Healthy Food Is Privilege Of The Rich, Study Shows

SEATTLE — A healthy diet is expensive and could make it difficult for Americans to meet new U.S. nutritional guidelines, according to a study published Thursday that says the government should do more to help consumers eat healthier.

An update of what used to be known as a food pyramid in 2010 had called on Americans to eat more foods containing potassium, dietary fiber, vitamin D and calcium. But if they did that, the study authors said, they would add hundreds more dollars to their annual grocery bill.

Inexpensive ways to add these nutrients to a person's diet include potatoes and beans for potassium and dietary fiber. But the study found introducing more potassium in a diet is likely to add $380 per year to the average consumer's food costs, said lead researcher Pablo Monsivais, an assistant professor in the Department of Epidemiology and the School of Public Health at the University of Washington.

"We know more than ever about the science of nutrition, and yet we have not yet been able to move the needle on healthful eating," he said. The government should provide help for meeting the nutritional guidelines in an affordable way.

He criticized some of the marketing for a healthy diet – for example, the image of a plate of salmon, leafy greens and maybe some rice pilaf – and said a meal like that is not affordable for many Americans.

Food-assistance programs are helping people make healthier choices by providing coupons to buy fruits and vegetables, Monsivais said, but some also put stumbling blocks in front of the poor.

He mentioned, as an example, a Washington state policy making it difficult to buy potatoes with food assistance coupons for women with children, even though potatoes are one of the least expensive ways to add potassium to a diet.

The study, published in the journal Health Affairs, was based on a random telephone survey of about 2,000 adults in King County, Wash., followed by a printed questionnaire that was returned by about 1,300 people. They noted what food they ate, which was analyzed for nutrient content and estimated cost.

People who spend the most on food tend to get the closest to meeting the federal guidelines for potassium, dietary fiber, vitamin D and calcium, the study found. Those who spend the least have the lowest intakes of the four recommended nutrients and the highest consumption of saturated fat and added sugar.

Hilary Seligman, assistant professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, said Monsivais' research is an interesting addition to the debate about healthy eating and food insecurity, her area of expertise.

A lot of people assume the poor eat cheap food because it tastes good, but they would make better choices if they could afford to, said Seligman, who was not involved in the study.

"Almost 15 percent of households in America say they don't have enough money to eat the way they want to eat," Seligman said. Recent estimates show 49 million Americans make food decisions based on cost, she added.

"Right now, a huge chunk of America just isn't able to adhere to these guidelines," she said.

But Monsivais may have oversimplified the problem, according to another professor who does research in this area. Parke Wilde, associated professor at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University, said it's not expensive to get all the nutrients a body needs to meet the federal guidelines.

What is expensive, in Wilde's opinion, are the choices Americans make while getting those nutrients.

He said diets get more and more expensive depending on how many rules a person applies to himself, such as eating organic or seeking local sources for food or eating vegetables out of season.

"The longer your list gets, the more expensive your list will be," he said.

Seligman said her list can get longer than Wilde's, but not everything is a choice. Adding to the cost of buying healthful food could be how far away from home a person needs to travel to get to a grocery store that sells a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables.

The government also affects food prices through the subsidies offered to farmers growing certain crops, she added.

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Online:

http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/early/2011/08/03/hlthaff.2010.1273

Comments

[Thinkaboudit]

02:25 PM on 08/15/2011

We need to educate the population and have the government subsidize the availability of healthy foods, like kale, broccoli, walnuts, etc. (organic fruits and vegetables), but it can't happen with corporate money buying our legislators. So our government is subsidizing fast foods, instead.

[Paul Beaudoin]

10:56 PM on 08/08/2011

Is $380/yr seroiuosly the difference between being rich and poor or am I missing something here?

[Averagedancer]

03:34 PM on 08/08/2011

I'm not rich by any stretch of the imagination, but I can tell you that dairy, meat and pre-packaged foods eat up far more of your money than fruits and vegetables. My diet consists of 80% fruits and vegetables, and my food bills are easily manageable; add dairy, meats and convenience foods, and my bills sky-rocket. I stopped consuming meat & dairy for the health benefits - which are considerable - and found that my food dollars could be spent on healthier fare. I sometimes indulge in convenience foods and pastas, etc., but not very often. Don't believe everything you read, folks: the meat and dairy industries benefit from this sort of slanted reporting.

