OT: Healthy Food Getting More Expensive

[Guest guest]

Howdy y'all,

 

Rosanne Tartaro sent me the below link a few days back .. those who are

d to Reuters can go right to it but for those who are not .. I have

printed it out below. Perhaps its something most Americans have become

accustomed to and just don't notice .. but after returning to the USA this

summer, after 19+ years in Turkey, I 'm still going through a good bit of

culture shock and the cost of fresh fruits and vegetables is right up there

on the top of the list of things that hit me like a Mac truck.

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSPAR27349420080102?feedType=RSS & fee\

dName=healthNews

 

You will read below that these price increases are putting healthy food out

of reach of those who most need it. We had a reversed situation in Turkey

... red meat, fish, snack foods and fast foods were priced above the means of

the average Turk but fresh vegetables and fruits were dirt cheap.

 

Maybe we should not be surprised to see healthy food prices increase and

junk food prices decline .. I can imagine a number of reasons for this ..

three of them could be (1) More land is being devoted to grain crops now ..

for production of ethanol .. the price of corn has increased 30% a bushel in

one season .. and we will see an increase in the cost of red meat as a

result of this. (2) If we go to the average grocery store we will see that

folks are buying a lot of Junk .. not food that requires preparation. Maybe

this is because they prefer junk and maybe its because the junk is cheaper.

(3) There is more competition in the Junk food industry than in the fresh

foods industry.

 

I believe that there will come a time soon where we will see even higher

prices in fruits and vegetables .. climate change (for whatever reasons) is

happening now and it will have an impact on the cost of agricultural

products. Those who can are probably growing some of their own food now but

its not always easy for city dwellers to have a garden .. not

always impossible either. I'm not sure how it is in most American cities

but .. for example .. in Ankara, Turkey there are municipal garden plots on

the outskirts of town that folks can rent for like $100 a year .. a couple

of my buddies have them and they are able to freeze and dry a lot of food

each year .. and in most Russian cities .. in particular the one my wife is

from .. Magnitogorsk .. there are garden plots just outside the city .. a

family or two will purchase roughly a quarter acre plot for something like

$500 or so .. and streetcar lines run to the area Her father owns one and

they save a heckuva lotta money each year by growing and preserving their

own food.

 

I am not looking to work for the other man now so I had more opportunity to

choose a location than some folks have. We settled in Paris, TN .. 9 miles

out of town in the county .. away from the lights but that suits us fine.

The only traffic on our road are folks who live here, the mail service and

sheriff patrols.

 

Three of the many reasons I decided to settle in a rural area were .. (1)

Nature: I wanted to avoid what Ogden Nash wrote about, " I think that I

shall never see .. a billboard lovely as a tree. Perhaps, unless the

billboards fall, I'll never see a tree at all. ;-) Deer and Wild Turkey

are all over the place here .. they come into our yard. Kentucky and

Barkley Lakes between them have around 2,500 miles of shoreline and the

fishing is Outstanding. (2) Security: I won't go into detail on that but

it is a reality .. plus my 22 month old son has a large, safe area to run

and play in and he likes it a lot. Scout, a big Yellow Lab, is our backup

security system .. nothing moves undetected around here and when my wife and

son are outside the house Scout is there beside them. ;-) (3) Natural

Living: We have 2.5 acres and a deep well that tastes great and has tested

super pure. We can grow our own vegetables, fruits and herbs and are

planning a half acre organic garden this Spring .. the ground is already

tilled. We paid around 50 cents for one each sweet pepper here last Summer

... I was paying about that for a kilo of those suckers in Turkey. We

purchased 78 packets of vegetable and herb seeds from Burpee Seed Company

and another 30 odd packets locally .. I might be going overboard but we

intend to plant every one of those seeds. ;-) Our garden will be all from

seed except for strawberries .. local sets .. and potatoes .. local seed

potatoes. We plan to dry, pickle and can lots of jars and fill two freezers

come Summer .. plus give lots of goodies to folks on our road .. and the

wild critters can take their share too .. if Scout gives them permission.

