Last updated on December 2nd, 2011
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JH-Qv3f73x4]EVER WONDERED why healthy food is so expensive, but EFS’s (edible food-like substances) are so cheap? Here’s the answer, explained — in a corn-kernel — by my hero, Michael Pollan.
So what do you think? Is our government’s policy of subsidizing corn, soy, and etc. to blame for obesity and certain other health concerns in this country? My answer leans towards “yes.”
A penny for your thoughts.
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Terry says
I think the price difference between fresh foods and EFS's is only part of the problem. I don't necessarily agree that fresh foods cost more, I think it has more to do with the fact that somewhere around the 1950's and 1960's people decided to become “modern” and did not want to feed themselves in the old ways which they perceived to be difficult and old-fashioned. So they became addicted to precooked, frozen and fast-foods. Also, people moved away from farms and in the cities and suburbs they did not have access nor did they want to have their own vegetable patch and chickens and cows.
People don't know how to cook anymore! If they had their cupboards filled with staples and took the time to follow a recipe I believe they could spend much less on feeding their family than if they just filled the grocery cart with frozen and canned prepared food and junk or went out to a fast food place or restaurant to eat. Once they know how to cook proper meals it doesn't take all that long.
People are just in too big a hurry, they think they are too busy to eat properly. They are more interested in watching so called reality tv shows or xbox games. They go too many places and try to do too many things. Then they stuff theirselves with crap food and wonder why they are overweight.
People need to also eat fruits and vegetables that are in season, instead of buying a green looking cantelope for $2.50 that came all they way from South America in the middle of winter. In my grocery, a bag of carrots generally costs under $2. A 10lb bag of potatoes about the same. Think of all the fries you could make from a 10lb bag of potatoes. If you buy carefully and have a cookbook you can spend a lot less than you think on feeding your family. If you just have to have something sweet, try making cupcakes or muffins from scratch. You could make a dozen muffins from scratch for the same price as a single premade muffin from the bakery. Making it from scratch takes only a couple of minutes more than opening a boxed mix. It can bake while you get ready to go to work, and then you can take one with you along with a thermos of coffee. People drink WAY TOO much soda!
I am poor and use foodstamps at this time, and to tell you the truth, I told my case worker she gave me too much! I really have a hard time using up all they give me because I don't buy a bunch of sugary, fat filled and premade crap.
Getting off my soapbox now….
Eric says
Government agricultural policy definitely contributes to health problems in this country.
I think REAL food should be subsidized, and garbage(like McNuggets and McWhatever from McDonalds, twinkies, sodapop) should be taxed like cigarettes.
And don't get me started about the approval of GE alfalfa!
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Terry- I agree that much of the problem is psychological. I grew up in a household where everything was made from scratch, including cake (I didn't know you could buy boxed cake mixes until I started grocery shopping for myself).
Like you, even when I have no money (which is most of the time) I manage to eat very well. I think the Recipes section here at A Garden for the House reflects this!
Eric – It's been calculated that the true cost of a Big Mac is close to $10. If not for subsidies, McDonalds would either go out of business…or become a very exclusive, high-end eatery.
Terry says
I also think soda pop should have taxes similar to cigarettes and alcohol! Think of all that extra tax money, and I think people would be less likely to quit their pop addiction than they are cigarettes and alcohol.
Adele says
I have to agree with Terry and Eric on taxing junk food.
“Cheap” calories are not only not cheap, they are unsatisfying. You're always left wanting more! But I guess that's the idea. Most contain lots of salt, too, so you'll drink lots of soda. It's lose-lose as the consumer gains and gains!!!
Andrew says
My suspicion is that people who know how to cook rarely fill their grocery carts with frozen dinners. And frozen dinners are VERY expensive. Lean Cuisine, anyone?
Katreader says
While I tend to agree, I must say convenience foods are that-convenient and require no thinking. I do also love twinkies…but haven't had one in ages.
Susan M. says
Well, Kevin, calling a person your hero made me curious, so I went to Michael Pollan's website and read some reviews of his books. I was impressed enough to purchase Second Nature and am looking forward to reading what one reviewer described as “The best book about Americans and their gardens in decades.” Thanks for the heads-up.
I don't think about food and society too much, because we all get to choose, it seems to me, what we do with what we have in this life. There cannot be many people, including school children, who do not know that what we choose to eat affects our health, finances, and well-being. I know my boys, now out of school for many years, had the message pounded home from grade-school health classes on up, and even had a middle school “heart smart” program with cafeteria fare. Both young men are extremely conscious of (and love to eat and cook) what our family considers to be good food. For value and because I like to cook, I've mostly stuck to that well-publicized rule about shopping around the perimeter of the super market.
However, I think what drives everything in our modern times is profit, probably even greed. I grew up near a Hostess bakery in Iowa and went there on a grade school field trip. Everyone back then (1950s) thought Wonderbread was good food, and perhaps it was made with better ingredients at that time. Twinkies were really yummy – I bet they were more simply made compared to now. (Twinkies are better a sweet memory than a treat to me now.) Anyway, I think when products like modified food starch began to be substituted in commercial foods years ago, the course was set. Make it cheaper, make it “fresh” longer, make more money.
I liked what Terry had to say about people not knowing how to cook for themselves. While my boys were being taught about healthy eating in school, the cooking component of a required high school unit (what we used to call “Home Ec”) was teaching them how to make pizza using prepared roll mix, and brownies from a box. What a missed opportunity!
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Great observations, Susan M! Your sons are lucky indeed.
I think you will enjoy reading Michael Pollan's wise words. After reading his “Omnivore's Dilemma,” I can't buy food from the supermarket without first considering where, exactly, that food came from.
John C. from Indy says
After reading “The Omnivore's Dilemma”,and a wonderful book by Barbara Kingslover called “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle”, my wife and I decided to do our best to change our eating habits regarding meat. We already put out a large garden (organic) that supplies us with 75% of our vegetables (year round with freezing and canning), but we were at an impasse regarding meat consumption and the ethics of non-sustainable feedlot meat production. Going on line we found out about a local butcher who sells only local, sustainably raised beef, pork, and chickens. Although the prices are higher than in the groceries, the meat is more wholesome and ethically raised. We also resolved to eat less meat (ex. sharing one occasional steak rather than one each), and eating more vegetables with every meal. We try to eat vegetarian once or twice a week. Meat has become a “side dish” rather than the entree. More stews, soups, casseroles, etc. make for more healthy nutrition. And, we don't miss larger meat portion at all!
There are now three local egg sales spots within 10 miles of us as well as at the butcher's. Their free-range organic eggs actually cost less than those organic eggs at the groceries! It's really not been difficult to change our buying and eating habits, and we feel really great knowing where our food is coming from.
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
John C. from Indy – You are a kindred spirit.
I found myself at that same “meat impasse.” Ethically-raised meat is pricey (as it should be), but the solution is to eat less of it. For me this means once a week.
Eggs are never on my supermarket shopping list. I buy local eggs at a very reasonable price from my local farm store. And what delicious eggs they are!
GothamDan says
I listen to “Wait Wait Don't Tell ME” every weekend on NPR. This was one of the funniest exchanges I remember…Paula Poundstone and Michael Pollan.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128417647
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
GothamDan – Thanks for submitting this HYSTERICAL clip! Here's a clickable link to the NPR segment.