History Main / DogFoodDiet

A character is so down-on-his-luck, so pathetic, [[BrokeEpisode so damn broke]] that he's reduced to actually eating dog food. Bonus loser points if it isn't even ''good'' dog food.

Sadly, this is TruthInTelevision - some people are reduced to eating dog food out of desperation. Realistically, depending on what area you live in and what standards you hold, pet food may or may not be more expensive than human food. Pet food is almost universally available in bulk while it can be harder to find human food in such quantities. However, if you have a Sam's Club or whatever near you, chances are you can buy the same amount per ounce of soup or Ramen Noodles as you could buy pet food, especially in a jurisdiction that puts sales tax on pet food but not human food. The nutritional requirements for humans and dogs are ''very'' similar, so as long as a person added vitamin C tablets to the dog food, they could be perfectly well-nourished.

Sadly, this is TruthInTelevision - some people are reduced to eating dog food out of desperation. Realistically, depending on what area you live in and what standards you hold, pet food may or may not be more expensive than human food. Pet food is almost universally available in bulk while it can be harder to find human food in such quantities. However, if you have a Sam's Club or whatever near you, chances are you can buy the same amount per ounce of soup or Ramen Noodles as you could buy pet food, especially in a jurisdiction that puts sales tax on pet food but not human food.

Then, of course, there are the quality issues. Since pet food is not held to near the same FDA standards as human food, it costs a fraction to produce it and they can get away with a lot of mostly unhealthy filler. Despite this, they still set a larger profit margin than human food. Anyway, your mileage may vary since prices are hardly uniform across all areas, but as far as widely available bulk food goes, pet food does have the advantage there.

Note that there still ''are'' some FDA standards for pet food specifically because it was known that human beings do eat pet food sometimes due to cost issues, and because some food-borne illnesses can be passed from pets to people. Actually, before the manufacturers got the idea of pulling out even the marginal meat and selling it, pet food used to have considerably more nutritional value than it does now.

* The tech world has the concept of "eating your own dog food" or "dogfooding" where a company using a product they're developing internally. The theory is that seeing how a software product works under real use will allow developers to make better decisions. It's derived from a famous series of commercials by Lorne Greene for the Alpo dog food brand where he said that he fed it to his own dogs. The mutation of the line is usually attributed to Microsoft.

* Played with in ''Literature/TheTruth'', where Otto the vampire is brought back to life with bloody meat he identifies as "fine steak". ''After'' he finds out it was meant to be fed to a dog, he starts complaining, making it clear that sometimes the DogFoodDiet is a matter of perception.

* Played with in ''Discworld/TheTruth'', where Otto the vampire is brought back to life with bloody meat he identifies as "fine steak". ''After'' he finds out it was meant to be fed to a dog, he starts complaining, making it clear that sometimes the DogFoodDiet is a matter of perception.

Sadly, this is TruthInTelevision, that some people are reduced to eating dog food out of desperation. Realistically, depending on what area you live in and what standards you hold, pet food may or may not be more expensive than human food. Pet food is almost universally available in bulk while it can be harder to find human food in such quantities. However, if you have a Sam's Club or whatever near you, chances are you can buy the same amount per ounce of soup or Ramen Noodles as you could buy pet food, especially in a jurisdiction that puts sales tax on pet food but not human food.

Sadly, this is TruthInTelevision. Although, depending on what area you live in and what standards you hold, pet food may or may not be more expensive than human food. Pet food is almost universally available in bulk while it can be harder to find human food in such quantities. However, if you have a Sam's Club or whatever near you, chances are you can buy the same amount per ounce of soup or Ramen Noodles as you could buy pet food, especially in a jurisdiction that puts sales tax on pet food but not human food. Then, of course, there are the quality issues. Since pet food is not held to near the same FDA standards as human food, it costs a fraction to produce it and they can get away with a lot of mostly unhealthy filler. Despite this, they still set a larger profit margin than human food. Anyway, your mileage may vary since prices are hardly uniform across all areas, but as far as widely available bulk food goes, pet food does have the advantage there.

* Horse treats taste pretty good, though they often cost more than normal candy. They taste remarkably similar to energy bars marketed towards runners. For some brands, the horse treats taste better. The oats and grains that go into energy bars and the oats and grains that go into horse food are the exact same plants, grown on the same farms, processed in the same factories and sold by the same supplier. The horse treats taste better due to having higher sugar content (often as molasses) to fuel a horse's much higher energy consumption, but they're otherwise identical.

* The FutureSlang glossary at the back of the Literature/DoctorWhoNewAdventures novel ''Transit'' includes "Petfood Monster" for an extremely poor person.

** As does ''TabletopGame/{{Cyberpunk}} 2020''. Kibble is listed under "groceries" and described as tending to "look, smell and taste like the dry pet food it takes its name from". Then again, a week of fresh food costs almost as much as a scooter, so...

* In ''VideoGame/TheBindingOfIsaac'' you might find different containers of dog food, which raise your HP by one heart. Said food not only has flies surrounding it, it's also named "Lunch", "Dessert" and "Dinner". Which casts a rather disturbing light on just what kind of childhood the poor kid actually had.

