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The most surprising things about grocery stores and restaurants in America, according to a Silicon Valley engineer who moved from India 7 years ago

The most surprising things about grocery stores and restaurants in America, according to a Silicon Valley engineer who moved from India 7 years ago

'Unfortunately, it is expensive to be healthy in America.'

'American serving sizes are HUGE!'

"American serving sizes are HUGE!"

I am by no means a small eater, but it usually takes me at least 1.5 meals to finish the entree."

Americans tend to 'waste a lot of food.'

"Americans waste a lot of food. It is very easy to buy in bulk because it's so much cheaper and as a result a lot of wastage occurs."

Americans are obsessed with buying coffee.

"Starbucks, Dunkin', etc. is crowded with office-goers and students every morning. I don't understand why they can't drink or make coffee before leaving for work. Such a waste of money! ($5 a day times 5 days a week times 52 week sa year!)

Supermarkets in America have a strange way of pricing their goods.

"The way that stores price their products makes no apparent economic sense, and is not linear at all."

"For example, at a typical store:
"- 1 can of coke : $1.00
"- 12 cans of coke : $3.00
"- 1 Häagen-Dazs ice cream bar : $3.00
"- 12 Häagen-Dazs ice cream bars : $7.00"

Somehow, in America, soda is 'cheaper than bottled water.'

"It makes no sense that carbonated and flavored water with HFCS is cheaper than regular water, but hey, that's just how it is."

And fast food is cheaper than healthy food.

"Fruit and vegetable prices, as compared to fast food prices:

"- Bag of grapes: $6.00
"- Box of strawberries: $5.00
"- 1 lb tomatoes: $3.00

"- McChicken: $1.00
"- McDouble: $1.00"

Americans have great options when they're on the road.

"There are full service rest stops with decent chain restaurants and big supermarkets every couple of miles on interstate highways."

When it comes to free refills, Americans don't know how good they have it.

"The first time I visited McDonalds in 2007, the cashier gave me an empty cup when I ordered soda. The concept of virtually unlimited soda refills was alien to me, and I thought there was a catch to it, but apparently not."

Same goes for the number of drink options.

"I've noticed that the typical fountain machine has a huge selection, including Pepsi, Pepsi Max, Sprite, Sprite Zero, Hi-C, Powerade, Lemonade, Raspberry Lemonade (and/or their Coca-Cola counterparts) … the list goes on. This may not seem like much, but it is actually a lot more compared to the 3-4 options (Coca-Cola, Sprite, Fanta, Limca) that most Indian soda fountain machines have."

Finally, Americans may not realize 'the sheer variety of products available' at stores.

"The typical supermarket has at least a hundred varieties of frozen pizza, 50 brands of trail mix, etc. I was just astounded by the different kinds of products available even at small gas station convenience stores."

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