Pay more, eat less

Michael Pollen, who is well known for perspectives on sustainable food production, wrote for the New York Times Sunday Magazine…

The American food system has for a century devoted its energies and policies to increasing quantity and reducing price, not to improve quality. There’s no escaping the fact that better food- measured by taste or nutritional quality (which often correspond) costs more, because it has been grown or raised less intensively and with more care. Not everyone can afford to eat well in America, which is shameful, but most of us can. Americans on average spend less than 10 percent of their income on food, down from 24 percent in 1947.

The reality is that a lot of our food options, whether in the grocery store of from food service, contain low nutrient density and may even contribute to disease risk because they contain too much salt or sugar.

The good news is that there is a trend to increase the nutritional value of food with omega-3, probiotics, vitamin D and more which are called functional foods.

The bottom line is that good food choices are available everywhere.  The challenge is to take the time to read food labels and make smart choices such as whole foods like fresh vegetables, eggs, low sugar yogurt, etc.

Don’t forget- you can afford to pay more for nutrient rich foods, eat less, and be healthier for it.

-Bill