I was at the grocer yesterday. Just picked up a few items. Our grocery shopping style is typically quick visits throughout the week over one major trip per week. I'm a big fan of red peppers. Green peppers aren't bad--it's just that red peppers are so sweet and delicious! I was completely shocked when I went to select a few of the red ones from the produce section. The price listed below the peppers? $4.99 per pound! Really? How is that possible? I quickly looked around, expecting to find myself in the organics section or something. Nope. This was the "standard" produce. At those prices how can people afford to incorporate fresh vegetables into their meals? How can they afford to put a priority on fresh produce if they cannot pay to get it on their tables?
While at this same store I overheard two elderly women discussing what they had in their carts. The first woman pointed at a head of iceberg lettuce and several tv dinners in her cart. The other woman complained about the high price of heads of iceberg lettuce. Something like $1.25 a head. They seemed pretty shocked at the sticker price. What they had in their carts did not reflect healthy eating by any means. It looked that they are eating what they could afford--regardless of its nutritious value. Will these food choices keep them strong and healthy into their years ahead? I think not.
Limited access to fresh and affordable produce will have its consequences. Our bodies will not be fully nourished and will become increasingly vulnerable to sickness. Food that is cheap is usually unhealthy. Frozen pizzas, chips, soda, and other such things will put on the pounds. This extra weight can lead to a whole slew of health issues down the road. With the state of our economy and where people stand with money, they're forced to make food choices that weaken them as people. Food decisions are made in the present--but the consequences reach far into the future, unseen now. It's no wonder we have an obesity crisis in this country. People can't afford to make healthy decisions.
For one week a few folks in Congress tried to live like a lot of Americans live. They had to make all food purchases on the average food stamp allotment ($21 per week). Sound tough? Read the article here. Details of what they ate and reflections on the experience are on a blog tracking the challenge here. Could you meet all of your food needs for a week with $21? What would that be like?
Keep your eye on this when at the grocery store. Imagine shopping with a paycheck half of what you get now. Imagine shopping to feed four or five kids. Imagine trying to buy food for healthy meals if you worked for $7 per hour. People all over the country live this daily--it's real and it's hard.
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7 comments:
Hi Matty!
I enjoyed reading your blog. It is absolutely frightening how expensive it is to eat correctly. The other day I bought ONE peach and ONE plum, and spent over a dollar for each one of them. I won't even go into what I spent for asparagus and salmon for a salad I made a few days ago. I don't understand why more isn't being done about this...I always like to watch what other people are buying at the grocery, and it's scary. Carts full of mac and cheese and Pringles. No wonder we are all so ridiculously unhealthy. It makes me sad. I can't even imagine what you probably pay, being someone who eats about twice as healthy (healthily?) as me.
Speaking of food...the other day I was remembering that pasta you made once for me...I think it had spinach in it, and maybe yogurt...can you remind me of that? It was SO good, and I would like to make it.
Hope you are well! Nothing too excting going on here...it is pouring rain, and I have had a busy few days, so old "One T" and I have declared a pajama day. Haha.
Have a great weekend!!!
-Jackie
Boy, do you sing the truth there. We tend to buy a great deal of produce several times a week as well, and my jaw drops every time we're in the checkout line. We've chosen to continue our purchasing patterns, but sometimes, buying pizza rolls and boxes of mac and cheese seems so financially appealing - especially because Dixons LOVE fresh cherries in the summer (even at - ugh - $4 a pound - it kills me every time). We have the luxury of making this choice; so many folks do not. Where's the veggie lobby in DC!? Maybe THAT'S what we should do. The beef lobby was pretty successful.
Those two ladies should try Meals on Wheels-great food (plenty of it) and human contact!
I'm in for the Veggie Lobby? Maybe a new PAC fund!
Backyard gardeners can also help by giving their extras to local food banks.
I know that Great Harvest Bread also gives to Loaves and Fishes in our area!
Our local elementary school has a program during the school year called www.generoushands.org. They send back packs of food home for the kids to eat over the weekend and give them coupons for eggs and milk at the local grocery.
People are trying to help, but I think it's coming from a grassroots level rather than a creepy evil government level.
Don't give up hope, start a movement!
Brilliant observations, Matt. Your Dad taught me to seek out green veggies rather than the nutrient empty iceberg lettuce. He's always talking about empty calories. Each meal is a choice for people with money to back up that choice. I love my own cooking so I mostly eat at home rather than pay the high dollar for the high fat/calorie food in restaurants. I like to scavenge the pantry and combine whatever ingredients I find to make ethnic dishes or new combinations of flavors, textures and colors.
Uncle Marty
The reason cheap food is cheap is because of the farm bill - because the stuff that is in cheap food is subsidized, and the good fresh fruits and veggies are not so we pay closer to the "real" price for them (even though if you tacked on the cost of all the oil that it took for us to get them all the way from Chile, Argentina, and wherever we'd pay a lot more). Our food system is totally wack and out of balance! But there are signs of hope, so don't despair. A new farm bill is in the works this year and it holds some promise.
Awesome blog...after reading this I want to try and survice on $21 for a week, just to see if I can do it!
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