## Alternatives
reasonable.diet is built on the idea that simple, cheap staples can shift eating habits, especially for students and low-income groups, but not everyone will be convinced by potatoes and frugality alone.
## Engagement
the assumption is that cheap, warm staples feel liberating
but if people see the food as boring or “student-only”
→ broaden staple sets while staying within PHD
— rice, taro, cassava, yams, plantain, eggs
→ lean on creator content to show variety and colour
→ use small social challenges (“$2 meal day”) to refresh interest
→ highlight flexible recipe families instead of one true version
## Trust in Research
the idea is that people accept the reasoning once they feel better
but if “nutrition science” feels distant or ideological
→ lean into the truth that reasonable.diet is “actually pretty based”
— not diet culture
— not prescriptive plans
— not consumption dressed up as health
→ focus on lived experience, not authority
→ keep research available but understated
→ research is still there, but the vibe is that it’s “actually pretty based”
## Cultural Fit
the assumption is that universal staples map cleanly across cultures
but if regional patterns diverge heavily
→ communities can maintain their own meta-recipes
— a shared core recipe that branches into local versions
→ people can fork and annotate why they changed something
→ preserve cultural identity rather than flatten it
→ support hexagons.world tagging for regional ingredient availability
## Practicality
the expectation is that minimal equipment + simple steps are enough
but if confidence or kitchen access is low
→ expand microwave-only, kettle-only, and one-pot flows
→ add tiny “learn to cook” microflows linked through learnstuff.today
→ strengthen calm.college cook-ups for social entry points
→ tailor recipes for dorms, hostels, and low-equipment housing
## Identity
the aim is calm neutrality — not a “movement”
but if it drifts toward diet-culture framing
→ sharpen tone: “this is not a diet — it’s food you can afford”
→ keep branding minimal so it remains trustworthy
→ frame the name “reasonable.diet” as judo:
it’s not a diet plan, it’s simply a sane way to eat
→ let people freely fork versions while retaining structural compatibility
## Adoption
the model assumes posters, memes, and ambassadors drive spread
but if adoption lags
→ route recipes more strongly through learnstuff.today skill paths
→ give ambassadors lighter, ready-to-use poster/social packs
→ use humour (“bring potato to school tomorrow”) as a wedge
→ support institutional partners:
— churches
— community kitchens
— groups feeding people experiencing homelessness
so they can feed more people for less money
## Online Ecosystem
the assumption is that creators + volunteers sustain momentum
but if participation drops
→ activate very low-effort contribution channels
— voice-to-recipe submissions
— scanned family recipes
— simple typed ingredients lists
→ auto-generate photos when needed, for people who don’t want to stage food
→ maintain a shared “import backlog” volunteers can draw from
→ reward clout for cleaning, formatting, annotating, and regionalising recipes
→ let micro-contributions matter, so momentum spreads across many hands
## Clippy as an Open Standard
the belief is that Clippy spreads because it is tiny and useful
but if external sites hesitate
→ offer ultra-light integrations (copy-paste and JS snippets)
→ help creators add command features to their own sites
→ ensure partial adoption still works with import/export
→ provide volunteer teams to assist anyone who wants their site simpler or cheaper
## Site Support, Not Migration
the assumption is that blogs want interoperability
but if they don’t want to “move” anything
→ clarify nothing needs migration
→ reasonable.diet can host:
— community features
— comments
— simple recipe mirrors
→ optional “simple.” subdomains:
a clean, fast version of *their* site maintained by volunteers
→ they keep their full site; we help them run cheaper, cleaner, and safer. with more audience from people linked from reasonable.diet
## Local-first and Sync
the default is that everything important lives on your own device
but if people want their recipes and logs across multiple devices
→ let the Peaceful Passport act as a small, private cluster key
— devices you trust can join your “kitchen cluster”
— they sync directly with each other, not a central brain
→ use WebRTC-style connections where possible
so phones, laptops, and tablets quietly mirror the same text files
→ always allow a simple full export:
— text or markdown bundle
— zip download of recipes, logs, and preferences
→ keep the rule: local-first by default
sync is optional, explicit, and easy to turn off
## Schools
the model assumes potato-at-school spreads naturally
but if early uptake is slow
→ push kid-to-kid meme routes rather than parent-first
→ reinforce thermos patterns through micro-influencers
→ integrate nutrition quietly through curriculum when appropriate
→ offer extremely simple options for canteen staff that match student demand
## Universities
the expectation is that dorm norms and posters spread easily
but if campuses clamp down on physical posters
→ shift to cooking circles, bucket-of-potatoes culture, and digital sharing
→ let ambassador groups carry the spread informally
## Collective Purchasing
the plan assumes guilds can be guided toward calm governance
but if bureaucracy or politics stalls
→ decentralise into student-run micro-co-ops
→ begin with opt-in buying groups instead of campus-wide shifts
→ keep accounting templates simple enough to avoid leadership bottlenecks
## Sustainability
the assumption is that volunteers + creators keep the project alive
but if energy drops
→ use slow AI-assisted formatting to maintain structure