** They really are remarkably tasty.

* Wet dog food isn't actually that bad. In some cases, sausages are made from what's left over. Dry dog kibble has been recommended as a good emergency food to stash in your car; it stores well, it's nutritious, and you won't be tempted to eat it until it's ''really'' an emergency. The main issue is that it lacks vitamin C, because dogs don't need it in their diet, so anyone eating dog food long term would need an outside source of vitamin C or face scurvy.

* [[http://www.thesneeze.com/mt-archives/000070.php Volume 3]] of "Steve, Don't Eat It!" has Steve trying out Beggin' Strips in a "Beggin', Lettuce and Tomato" sandwich. He finds out the hard way that Beggin' Strips do ''not'' taste like bacon. He also points out that the ingredients of Beggin' Strips include the very vague "meat".

* [[http://www.thesneeze.com/mt-archives/000070.php Beggin', Lettuce and Tomato sandwich]].

* ''Startoons'' (a collection of StarWars parody comics) had a panel where Han is at the dinner table, munching on a bowl of something and commenting to Chewbacca that it was pretty good stuff. Chewy is holding a 50 pound bag labelled "Burina Humanoid Chow"

* In an early episode of ''Series/TheGreatestAmericanHero'', the only thing to eat in Ralph's apartment was a half-empty box of dog biscuits, which Bill the FBI agent tucked into with a shrug. He developed a taste for the things that became a RunningGag for the rest of the series.
** They really are remarkably tasty.

--->'''Lister''': And you can take that look off your face: like I'm doing something disgusting. I'm just trying to stay alive.\\
'''Rimmer''': You're going to eat the dog food.\\
'''Lister''': I haven't eaten for six days. Yes, I'm going to eat the dog food.\\

'''Lister''': This isn't dog food. It's a piece of prime fillet steak in blue cheese sauce. It's been charcoal broiled in garlic butter, and it's going to taste delicious. Delicious. Delicious.\\

* In ''TheBindingOfIsaac'' you might find different containers of dog food, which raise your HP by one heart. Said food not only has flies surrounding it, it's also named "Lunch", "Dessert" and "Dinner". Which casts a rather disturbing light on just what kind of childhood the poor kid actually had.

** ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 76}}'' brings it back, but makes it significantly more common than many other pre-war food products and offers it as a quest reward more commonly than other foodstuffs. It even includes a perk that triples it's effectiveness as a foodstuff and healing item.

* Dog food isn't actually that bad. In some cases, sausages are made from what's left over.
** They also pump it full of anti-bacterials so most dog food is, at a minimum, not dangerous to eat.
** Dry dog kibble has been recommended as a good emergency food to stash in your car; it stores well, it's nutritious, and you won't be tempted to eat it until it's ''really'' an emergency. Not to mention the fact that, much like sand or kitty litter (something else you're recommended to keep in your trunk,) it can be poured under the tires to give traction in the event you're stuck in mud, snow etc.
** The main issue with eating dog food isn't what's in it, it's what's not in it. For example, dogs produce their own vitamin C, so they don't need to have any in their diet. A human eating nothing but dog food would quickly get scurvy (and possibly other nutritional deficiencies) if they don't get these missing bits somehow. This obviously only comes into play if someone is eating exclusively dog food, if someone eats it for a few days in an emergency situation it won't be an issue. And for longer term, there are vitamin C supplements.

** Most people can't tell the difference between dog food and cheap, cold beef stew through. A little label swap and the humiliation is acomplished rather more easily.

* Horse treats taste pretty good, though they often cost more than normal candy. They taste remarkably similar to energy bars marketed towards runners. For some brands, the horse treats taste better.
** This isn't a coincidence. The oats and grains that go into energy bars and the oats and grains that go into horse food are the exact same plants, grown on the same farms, processed in the same factories and sold by the same supplier. The horse treats taste better due to having higher sugar content (often as molasses) to fuel a horse's much higher energy consumption, but they're otherwise identical.
* Every dog owner has at least ''wondered'' what Fido's biscuits really taste like. Very dry and bland, mostly. Milkbones in particular have often been compared to harder Cheerios.
** Just about every child that has lived in a house with a dog in it has eaten a dog biscuit at some point in time. Some mothers even give them to teething children to chew on, because it helps with the pain of tooth eruption and can help remove some of the gum, letting the teeth break through more easily. This doesn't hurt the child, as there's nothing particularly dangerous to humans (even young ones) in the dog biscuits themselves.
** Some people actually eat them because they're low on calories but they are pretty filling so in case you get the munchies you can eat something that won't fatten you much.

** The liberal blog Firedoglake derisively refers to President Obama's deficit commission as "The Catfood Commission".

* Subverted with the pet food sold in Mexico: Depending on the brand and when did you buy the food, while most of the pet food sold there is safe for pets, on the other hand that food could be dangerous to eat for humans or normally it could taste really bad. This is justified, as that food is never intended for human consumption anyways.
* In the mid-90s after the Ontario government made heavy cuts to welfare allowances, then-Minister of Community and Social Services David Tsubouchi introduced a "budget menu" that people on assistance should follow. While it didn't include dog food (yet), one suggestion was to haggle with shop owners to lower the price of canned tuna (which many people DO feed to their pets). The Minister was nicknamed "Tuna Tsubouchi."

* The ''VideoGame/TexMurphy'' games.