Why isn’t there ‘kibble’ for people?

r/

I’m talking about the equivalent of dry dog food, those little brown pellets some of us feed our dogs. It’s supposed to have all the nutrition a dog needs.

Why doesn’t this exist for humans? Essentially a cheap food alternative that allows humans to survive a week on a $14 dollar bag of ‘human food’ (price is how much I pay at Aldi currently).

It seems like a good, hopefully temporary, way for someone who is extremely money strapped or impoverished to survive. I would even guess if properly made would make the impoverished class more healthy than their reliance on cheap processed foods.

This qualifies as a ‘too afraid to ask’ because I afraid to be seen as an elitist, however I would definitely consider eating something like this if it was available

Edit 1: key thing here that people are missing out on is the inexpensiveness of dog food. My dog can be fit and healthy and go on long hikes and runs on just this $14 bag of food

Comments

  1. whyliepornaccount Avatar

    I mean Nutraloaf is more or less exactly that

  2. pinksweets8 Avatar

    There’s a brand called dawgfood that is like that but ridiculously expensive

  3. GoldPhoenix24 Avatar

    not as cheap, but Soylent, kachava, huel are the closest thing that comes to mind. solent and huel have subreddits if you want more info.

  4. 5t3alth Avatar

    Like Huel?

  5. unusual_math Avatar

    Meal shakes, bars, gels, and powders exist. Things like trail mix exist. My guess is that hard pellets would be difficult to eat and unpalatable.

    I consume trail mix, Soylent, or Cliff bars when on the go without time to eat normally.

  6. Comprehensive-End388 Avatar

    Shredded wheat has entered the chat.

  7. reclusive_ent Avatar

    Bachelor Chow. NOW WITH FLAVOR.

  8. K2TY Avatar

    Bachelor chow.

  9. lukamic Avatar

    There are equivalent whole nutrient foods for people, though they’re mostly shacks. A large reason thats dogs/cats have kibble is that hard abrasive foods (in moderation) are basically their natural equivalent to brushing their teeth. Eating rocks isn’t very good for human teeth.

  10. _Euro Avatar

    Don’t give our corporate overlords any ideas…

  11. mustang6172 Avatar

    Instant ramen

  12. Craftycat99 Avatar

    Trailmix or dry cereal

  13. Formal-Path2765 Avatar

    Bachelor Chow. Now with flavor!

  14. metalguy91 Avatar

    I mean as someone who has been homeless/broke before there’s technically nothing stopping you from just eating kibble. It’s like if Cap’n Crunch tasted like feet dipped in beef broth.

  15. PackOfWildCorndogs Avatar

    I hear kibble is edible/digestible for humans too…

  16. aliendividedbyzero Avatar

    In hospitals they have a mixture that they feed to patients who cannot eat, and it covers all their nutritional needs. I don’t know much about it, I learned of it in a video made by someone who eats that way. Basically, it’s a liquid and it is fed directly into the bloodstream. This is called total parenteral nutrition.

    There are similar mixtures made for people who cannot eat solid food but can still digest, and there’s of course nutritional shakes like Ensure and similar brands, which are for your average person who may have issues hitting target quantities of nutrients.

  17. unknownpoltroon Avatar

    There is something called primate chow that is for monkeys, there was a writer who tried living on it, i think he made it 2 days because it tasted like cardboard

  18. MisterSlosh Avatar

    I always assumed some form of Pemmican would fit best for human kibble, but definitely doesn’t pass the “impoverished” measure.

    Likely one of the biggest issues with beast vs human food is the massive mechanical and biological difference in how our digestive systems work. Just plain can’t pack everything our bodies need without it being an expensive culinary scientific process.

  19. Asproat920 Avatar

    Have you heard of “Taco Bell”?

  20. followingspaceships Avatar

    Technically in liquid form there’s Ensure and other medical grade products for nutrition 🤣 puréed foods are closest I can think to kibble?

  21. InsaneLordChaos Avatar

    Geeze, I thought Chickn in a Biscuits checked this box.

  22. okiedokieKay Avatar

    Because it doesn’t actually exist, even for dogs.

    Despite claiming that kibble is all the nutrition needed, it truly is not and has a lot of filler ingredients that are actually bad for dogs in the long run.

    I guess the human equivalent might be a protein smoothie? Humans have very little self control when it comes to the satisfaction drivers though so there’s no monetary value in creating a human-palletable kibble. Plus with the wide variety of food allergies in humans, it would be exceptionally difficult to create a one size fits all.

    Meal prep is a close 2nd. Just make some rice and chicken with peas en masse for the week and you’ve essentially got a deconstructed human kibble.

    My personal go-to though is eggs. Theyre affordable(ish) and very versatile, but largely nutritional even without anything else. A lot of people like beans for similar reasons.

  23. Then-Attention3 Avatar

    Don’t give republicans any ideas

  24. 2Payneweaver Avatar

    Soylent Green

  25. LordOfStopSigns Avatar

    Where is the Adult Monkey chow guy.

  26. aliceroyal Avatar

    Soylent, you’re talking about Soylent. Unfortunately there are minimal options in both solid and liquid form.

