| maxnyc said: Dollar for dollar, you get more CALORIE bang for your buck in the snack aisle, than in the produce section. Sorry to say, but that's a very simple fact. Yes, brown rice, eggs, and some other healthy things are relatively cheap, no doubt. But dollar for dollar, processed foods and meats provide far more calories, although they are much less healthy calories. |
That might be an explanation for a malnutrition problem (if people were taking in an adequate number of calories by eating junk food but lacking the nutrients they needed to be healthy) but that is obviously not the problem we’re facing in the western world. If you can afford to eat an excessive number of calories in junk food you can easily afford to eat an appropriate number of calories in healthy food.
Being that there is a demonstratable relationship between greater obesity in countries where people spend a lower percentage of their take home income on food, I don't think you can arge that people are eating poorly because they can't afford to eat better. After all, if people can be skinny while spending 13.5% of income on food why are Americans fat while only spending 6.9% of income on food ( http://civileats.com/2011/03/29/mapping-global-food-spending-infographic/ )?
The reason why poor people are more likely to be obese is the same reason why poor people are far more likely to smoke; and I don't think anyone is dishonest enough to argue that smoking is less expensive than not smoking.
