Junk food costs lots less than healthy food
Posted
Dec 11 2007, 02:59 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Given the choice between junk food (which costs on average $1.76 per 1,000 calories) and low-calorie nutritious food ($18.16 for 1,000 calories), and you, like many low-income people, had only $4 to spend on food each day, which would you buy? Those amazing numbers are included in a University of Washington study on the price of 370 foods sold at Seattle-area supermarkets. The study also found that the price of junk food dropped by 1.8% over two years, and the price of healthy foods like fruits and vegetables jumped by 19.5%. The New York Times says the study results may explain why low-income people are more likely to suffer from obesity.
“If you have $3 to feed yourself, your choices gravitate toward foods which give you the most calories per dollar," said the study’s lead author, Adam Drewnowski. "Not only are the empty calories cheaper, but the healthy foods are becoming more and more expensive. Vegetables and fruits are rapidly becoming luxury goods.” Ed Levine at Serious Eats notes that this is "a knotty problem." He asks, "Serious Eaters, what can we as a society do, if anything, to deal with this?"