  27. SweetPotatoDream Avatar

    Honestly Huel comes to mind…. They have savory “nutritionally complete” mixes that you add water to. It’s like oat meal but flavored. It’s not the best but honestly fills a void if you’re hungry and don’t have the energy to prep food.

  28. Jail-Is-Just-A-Room Avatar

    I mean, I’m pretty sure there’s a precedent for people living extended periods eating only potatoes, so no kibble necessary (and it’s probably cheaper per pound than dog food anyway)

  29. Aeon1508 Avatar

    What do you think cereal is?

  30. ChipperMite4 Avatar

    protein cereal?

  31. TheWolfAndRaven Avatar

    I just buy a 3lb tube of ground turkey a couple cans of beans + corn and some bell peppers.

    Brown the turkey, add the beans, corn and chopped bell peppers.

    You can use that as a base for all kinds of things. Eat it as is or add sauce. Make burrito bowls. Make some noodles and throw it on top. Put it in bread for a loose meat sandwich. Put it in tortillas for tacos/burritos. Pour it over some dorritos w/ some cheese for nachos.

  32. The_Night_Bringer Avatar

    Lidl had a “food in a bottle” thing. Dunno if it’s healthy but it does fill up my stomache if I need to hurry or don’t have patience for food.

  33. notyogrannysgrandkid Avatar

    Freeze dried stir fry mix

  34. HamLvr88 Avatar

    There is. It’s called cereal. General Mills and Post also make kibble. 😂

  35. 1quirky1 Avatar

    Economics aside, I would go for this for the simplicity of nutrition and convenience of preparation. I “eat to live” and don’t “live to eat.”

    You have to eat. Hunger is annoying. Grab two cups of human chow and go back to doing something else you’d rather be doing than eating.

  36. outertomatchmyinner Avatar

    Tbf kibble isn’t really the best for dogs or cats either 🤷‍♀️

  37. cyclecitizen Avatar

    I basically live off oats with raisins, walnuts and powdered milk. That is my kibble. I’ll throw in protein shakes as well.

  38. BoltActionRifleman Avatar

    The closest thing I’ve found is Grape Nuts cereal.

  39. ZacheyBYT Avatar

    Not an ad. Dawg Food are trying to do exactly this

  40. Slips287 Avatar

    We used to, it was called pemmican and it’s basically dried meat and fruit but it lasted a good while so it was a cheap survival sustenance.

    Then we learned how to cook and pickle and otherwise preserve food, and now top ramen is cheaper than any “kibble” we could hope to manufacture.

  41. AirForceH Avatar
  42. True_Falsity Avatar

    >Inexpensiveness of food

    I mean, to be fair, dogs and humans have different demands when it comes to the food. You might as well ask why humans don’t have the equivalent of fish food.

  43. voidharmony Avatar

    Gym bro ground beef and rice is literally that. Also cereal

  44. topkrikrakin Avatar

    Beans,
    and Rice with little bits of chicken in it

  45. boredtxan Avatar

    Rice & beans with a squeeze of lime

  46. Big_Pie2915 Avatar

    They make food for people with feeding tubes. The price would be lower but since those people don’t have a choice…

    It also tastes incredibly bad. Like really bad, but it WILL NOT upset your stomach. It’s just not made to be tasted or eaten.

  47. saumanahaii Avatar

    This was the pitch behind Soylent and other meal replacement stuff. It’s not as cheap but it is cheaper than a lot of healthy fast food, which is is substituting for. For a while there was a DIY community around making it at home sponsored by the company that made it. Some of the options got really, really cheap while being calculated as having decent nutritional completeness. That’s all pretty much gone now, though the recipes are still around.

  48. Lawndemon Avatar

    It’s called cereal

  49. HeartsPlayer721 Avatar

    It does: cereal

    We just tend to put milk on it.

  50. TrumanS17 Avatar

    People haven’t been on the rice/beans/chicken diet and it shows

  51. BanditRunning Avatar

    Dude they sell those end of the world emergency food rstions for your missile silo

  52. MzSe1vDestrukt Avatar
  53. ShirtPanties Avatar

    This just reminds me of that guy who was eating monkey chow or ape chow or whatever

  54. monkey_trumpets Avatar

    Bachelor Chow….now, with flavor.

  55. sciguy52 Avatar

    There is, it is called granola bars.

  56. Enough-Persimmon3921 Avatar

    Like the buckets of Flaturin from Idiocracy?

  57. Lazyassbummer Avatar

    I’ve ALWAYS wanted to know why we don’t have People Chow. I’m with you, let’s make this!!!

  58. Amiabilitee Avatar

    my first thought was chex mix

    chex mix is definitely human kibble

  59. SALTY-meat Avatar

    monkey food greentext flashbacks

  60. Canud Avatar

    Some people eat food for Apes, like the ones they eat at the zoo. Lots of protein apparently.
    Also horse food.

  61. C1sko Avatar

    It’s called breakfast cereal.

  62. WhenWolf Avatar

    As someone who sometimes struggles to eat and hates cooking I have had this thought many times. I just want nutrition without any hassle… Where’s my Soylent Green…. But without the people…

  63. Visual_Lingonberry53 Avatar

    Isn’t it called chips?

  64. ObvsThrowaway5120 Avatar

    Don’t they already have something like this with Soylent or like Caloriemate or whatever?