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traineo Community / Diet & Nutrition Tips / Why we're fat: Healthy eating really does cost more
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i Slappy
traineo Fanatic
Posts: 101
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 # Posted: 7 Dec 2007 23:31


A High Price for Healthy Food

That’s what University of Washington researchers found when they compared the prices of 370 foods. Calorie for calorie, junk foods not only cost less than fruits and vegetables. Energy-dense munchies cost on average $1.76 per 1,000 kcal, compared with $18.16 per 1,000 kcal for low-energy but nutritious foods.
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The Master
Posts: 2856
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 # Posted: 8 Dec 2007 02:28


i like the article but i think that regardless of the high prices some people still choose the junk out of convenience, desire, and unhealthy lifestyle.
Mikaela K
Fitness Guru
Posts: 274
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 # Posted: 8 Dec 2007 03:48


My family has the money to spend on healthy food, and my mom still opts for unhealthy options for herself. It sparks my curiosity.
THE NEW ME
The Master
Posts: 2856
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 # Posted: 8 Dec 2007 11:27


my parents do the same mikalea. its a lifetsyle. my parents are proud to eat hotdogs and ice cream at costco and love the bargain there. they live a sedentary lifetsyle and i cant change that. they are the only ones who can. they choose the unhealthy options when they can have healthier options. they like the convenience, the taste, the bargain, the quantity and unfortunately probably will continue this even though they have the choice not to.
Splint Chesthair
Fitness Guru
Posts: 471
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 # Posted: 8 Dec 2007 17:18


The assumption that people make rational choices is a foolish one in economic theory. Some people assume that if healthy foods and junk foods cost the same, it would solve the problem because it would be rational for people to buy the healthier food. This is not true. It's the same reason people at the poverty line still somehow find the money for a carton of cigarettes. Behavioral Economics is a very strange and interesting area of study
Dave Nicholson
The Master
Posts: 2094
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 # Posted: 8 Dec 2007 17:28


That is very interesting, Splint. I wonder, though, do most people do some sort of comparison? Say the Ramen were a similar price as a chicken breast, or at least there was less of a significant difference... Would people eat better? If you could get a bag of spinach for the same price as a bag chips? If a gallon of skim milk were the same cost as soda?

I truly have to look at prices and sometimes compromise the quality of food I'm buying, or take extra time to plan meals around what is nutritious and affordable. But if this were easier, would people make healthier choices just because of that? I think so, and couple that with more education about a healthier lifestyle, I think it could make a dramatic difference.

That said, how do we make this happen? With over 60% of this country overweight, and obesity becoming more of an issue every day, what can we do to encourage this change?

Any ideas? Are there existing organizations that you're aware of that are currently working hard to reverse these trends? Are there ways to get involved? I know we can't make anyone be healthy that chooses not to, but what about those people that would like to be but cannot?
THE NEW ME
The Master
Posts: 2856
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 # Posted: 8 Dec 2007 21:56


i agree with you splint
i Slappy
traineo Fanatic
Posts: 101
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 # Posted: 9 Dec 2007 00:39 - Edited by: iSlappy


Excellent point, Splint. That's why I loved the book Freakonomics. So much fun breaking apart the data and sometimes finding that conventional thinking doesn't alway apply.

@ Dave
Here was an interesting comment on the article(sometimes the comments are more thought provoking than the article on NYTimes.com), I thought it was a good idea:

Every packet of food stamps gets added to it a bunch of extra “vegi-stamps” that can be used for unprocessed vegetables only.

Since the veggies are so expensive, the extra vegi-stamps should represent plenty of dollars’ worth. (Without taking away from the other food stamps.)

But, alas we will probably never see this as the Corn industry is the most subsidized food industry (even more so now with the Gov't push towards ethanol and benefits from all the High Fructose Corn Syrup in all the junk foods.
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