→ maintain a small evergreen staple set as the anchor
→ distribute the load through creator-run recipe clusters and regional maintainers
## Funding
the assumption is that Peaceful Foundation covers staffing and infrastructure stays cheap
but if PF support tightens or costs spike
→ keep architecture static and peer-to-peer so costs stay low even without PF subsidy
→ open infrastructure to community-hosted mirrors
— anyone can fork and host their own reasonable.diet instance
— recipes sync across instances through plain text bundles
→ lean harder on the recipe book and retreat model as self-sustaining outreach
→ never introduce platform-level monetisation of recipes or access
## Scientific Backbone
the assumption is that Perfect Health Diet remains a credible, supported framework
but if PHD is challenged or the Jaminets withdraw involvement
→ shift from attribution to first-principles reasoning
— safe starches because they are historically eaten and biologically tolerated
— nutrient-dense foods because they fill documented gaps
— not because any one book says so
→ keep the methodology transparent:
— what evidence supports each claim
— where the uncertainty is
— what would change our mind
→ treat the framework as a living map, not a fixed doctrine
→ remain grateful to the Jaminets for the foundation, regardless of what follows
## Discoverability
the assumption is that posters, memes, and word-of-mouth are enough
but if the anti-SEO stance makes the site genuinely hard to find
→ rely on human curation and direct sharing rather than algorithmic optimisation
— shareable filter URLs that people pass to friends
— QR codes on posters that go straight to recipes
— cooking circles and campus groups as distribution
→ let external creators and bloggers act as entry points
— they find the site through their own networks
— they link in from their own platforms
— reasonable.diet gains reach without chasing rankings
→ if absolutely necessary, add only the lightest technical SEO
— clean HTML, fast loading, accessible markup
— never keyword stuffing, never filler paragraphs, never algorithmic games
→ keep the rule: people should find us because someone they trust shared it
## Health Boundaries
the assumption is that calm, human orientation pages stay safely outside medical advice
but if regulators, institutions, or health professionals challenge the condition views
→ sharpen the framing everywhere:
— “this is what some people find helpful”
— “this is not medical advice”
— “talk to someone qualified before changing treatment”
→ keep pages focussed on food and routine, not diagnosis or treatment
→ remove or revise any page that draws legal or ethical risk
→ redirect people toward qualified practitioners for anything clinical
→ preserve the intent:
— help people understand their own patterns
— never position the site as a substitute for professional care
## Content Moderation
the assumption is that low-friction submissions keep the ecosystem alive
but if unsafe advice or harmful misinformation spreads through community recipes
→ keep a lightweight review layer for new submissions
— not bureaucratic approval, just a quick safety check
— flagged by volunteers or by automated signals (unusual ingredients, unsafe temperatures)
— reviewed by language models for harmful advice, dangerous preparation steps, or toxic content
— because recipes are structured (TypeScript), deterministic checks can catch bad data before it enters the system
— malformed ingredients, impossible quantities, known allergens omitted
— temperature checks, containment checks, and toxicity calculations on the structured data itself
→ let trusted community members mark submissions as reviewed
→ maintain a clear “report” path on every recipe
→ separate formatting help from safety verification
— anyone can clean up a recipe
— only verified reviewers can clear safety flags
→ default to transparency:
— show when a recipe has not yet been reviewed
— let people decide for themselves whether to trust it
→ never auto-publish unreviewed submissions to high-traffic surfaces
## Staple Shortage
the assumption is that potatoes and simple staples stay cheap and available year-round
but if crop failures, blight, or price spikes hit
→ lean on the broader safe-starch set immediately
— rice, taro, cassava, yams, plantain, sweet potato
— each region already has a fallback staple; surface it quickly
→ keep regional price tracking live through hexagons.world
— so people see which staple is cheapest right now where they live
→ never let the project become dependent on a single crop
— the philosophy is simple staples, not only potatoes
→ if mussels or liver become unavailable or unaffordable
— surface local alternatives that fill the same nutrient gaps
— eggs, small fish, canned sardines, organ meats, seaweed, fermented foods
## Accessibility
the assumption is that a clean, fast site works for everyone
but if people with disabilities are excluded
→ ensure full screen-reader compatibility on every recipe and tool
→ offer high-contrast mode and dyslexia-friendly typefaces
→ keep cognitive load low:
— short sentences, plain words, no jargon
— optional audio read-through for every recipe step
→ for motor impairments:
— large tap targets
— voice-navigable clippy commands
— printable one-page versions that don’t require scrolling
→ never treat accessibility as a feature to add later
— it is part of “cheap food for everyone, whatever their circumstances”
## Cultural and Religious Restrictions
the assumption is that PHD-style staples adapt across cultures
but if religious or ethical boundaries block core foods
— halal and kosher requirements for meat and liver
— Hindu vegetarianism, Jain diets, Buddhist monastic rules
— shellfish allergies and taboos that rule out mussels