[FOXYROSE]

07:49 AM on 08/08/2011

All I can say is that healthy food (fruits and veg) has gone up a lot in the last few years. It is expensive to make a home made veg soup! Meat has sky rocketed and so has coffee, milk, bread etc. I can't think of any food items that have not gone up. The middle class is being squeezed out of existence.

[Casa-Giardino]

09:02 PM on 08/07/2011

Eating beans, rice, omelets, broccoli, and some fish (http://casa-giardino.blogspot.com/2010/10/whiting-fish-of-poor-merluzzo-pesce-dei.html) is not expensive. It boils down to have knowledge of food and knowing how to cook it. http://casa-giardino.blogspot.com/2011/06/from-dirt-to-kitchen-table.html

[JHKH]

08:15 PM on 08/07/2011

I think I'd rather go a little hungry and eat well, than eat crap just because it's cheap. But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong.

[Stewart Goss]

05:10 PM on 08/07/2011

$300 a month buys healthy food at Whole Foods for two. Done it.

[Stewart Goss]

05:08 PM on 08/07/2011

Healthy food is expensive, most of the poor are obese.

Problem solved.

[Ayla McIntosh]

04:03 PM on 08/07/2011

The rich stay healthy and the sick stay poor.

[Stewart Goss]

05:09 PM on 08/07/2011

In the old days it was the opposite right? The rich had gout and the poor were slim and fit.

[Pleb Bob]

01:19 AM on 08/07/2011

"Our food supply plays a major role in the freedoms we desire. Henry Kissinger once said that whoever controls food controls people. Why not control your own destiny and start with your house and home. Creating food free of genetic engineering is the first step of individual freedom. However, this will take work and the desire to be a leader. It takes an individual to be a leader and a leader must make great change."

-Inform Infect Spread. A revolution.

http://www.growing4freedom.org/g4f-inc.htm

[OverseasVet]

01:30 AM on 08/08/2011

All crops are genetically engineered. There is no difference if this is done directly or through selective breeding. Personally I like the big juicy strawberries in the store over the tiny sour berries that grow as weeds in the yard.

[Blarg]

06:59 PM on 08/05/2011

While many fruits and vegetables are especially expensive, some of the problem with skyrocketing food costs has to do with people simply not wanting to cook. Convenience foods cost many times over the cost of the ingredients inside them. A frozen baked potato with sour cream can cost over $3.00, but a fresh one might run all of 25 cents. You can get six ounces of the worst spaghetti you've ever eaten in your life for a buck if you look out for sales in your freezer section, but you can make your own at home for 40 cents and it will be great.

Even at the lower end of the preparation scale, the cost divergence is huge. You want boneless, skinless chicken breasts? Pay a dollar or two more per pound compared to just getting the breasts and cutting off the bone yourself, which takes half a minute at most even for a klutz. And the bone is practically weightless, so there's no excuse about paying extra for weight. The skin? Peel it off with your hands. It's harder to keep it on than take it off!

It's not the whole story, but it's way more of the story than often gets talked about -- people are just too lazy to save money by buying raw ingredients. And they don't necessarily want to eat well -- they want to eat easy.

[Michael Briggs]

10:58 AM on 08/07/2011

Convenience has been the death knell for American society since the arrival of the frozen dinner.

[Benjo333]

06:22 PM on 08/07/2011

you mean the drive thru...

[stape45]

01:33 PM on 08/05/2011

Anything for a buck. Corporate America gives capitalism a really bad name. There's absolutely nothing (of YOURS) that they won't sacrifice for an additional dollar.

[OverseasVet]

01:45 AM on 08/08/2011

Got that backwards. Capitalism is the all encompassing search for the dollar irregardless of the consequences. Capitalism is ruthless. That is why until recently the US and other industrialized nations created social government programs with taxed industrial profits. Without that safety net and unchecked capitalism we get riches congregated into the few and the majority dying in the streets. It is the GOP dream for our future.

