Healthy food costs more
December 5th, 2007
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As reported by the New York Times’ health blog, a University of Wisconsin study confirms what many people already suspect.
Healthy eating really does cost more.
That’s what University of Washington researchers found when they compared the prices of 370 foods sold at supermarkets in the Seattle area. Calorie for calorie, junk foods not only cost less than fruits and vegetables, but junk food prices also are less likely to rise as a result of inflation. The findings, reported in the current issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, may help explain why the highest rates of obesity are seen among people in lower-income groups. (link)
Apart from the various factors talked about in the study, transportation is a major issue (as mentioned by a commentator in the NYT post, as also found from studies by co-blogger Rohit). In most US cities, low-income, inner-city areas lack proper supermarkets and rely on corner stores which do not stock up on the healthiest of foods.
Additionally, I wonder how much the health food craze of recent times have contributed to the market driving up prices. Anyone who has stepped into a Whole Foods Market shop will tell you, the so-called healthy alternatives often cost about double the regular stuff, but the stores are still very crowded.
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3 Responses to “Healthy food costs more”
Healthy food costs more December 5th, 2007 at 8:15 pm #
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Amit December 6th, 2007 at 11:24 am #
BongoP’o'ndit:
Your post is missing a very essential ingredient that goes into making “junk food” cheaper when compared to healthy food - subsidies (basically our tax money) given to agri-businesses.
And I was wondering what did you mean by “health food” and “junk food”? Did you mean organic food? Are you talking about produce (fruits+vegetables) or packaged, processed food?
I don’t know if you’ve already seen/read, but the following are good resources to find out more about food issues and the way it works in the US:
- King Corn (movie)
- Fast Food Nation (book, also movie) [Eric Schlosser]
- The Way We Eat (book) [Peter Singer]
- Omnivore’s Dilemma (book) [Michael Pollan] (also has a web-site)
- Food Politics (book) [Food Politics] (also has a website)
These will give you an excellent look under the hood/behind the scenes.
Also google “Farm Bill 2007″ for more info. I think Oxfam has a write-up on it.
Also do the “more costs” involved w/ healthy eating also take into account external costs like
a. water and soil pollution due to conventional farming
b. loss of nutrient rich top-soil
c. visits to the hospital as a result of eating excess “junk food”?
I’d think that once you take all those costs into consideration, you may get a different picture and possibly “healthy foods” may come out to be cheaper. What do you say?
Amit December 6th, 2007 at 11:34 am #
I just read the NYT blog article that mentions the study.
“higher-calorie, energy-dense foods are the better bargain for cash-strapped shoppers”
What a load of crap!!! Is this what’s passing for “scientific study” these days?? LOL