Why Eating Healthy Costs More
How much do you get for your money?
It’s true, eating healthy costs more. At least it does upfront, the personal and national (not to mention genetic) health costs down the line are far cheaper. The problem is with limited funds to feed yourself or your family it’s a difficult choice to make for many. It all boils down to corporate lobbying efforts, the perpetual profit chase and a general f*ck you, pay me attitude.
The government subsidizes certain industries which result in those crops becoming dominate and it’s products cheaper. Corporations lobby and buy off agencies and politicians in order to do what’s best for the bottom line of their company regardless of the harm they are causing. Looking at you KFC.
The aggregate effect of such market manipulation across the agriculture industry, notes Time, is “that a dollar [can] buy 1,200 calories of potato chips or 875 calories of soda but just 250 calories of vegetables or 170 calories of fresh fruit.”
What’s even more sick and twisted is food is free. I’ve always had issue with people starving yet food and water are free from nature. It costs nothing to put a seed in the ground. The food grows, bears fruit and provides seeds to grow more at no charge yet people are going hungry and starving to death.
Civilization.
We need to start growing more of the food we eat and shopping at local farmer’s markets where you get fresh food straight from the farm. The food in most cases is incredibly cheap. Healthier fresher food leads to better health, lower medical expenses, fewer illnesses and less hospital stays. It’s a win win for us and the farmers that grow our food. The sell out companies and government protection agencies won’t like it but so what.
Additional:
http://www.salon.com/news/david_sirota/2011/07/15/vegetable_price_politics
http://www.mymoneyblog.com/getting-value-for-your-food-dollar-nutrition-vs-cost.html
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1917726,00.html
Jaylon Carter is a blogger, social media marketing consultant, former Congressional Campaign Media & Communications Director, national labor union vice block leader, and a Hip Hop artist who performs under the stage name Timid (@timidmc).
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