50 per pound. Fresh broccoli about the same. A pack of 30 corn tortillas is about $2.70. A 2 lb. block of cheddar cheese costs about $7.00. These prices are all regular prices. Nothing is on sale. Some of these things I purchased today so I know the price for sure in my area. I’m sure they cost more in Boston but I bet New Orleans is closer to what I pay in the northeast suburbs of Atlanta.
The Wall Street Journal reporters’ meal came in at $2.96 and it was comprised of 4 ounces of chicken, a cup of broccoli, a flour tortilla, and 1 ounce of cheese. I had Grok tally up what my meal would cost if I purchased the food in the paragraph above. Here’s it’s calculation.
Cost Calculation for the Meal
To find the cost, calculate the price for each ingredient based on the given portions and unit prices. All weights are converted to pounds where needed (1 lb = 16 oz).
- Chicken: 4 oz = 4/16 = 0.25 lb. At $1.50 per lb, cost = 0.25 × 1.50 = $0.375.
- Broccoli: 1 cup chopped broccoli weighs about 3.21 oz (standard value from reliable sources like USDA). That’s 3.21/16 ≈ 0.2006 lb. At $1.50 per lb, cost ≈ 0.2006 × 1.50 ≈ $0.301.
- Tortillas: Pack of 30 costs $2.70, so per tortilla = 2.70 / 30 = $0.09. For 2 tortillas, cost = 2 × 0.09 = $0.18.
- Cheese: 2 lb block costs $7.00, so per lb = 7.00 / 2 = $3.50. 1 oz = 1/16 = 0.0625 lb. Cost = 0.0625 × 3.50 = $0.21875.
Total cost: $0.375 + $0.301 + $0.18 + $0.21875 ≈ $1.07 (rounded to nearest cent).
And just to be sure I put this into ChatGPT as well. Here’s it’s calculation.
Here is the breakdown, using reasonable food weight assumptions and your prices.
- Chicken $1.50 per lb
- 4 oz = 0.25 lb
- Cost: 0.25 × $1.50 = $0.38
- Broccoli $1.50 per lb
- 1 cup of fresh chopped broccoli is about 0.2 lb
- Cost: 0.2 × $1.50 = $0.30
- Corn tortillas $2.70 for 30 tortillas
- Cost per tortilla: $2.70 ÷ 30 = $0.09
- 2 tortillas: 2 × $0.09 = $0.18
- Cheddar cheese 2 lb for $7.00 → $3.50 per lb
- 1 oz = 1/16 lb
- Cost: $3.50 ÷ 16 = $0.22
Total meal cost $0.38 + $0.30 + $0.18 + $0.22 = $1.08
Approximate cost per meal: $1.08
Here’s the prompt I used. You can go check it yourself.
A 3 lb. whole chicken costs $1.50 per pound. One pound of fresh broccoli costs about $1.50. A pack of 30 corn tortillas (standard taco size) is about $2.70. A 2 lb. block of cheddar cheese costs about $7.00. Given these items and prices how much would a meal for one cost if I put together a meal consisting of 4 ounces of chicken, a cup of broccoli, 2 tortillas, and one ounce of cheddar cheese.
Using my own labor I can feed a person three times as much as a dumb Wall Street Journal reporter. This story drives home that you can’t trust the media. The reporters are either stupid, ignorant, or purposefully deceitful. There’s no excuse for this kind of lazy biased reporting.
Leave a Reply