→ maintain fully vegetarian and fully halal/kosher recipe branches
— not as afterthoughts, as complete, respected paths
→ for liver:
— offer iron and B12 through dark leafy greens, legumes, eggs, and fortified foods
→ for mussels:
— offer omega-3s and trace minerals through small fish, seaweed, flax, chia
→ keep the nutritional goal the same
— cover the gaps
— respect the boundary
— never ask people to compromise their ethics or beliefs for health
## Well-funded Competition
the assumption is that calm usefulness beats algorithmic optimisation
but if a well-funded startup copies the concept, adds SEO, and outranks the original
→ stay radically open
— everything is MIT-licensed or equivalent
— the recipe format is a public standard
— if they copy us, the ideas still spread; that is the win condition
→ keep the moat human, not technical
— real student kitchens, real photos, real mess
— no venture-funded site can manufacture dorm-culture authenticity
→ maintain the lightest possible infrastructure
— so we can survive on almost nothing while they burn runway
→ if they try to enclose the standard
— fork and continue under a new name
— the data is plain text; it moves with the community
→ never chase their game
— no SEO arms race, no feature bloat, no growth hacking
— we win by staying small, honest, and permanently useful
## Video Hosting Costs
the assumption is that audio and tiny webms stay cheap to host
but if serving costs spike unexpectedly
→ point people to creators hosting full videos on traditional platforms
— YouTube, TikTok, personal sites
— reasonable.diet keeps only the audio and text instructions
→ or restrict webms to $1/month supporters
— audio instructions remain free
— only the visual clips go behind the lightest possible paywall
→ never restrict the recipe text itself
— the words and steps are always free
— only the bandwidth-heavy media is affected
## Cooking Circles
the assumption is that shared meals and bucket culture form naturally
but if social spread stalls at the individual level
→ reinforce the simplest possible entry points
— "microwave a potato" requires no group
— no cooking circle needed, no shared kitchen needed
→ let people eat alone with dignity
— the site works perfectly for a single person in a dorm
— no social layer required
→ if cooking circles do form later, treat them as a bonus
— not a dependency for the project to succeed
## Technical Reliability
the assumption is that WebRTC and P2P sync work reliably
but if networks block P2P or sync fails silently
→ fall back to simple export/import
— text file bundles that people email or message to themselves
— no complex protocol needed
→ allow manual sync through any file-sharing service
— Dropbox, Google Drive, iCloud, USB stick
— the data is plain text; it moves however people already move files
→ never let sync failure stop someone from cooking
— recipes work offline by default
— lists work offline by default
— sync is a convenience, not a requirement
## Data Loss
the assumption is that people export their data occasionally
but if a device dies with no backup
→ make export extremely visible and frictionless
— one-tap "download everything" button
— auto-prompt for export every month
— export is a zip of readable text files
→ keep no data on our servers by design
— so we cannot be a backup target
— but we can teach people to keep two copies
→ accept that some loss is inevitable
— recipes are public and can be re-fetched
— health logs are personal and cannot be replaced
— the site gently encourages habits, not dependence
## Slow Growth
the assumption is that word-of-mouth spreads fast on campuses
but if growth is much slower than the timeline assumes
→ the architecture survives on almost no money
— static site, no database, no paid staff
— a single volunteer can keep it alive indefinitely
→ focus on depth over breadth
— one campus that truly adopts it is worth more than ten that barely notice
— one faithful cooking circle is worth more than a hundred passive visitors
→ let the project be boring for years
— slow growth is still growth
— the habits matter more than the hype
## Volunteer Burnout
the assumption is that volunteers cycle in and out naturally
but if core volunteers burn out faster than they are replaced
→ design every role to be small and bounded
— no one person is irreplaceable
— no role requires more than a few hours a week
→ make onboarding so cheap that new volunteers can start immediately
— clear documentation
— small first tasks
— no gatekeeping
→ celebrate departure as much as arrival
— people leave when their lives change
— that is normal and healthy
— the project thanks them and moves on
## Open Standard Adoption
the assumption is that recipe bloggers want structured, interoperable formats
but if adoption of the open standard is slow
→ make the standard useful even without widespread adoption
— one blogger using it well is a proof of concept
— their readers benefit immediately
→ offer concrete help, not abstract ideals
— volunteer teams clean and convert existing archives
— bloggers see the benefit in hours, not months
→ let the format spread through utility
— if it genuinely makes their site faster and cheaper, they will use it
— if it does not, the standard is wrong and should change
## Retreat Model
the assumption is that wellness retreats generate optional revenue
but if retreat partnerships fail or demand is low
→ the project does not depend on retreat income
— infra costs are covered by PF and the $1 video unlock
— retreats are a bonus, not a lifeline
→ keep retreat standards high and partnerships selective
— a bad retreat damages trust more than no retreat at all
→ if retreats work, use the revenue to fund more outreach
— if they do not, the project continues unchanged