Why is that, exactly? Well, I like to eat. I also like not having to wait to eat, especially when I’m hungry. And I don’t mind cold food. I think these are all reasonable preferences. So that helps explain why, say, a take-out burrito is much more valuable to me than the same amount of cheese, tortillas, salsa, beans, etc. that are not already assembled. It takes time to make a burrito — I can’t eat ingredients right away and get nearly as much utility.

From this I’ve started using the concept of pre-food. Food is stuff you can eat. Pre-food is stuff you will be able to eat, but not yet. A cupboard full of canned soups and vegetables, dried rice and beans, boxes of pasta and jars of tomato sauce is rife with pre-food. Pre-food is better than no food, of course, but I’d rather it be ready made and sitting waiting for me to eat.

Sometimes, as I’m wandering down the supermarket aisles, I think to myself: “Wow, look at all this pre-food.” It’s a useful distinction to me, anyway.