America could have $4 lunch bowls like Japan—but our zoning laws make them illegal

abio.substack.com · 659 words · saved by 2 readers

Zoning and food safety laws add up to outlaw tiny restaurants operated by one or two staff.

In Japan, workers rely on healthy lunch bowls for under $4. Japanese media literally tracks these prices because they're a daily staple for working people. The Japanese media reported on a surge in their price from $2.63 to $4.25 in 2021. In America, we track grocery prices. Restaurants are luxury goods. The U.S. lacks this budget restaurant tier! There's obviously demand for it. We'd buy $4 balanced meals if we had the option. How does Japan’s restaurant market do this? It’s not grocery prices; Japan’s grocery prices are ~18% higher than the United States. It’s not hourly wages.…

America could have $4 lunch bowls like Japan—but our zoning laws make them illegal

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