So after talking about Whole Foods yesterday & how 2 small bags cost $81.00 - I was thinking about how expensive it is to eat healthy. Know what that means, right? I'm jumping back on my Soap Box today...
& no, this isn't a post on how to save money while eating healthy. I've seen tons of those. Buy frozen vegetables, get in season fruit, visit farmer markets, buy in bulk... yeah, yeah, yeah...
This is a different thought.
I don't find it odd that there is no Whole Foods out in my area, out in the country. To get to a Whole Foods, I have to travel about 45 minutes one direction - to the east end of town - the well 'to do' area. Coincidence that its there? I guess not when its $81 for 2 small bags.
The thing that I was thinking about that really bothered me is this.... I work in Downtown. Sometimes at lunch, I'll actually run down to the grocery store that is about 10 blocks down the road. Why? Because they always have my sparkling seltzer water there & in my own grocery, I have to battle to get any cartons.
Why Kroger, must you order 4 cartons of sparkling water? .... Its a race to see who gets there first before they're gone. I buy every carton they have when I go.
But this grocery store in this really poor part of town always has them.
So when I'm in there, I went to look at their 'health food/natural food' selection.
Now, I am aware that my local grocery store, I'm lucky .... we have a pretty good selection. It's about 4 aisles with lots of options. A good freezer section as well. It's no Whole Foods - but it has more options then any other normal grocery store I've ever seen.
This grocery in the run-down part of downtown? They literally have one SECTION - not even an aisle - on a shelf of the natural food/health food for their choices. & it's pretty much some bags of candied fruits. One or two bags of granola. A few bags of pop chips. That's about it....
& then I saw on Rachel Ray this week where they were talking about food budgets & they gave one family a weekly budget of $60. They had to watch sales, they had to go to different stores to get enough food for their family of 4... & in the end? The food was pretty much lack of anything nutrition. A lot of potatoes (this girl does love potatoes) & spaghetti & cheap pieces of chicken & poor quality beef.
You know I would scoff at any meat selection ... my vegetarian side is showing.... but I don't think there was much of any fruit or vegetables... definitely not anything green. Except one 2-liter of Mountain Dew that were for the adults only - kids had to drink tap water. I guess that's one thing healthy... depending on your water system.
Now, don't get me wrong, I think you COULD eat healthy on $60 a week, but what if you lived near a store that didn't even OFFER a good selection of options for natural selections & a poor produce selection? Could you do it then?
It's really sad to me actually....
It makes me wonder if health caters to the rich... or the people who are more well off....
That's so messed up really.
I hate that cheap food is just that... cheap.... in nutrition, in health benefits...
And I hate that healthy food is sometimes a luxury... not a must have... not a need....
I think our country is paying & will continue to pay for the health of our families, our children... as long as they keep making sure its harder to eat healthy then to eat cheap....
I think there's a problem going on we don't even realize is happening... health prejudice? Nutrition segregation? I have no idea what to call it... I just think there's an issue that isn't being talked about...
My Soap Box rant of the week...(these are becoming a weekly habit, aren't they?)
this post is so true. the thing is, i avoid the 'healthy' section in kroger anyway because its normally 'packaged healthy'. i do buy things like quinoa and beans and what not, but the majority of my food comes from the outer aisles, fruit, veg, dairy, meat (not as much anymore), you know? all the 'healthy' stuff like '100 calorie meal' is not good for you anyway. its sad that junk is cheaper, and sometimes its not even 'junk' just not 'healthy'. like you said, potatoes, pasta etc. not necessarily bad, not good all of the time either.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful post! Have you seen the movie Food Inc? If not, go rent it now! I use to show it in my Nutrition class every year! It talks about this exact issue.
ReplyDeleteNot that this is exactly the same thing, but I have a grocery chain near my house. One store at the south end ( where there is a university, a hospital, a thriving downtown area, and lots of young professionals). The grocery store there has a fresh seafood section and has an isle full of Clif bars, power bar gummies, Lara bars, etc, etc.
The store on the other side of town ( same store name) where there are more blue collar workers, does not have the fresh seafood section and I can't even by a clif bar there. No section for that stuff at all! Coincidence? Great post Rebecca Jo!
YES!!! You are talking exactly what I'm talking! This store has not one nutrition bar & my store has a whole aisle with nothing but choice after choice of Clif bars & Lara bars.... Candy bars is the choice at this other store.
DeleteExcellent soap rant. Seriously, this is such a good issue to talk about. I can see someone already wrote about Food Inc ,but you're post totally made me think of that documentary. It makes me so mad that being healthy is expensive. If it's labelled organic it's like twice the price. Arg!! I also think there needs to be healthier food options for kids at school, especially those free breakfast programs. If a kid is coming to school hungry, why oh why are we giving them sugar pancakes and cereal? It doesn't make sense to me
ReplyDeleteI loved Food Inc - I'm obsessed with documentaries like that! ... & yes yes yes! We give kids such JUNK & then wonder why they're falling asleep in school & the highest obesity rate ever for kids?!?!??!
DeleteSO MUCH TRUTH. I seriously hope grocery chains see this post and start making them think. STOP making processed crap $0.50 and making the healthy foods mark-up price by like 300%. UGH!!! Healthy eating is more important than your margins! And to the manufacturers, invest some time and money into your supply chain management system so you can lower your costs and sell to grocery stores cheaper!
ReplyDeleteSorry I totally just used the comment section as a rant letter LOL! :0)
See - it feels so good to get on that soap box sometimes, doesn't it? :)
DeleteYup! :0)
DeleteThis isn't a rant! You are speaking the truth as Lauren said! We shop for produce at the farmers market because it is way cheaper than Whole Foods or even Publix. We get our "nasty meat" (hehe) from Trader Joe's because the same cut of meat is worth the soul of your first grandchild's wife at Whole Foods.
ReplyDeleteOMG....and don't get me started on what things like CrossFit, Bootcamps, or even kickboxing classes cost on a monthly basis....
ReplyDelete