I made a comment a few posts ago about how pricey our grocery bill has been since we started eating more fresh produce. I read an article today that made me grateful that we can even afford to eat fresh fruit and vegetables. The NY Times article discussed the rise in healthful food costs as the cost of junk foods has decreased. Given this information it is not surprising that many people have diets of mostly junk food; junk food fits in budgets, while healthful food does not.
A World Bank report from 1996 (from Reuters, couldn’t find the original) showed 20% of the world’s people live on less than $1 USD per day. Note that is $1 total per day, including food. The Times article mentioned several people that are trying to understand what the $1 per day really means. The One Dollar Diet Project chronicles a pair of social studies teachers’ 30-day experiment to eat on $1 per day. Their experiment was fascinating and very scary. Because of their nutritionally poor diet they had to watch out for scurvy! The first thing they ate after the experiment was complete were strawberries. Be sure to check out their daily menus to see how they had to scrimp and cut corners just to keep it under $1.
How sad it is that pure, healthy, natural food is priced prohibitively high while processed, artificial, chemically-preserved food is dirt cheap.
