|
Sounds like these researchers and reporters have
not been shopping or otherwise involved with their food. A too-common
situation.
I do the shopping for our household (at a
supermarket), and my major thrust (besides our garden), has been to minimize
PROCESSED foods. Reasonably priced basic food are available, while
anything that has additional processing will 1) cost more per calorie 2) have
undesirable ingredients 3) have reduced vitamins.
It is acknowledged that, all other things being
equal, fresh and nutritious food costs more, but that does not mean that
Cheetos are the only other choice. This article says that "the cost
of some junk foods dropped." Don't buy junk food! Even at the
supermarket, it's not the only option. Virtually every generation, at some
point, has had to learn how to "get by" on potatoes, rice, bread, pasta,
vegetables, cheap cuts of meat (occasionally). It takes a bit more effort,
but it is worth doing.
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, December 06, 2007 7:23
AM
Subject: [Livingontheland] Healthier
foods getting more costly, study says
"Go for frozen and canned vegetables and soups, which
often
have the same nutritional value at a lower cost"?
Healthier
foods getting more costly, study says
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004053526_food05m.html
By
Lynda V. Mapes
Seattle Times staff reporter
Anyone who has tried to
eat a more healthy diet lately knows it costs more
to eat all those fresh
fruits and vegetables. But a new study by the
University of Washington has
found that it's getting more expensive all the
time - and may even be out
of reach for some.
The first-of-its-kind study by UW researchers found
that between 2004 and
2006, the costs of some healthy foods went up nearly
20 percent at major
Seattle supermarkets. But over the same period, the
cost of some junk foods
dropped.
"Healthy foods are gradually
slipping out of reach for all but the affluent
consumers," said Adam
Drewnowski, director of the University of Washington
Center for Public
Health and Nutrition and an author of the study.
"Foods we thought of
as being everyday, healthy, nutritious foods are
becoming luxury
items."
The study tracked changes in prices over time and sorted by
food quality.
It compared the cost of more than 370 types of food purchased
at three
Seattle supermarket chains: QFC, Albertsons and
Safeway.
The researchers compared the cost of food that is low in
calories by weight
- generally fresh fruits and vegetables - with the costs
of
higher-calorie foods, such as candy, pastries and snacks that are high
in
refined grains, sugars and fat.
The 20 percent increase in cost
of the healthy foods, such as fresh fruits
and vegetables, was way ahead of
the overall cost increase of all the food
combined, which was 5
percent.
The study, by Drewnowski, and Pablo Monsivais, a research
fellow at the
center, was published in the December issue of the Journal of
the American
Dietetic Association.
The findings were discouraging to
experts who have long been concerned that
poor people lack access to
healthy food and face higher rates of obesity
and related health problems,
such as diabetes and heart disease.
"It's a justice issue," said David
Bobanick of the Access to Healthy Foods
Coalition, a Wenatchee-based
nonprofit. "For people on limited incomes,
this is so much more than an
annoyance. You weigh the decision, 'Do I fill
my child's empty stomach so
they don't feel the pang of hunger with what I
can afford? Or do I try to
feed them nutritious food?' "
The study has its limitations, the
researchers are quick to note. For
example, the pricing didn't take into
account such things as coupons, store
chains' loyalty cards that grant
reduced prices or sale offers. And the
researchers stuck to the chain
stores, so they didn't weigh options such as
farmers markets, where fresh
food can cost less.
But they also came away with some advice for the
shopper on a budget.
One big one: Go for frozen and canned
vegetables and soups, which often
have the same nutritional value at a
lower cost.
"Fresh is a middle-class obsession," Drewnowski
said.
For researcher Monsivais, the findings were "kind of a shocker"
because
they contradict a popular assumption that food is cheap in
America.
But that notion "doesn't tell you anything for those of us
trying to eat
healthy," he
said.
_______________________________________________
Livingontheland
mailing list
Livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/livingontheland
|