;-)

We have apple, pear, apricot and cherry trees on the place .. as well as

grapes, blueberries and blackberries. And will try a few more fruit trees in

time.

 

We eat too many vegetables to be buying them in a grocery store. My wife

is Russian .. vegetables have been their main diet for centuries. My son,

Alexander, is a vegetable monster .. his favorite food is corn, which I will

grow here, then black olives and pomegranates, which I can't grow .. then

cucumbers and radishes .. which I will grow. The little rascal will pass

up anything sweet to be able to gnaw on a radish or a pickle or cucumber.

Rare it is to find little ones who like radishes because they are kinda

tangy. ;-)

 

I have three retired military friends who have decided to desert the city

.... one in Washington, D.C., one in Dallas and one in Atlanta .. they don't

have young children but they are moving to rural areas for pretty much the

same reasons I listed above. They can sell out in the city, move to the

country and get twice the house and 10 times the land for half the price of

the home they sold. According to a realtor friend here, Paris, TN .. a

small city (around 10,000 folks) .. County Seat of Henry County (around

35,000 folks) has grown more in the last 2 years than in the previous 10

years .. housing construction outside the city is ongoing whereas in many

areas its at a standstill.

 

I believe that in the near future we will see the largest exodus from the

cities that we've seen in our lifetime. Folks are going to lean toward

being able to grow their own organic foods for less than they pay for wilted

commercially grown foods and many folks that are still working will decide

that its worth the time and cost of fuel to drive 50 or even 75 miles or so

round trip each day. Oh yea .. I'm not into selling real estate .. just

laying out my thoughts. ;-)

 

Hoping I am that 2008 is good to all of us. Y'all keep smiling. :-)

 

Butch .. http://www.AV-AT.com <http://www.av-at.com/>

 

 

Healthy Food Getting More Expensive: Study Wed Jan 2, 2008 3:25pm EST

 

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The price of fruits and vegetables is climbing

faster than inflation, while junk food is actually becoming cheaper, the

findings of a new study suggest.

 

Using retail prices at major supermarket chains in Seattle, researchers at

the University of Washington found that low-calorie, nutrient-rich foods --

mainly fruits and vegetables -- were far more expensive, calorie for

calorie, than sweets and snack foods.

 

Moreover, the average price of the lowest-calorie foods -- including green

vegetables, tomatoes and berries -- increased by almost 20 percent over 2

years. In contrast, in the same time period there was a 2-percent dip in the

cost of the most calorie-laden fare, such as butter, potato chips, cookies

and candy bars.

 

The findings, published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association,

highlight a key obstacle to healthy eating. And they may help explain why

obesity rates are highest among the poorest Americans, according to the

researchers.

 

" Whereas (calorie)-dense foods remain the most affordable option, the price

of the recommended healthful foods of lower (calorie) density has

disproportionately increased, " write Drs. Pablo Monsivais and Adam

Drewnowski.

 

They add that, along with encouraging Americans to change their personal

behavior, the government may need to make policy shifts that help people eat

more healthful foods -- such as changes in the way the government subsidizes

the agricultural industry.

 

In their study, the researchers examined the prices of 372 foods and

beverages at Seattle supermarket chains in 2004 and 2006.

 

They found that snack foods, sweets and fatty foods offered the most bang

for a shopper's buck. Whereas the price of the lowest-calorie fruits and

vegetables was more than $18.16 per 1,000 calories, the most calorie-rich

foods cost $1.76 per 1,000 calories.

 

The 20-percent increase in the cost of the lowest-calorie foods may be

putting healthful foods out of reach for those Americans who need these

foods the most, according to the researchers.

 

" The finding that (calorie)-dense foods are not only the least expensive,

but also most resistant to inflation, may also help explain why the highest

rates of obesity continue to be observed among groups of limited economic

means, " they write.

 

SOURCE: Journal of the American Dietetic Association, December 2007.

 

© Reuters 2007. All rights reserved.