Outdated tropes, That's so SR3.... Options

[Shinobi Killfist]

About the fixers. No fixer is alone, even the low end sleazy ones. He may not be part of an organization, but he isn't alone, his entire job is about not being alone. That low rent fixer in the barrens knows a guy in Lonestar, he has a friend in the supply depot at the local army base, he knows a chop shop crew, he has friends in doc wagon etc. He knows how to make friends and influence people, he knows how to keep under the radar and keep his lines secure. At the end of the day a fixer is just someone with a big Rolodex and a knack for putting the right people in that Rolodex together. There is nothing in SR4 that implies this would go away. Maybe they do things a bit different in missions but missions isn't all of SR4.

[Sengir]

Except that those chemicals ARE actually bad for you in the long run. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Salt is plain necessary for humans, but as usual dosis facit venenum. And even if our body did not require it, there is a reason why people use salt and other preservatives since millenia...Ironically, a lot of people have forgotten that because preservatives work so well and people no longer have half their neighborhood wiped out from food poisoning.

The thing about doses also applies to Aspartame: I you drank 50 l of diet coke a day, you will indeed have an increased long-term risk of several cancer and some other nasties. So better drink that much water, the water poisoning would kill you on the spot and thereby avoid any long-term effects.
If you drink it in normal doses, however, the few mg of Aspartame are in insignificant contribution to the carcinogenic substances we are exposed to every day from completely natural sources alone - natural radioactivity, the hydrocarbons responsible for the taste of cooked food, fungi and microorganisms on raw food...

[CanRay]

About the fixers. No fixer is alone, even the low end sleazy ones. He may not be part of an organization, but he isn't alone, his entire job is about not being alone. That low rent fixer in the barrens knows a guy in Lonestar, he has a friend in the supply depot at the local army base, he knows a chop shop crew, he has friends in doc wagon etc. He knows how to make friends and influence people, he knows how to keep under the radar and keep his lines secure. At the end of the day a fixer is just someone with a big Rolodex and a knack for putting the right people in that Rolodex together. There is nothing in SR4 that implies this would go away. Maybe they do things a bit different in missions but missions isn't all of SR4.

He also probably knows a stock boy at the local Kong-Wal-Mart and can get you those bulk crates of ramen really, really cheap (After they've "Fallen" off the truck and aren't presentable)! Perfect for the Squatter-Low Lifestyle! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[Neraph]

Last week?

Last week > 6 hour half-life of rutherfordium.

[Sengir]

Last week > 6 hour half-life of rutherfordium.

$1stWeekday, 02:00 (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

[Draco18s]

Last week > 6 hour half-life of rutherfordium.

That's only 28 half-lives ago. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wobble.gif)
1 particle in 268,435,456 would still be around.

[Tymeaus Jalynsfe...]

That's only 28 half-lives ago. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wobble.gif)
1 particle in 268,435,456 would still be around.

Such a Geek... Heh. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Rubic]

So, I pick up the ball, and throw it to Naturally?

No, you throw the ball to Who.

As far as the main topic goes, mix to suit your flavor. Even in modern times there are plenty of people too poor to get by, earning minimum wage and living in one step shy of a commune because rent and property costs are too expensive. As somebody who's been in that sort of situation for a while now, I can tell you that concerns such as eating healthy are secondary to the concerns of eating and having a roof over your head. In a poor economy, it can be hard to get a job even at the bottom of the barrel for any length of time.

Take that, and magnify it to get the world of Shadowrun for an equivalent point in the future. There are many new advances, many shiny new gadgets, and some of that bleeds over into second-hand goods, and people who have inside connections, but that doesn't necessarily discount the suffering and despair that many people live in or scrape by with. After all, bad soy or empty carbs are better than hungry to most people. In a world recovering from such disasters and on the cusp of another indefinable and potentially greater calamity, who's to say what people are considering themselves lucky to have?