Soylent is not a new concept - in hospitals it is a quite common need to provide patients with most / all their nutritional needs in liquid form. Off the top of my head, famous brands in the field of "meal replacements in liquid or powdered form" are Abbott Ensure ( <a href="http://ensure.com/products/ensure-powder" rel="nofollow">http://ensure.com/products/ensure-powder</a> ) and Nestle's Boost - ( <a href="http://www.boost.com/healthcare-professionals" rel="nofollow">http://www.boost.com/healthcare-professionals</a> ).
There are many single sources of nutrition that are cheaper than Soylent.<p>Have a look at the WFP information here (<a href="https://www.wfp.org/nutrition/special-nutritional-products" rel="nofollow">https://www.wfp.org/nutrition/special-nutritional-products</a>) and here (<a href="http://documents.wfp.org/stellent/groups/public/documents/communications/wfp255508.pdf" rel="nofollow">http://documents.wfp.org/stellent/groups/public/documents/co...</a>)<p>And the manufacturer page for some of these products here (<a href="http://www.dsm.com/corporate/home.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.dsm.com/corporate/home.html</a>)<p>This report from IRIN shows the extreme need to lower costs with these foods - they're aiming at $4 per kg. (<a href="http://www.irinnews.org/report/83124/malawi-cheaper-recipe-for-treating-hungry-children" rel="nofollow">http://www.irinnews.org/report/83124/malawi-cheaper-recipe-f...</a>)
Here's a cheap alternative from an actual dietian:<p><a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/TrueReddit/comments/1jvsie/the_man_who_thinks_he_never_has_to_eat_again_is/cbj3120" rel="nofollow">http://www.reddit.com/r/TrueReddit/comments/1jvsie/the_man_w...</a><p>Spoiler: he doesn't think highly of either Soylent or its creator.
Slightly off topic. On the soylent funding-website it says you can 'buy' one weeks worth of soylent for $65, that's $260 for a month. Is this not an insanely high cost for a months worth of food? When I was living by myself I spend waaay less than this (although I was in Sweden if that matters)<p>Or am I missing something.
Soylent is amusing, but it ignores the fact that people take pleasure from eating food, a payoff which is hard-wired in our brains.<p>No supplement, whatever its nutritional value, is going to be able to fill that need.
Learn cooking ! Its a great way to unwind and take your mind off things. Get a COSCTO membership and a Pasta/Rice cooker. You will eat healthy, impress your dates.<p>Nobody will remember or care about how you sacrificed your well-being/health to put in extra effort at work. Except your body and it will remind you of this as you grow older.
loving that some mod changed the headline from "A cheaper alternative to Soylent?" to "Nutraloaf", thereby removing the satire - wouldn't want to offend our investor overlords.<p>of course, there's no record of the edit, & my name is still attached to the article. nice to see Paul Graham's as ethical & self-aware as ever.