What is Really Missing From Soylent?

What is really missing from Soylent?

The idea of a meal replacement bar, shake, or pill is a delightful one. Imagine not having to worry about cooking, grocery shopping, planning meals, or counting calories and carbs ever again. Imagine what one could do with all the time that would be gained without the burden of these activities.

This dream is being made possible by the Soylent Company. However, reality has come into play as the product has gone through its beta testing phases: One of the chief complaints is that it tastes like pancake batter, thus almost completely removing the pleasure of eating. However, some people do find the taste tolerable or even pleasant (http://www.phdish.com/blog/soylent). Adding a little dash of flavor, such as cinnamon or chocolate, doesn’t hurt either. Another criticism of Soylent is that it’s likely missing a lot of the unknown key nutrients we usually get from whole foods, such as fruits and vegetables. However, this is debatable because it contains all of the basic vitamins, minerals, fats, calories, and carbs that scientists have been able to prove we need thus far. (http://www.phdish.com/blog/soylent).

Soylent is very popular among certain groups of people, such as busy professionals. So why hasn’t this product become the norm among all facets of the general population? Ironically, the reason is because it has yet to truly capitalize on one of the most important qualities of daily life: convenience.

Wait a minute, you say. Soylent isn’t convenient? How much more convenient can you get than a meal-replacement shake that contains a complete 24-hour’s worth of nutrients and calories?

My argument is: quite a bit more.

Soylent is at least as, if not more expensive than, buying groceries. If one were on a diet of 2,000 calories a day, they would need to ingest five servings of Soylent powder a day. Thus, a month of living on Soylent 1.6 would cost a person about $300 (140 meals at $270 per month; https://www.soylent.com/). An average grocery bill for one person per month is roughly the same cost, according to the USDA (https://www.reference.com/business-finance/average-grocery-bill-one-person-ea7b43c7cfe40f26). So in terms of cost, it’s not really much better than buying groceries.

Maybe it’s just me, but I also don’t want to wait 10 weeks to be able to enjoy Soylent bars, shakes, and coffee. I want to be able to walk down to the nearest supermarket, load a few Soylent products in my cart, and walk home struttin’ my stuff. The Soylent Company is getting really close to completely mastering efficiency and convenience, and for this I applaud them. Make it cheaper, make it available in vending machines, gas stations, and grocery stores, and I’m sold.

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