[Fresh for all]

08:04 AM on 08/05/2011

An organic pear should not be a luxury good...

Local and organic produce is often more expensive because conventional preservatives/chemicals are not used (according to organic standards), and higher rates of spoilage lead to higher prices.

This is why we need simple, natural, inexpensive ways to reduce spoilage, like what Fenugreen (http://www.fenugreen.com) is doing in Boston. Fenugreen's FreshPaper is an all-natural, biodegradable, solution to the massive yet often overlooked global challenge of food spoilage (25% of the world's food supply is lost to spoilage each year), a new technology based on a grandmother's home remedy.

[sabelmouse]

10:38 AM on 08/05/2011

interesting.

[OverseasVet]

03:47 AM on 08/08/2011

Or we can produce a superior product and use modern techniques to get it to consumers in a swift and efficient manner to allow more time for consumption. Maybe we could use science based fertilizers and modern harvesters and sell it in large warehouses or "super" markets. /s

[Dee Amschler]

10:54 PM on 08/04/2011

I live in Seattle. I live really close to the poverty line. I use coupons. I go to multiple stores to take advantage of sales and I use coupons that I match to sales. I use tips garnered from my grandparents who - on both sides - survived the Great Depression. I don't care what I do or how hard I make each penny scream, the ONLY way I get vegetables and fruits throughout the month is by going to food banks.

And I'm not sure what planet Seligman is from. I don't know any poor people who make shopping decisions based on things like "is it local?" and the few I know who care about organic are people like myself who've lived around agriculture to see what pesticides do and even we only buy organic when the price is roughly the same. Most of us just want FOOD and dream about the day when we can afford fresh produce instead of frozen or when our fresh produce isn't from food banks. The few of us who have stiff requirements are people with dietary restrictions like I can't have cow's milk and have to eat low fiber due to digestive issues and others I know try to keep to religious dietary laws. None of these things require local, organic, etc.

[silver sister]

10:28 AM on 08/05/2011

I live in spokane and have been unemployed for a year,my disabled son and I live on $674 a mo.+300 food stamps.Most of the food banks here give out junk,stale cakes,donuts,sugary cereals,cookie bars,fruit rollups ,maybe caned fruit in syrup,yuck!I don't get why frozen veg. is getting put downs, it's better than fresh if fresh has been in the back room a while,also cheaper.I buy for value,the cost per serving is lower the less you waste.Frozen boneless,skinless chicken breasts are a better buy at a higher price than thighs or legs, by the time you discard skin, bone,fat and gristle there's not much left.I buy only the leanest gr. beef,that lower grade 80% lean means 20% fat meaning 20% of your .money in the trash.I make everything myself and never eat out,I wouldn't anyway because of the crappy quality of the food.

[frank day]

01:46 PM on 08/05/2011

Any Community Gardens in your area?

For those who are able, that's a great way to get fresh produce.

Some even provide tools, seeds, and advice.

BTW, you can use Food Stamps to purchase seeds.

[Targetdog]

08:50 PM on 08/04/2011

I'm taking this article with lots of grains of salt (sorry for the pun). My parents fed four children good wholesome food on a staff sergeant's salary. My mom worked part time but still cooked our meals. Eating out was for special occasions not a lifestyle choice. I find it tragic that with all the cooking websites, couponing websites and other resources that so many are finding it so difficult to make healthy food choices.

[oldgraymare]

10:56 AM on 08/06/2011

Food was a whole lot cheaper when you and I were kids....that's just a fact - even with lower salaries, etc. As we went to more and more processed foods, the basic "good" stuff got more expensive. I too fed my family mostly "from scratch" dinners.....but it was never what I would consider cheap. We made the decision that good nutrition was going to be a financial priority for our family. And it has paid off.....we are healthy in our senior years, and have healthy children in their 30s. Fingers crossed we all stay that way!

[Targetdog]

11:21 AM on 08/06/2011

My parents also didn't have a $150 cable/internet bill biting into their food budget either! ;-)