Higher prices, wider waistlines

I've got to agree with those saying this is an odd, poorly done article. While the issues of race and culture intersect in examining why so many southerners are fat (and I grew up down there), there is no reason poor people can not eat healthy foods; many such foods are cheap. The issue is education, and I do not mean school. Asian and Mexican families come from a culinary tradition of vegetables with less emphasis on meat and prepared foods. The best course of action would appear to be educating our poor (ironicly often white) to embrace cooking at home with cheap products, such as beans, rice, and other cheap vegetables.

verkouille @ 6:00 PM PDT, Jul 25, 2008

Let me see if I have this correct: using MORE corn for ethanol increases the price of corn, which supposedly makes food (especially things made with high fructose corn syrup) more expensive which leaves the poor with LESS money, which means they'll consume MORE fattening foods (with expensive high fructose corn syrup)? You could poke a thousand holes in this thesis, but I'll stick to one questions for these genius authors: how does ethanol increase the price of all food EXCEPT corn sweetner, which is about the only edible product made from corn?

Nathan @ 2:38 PM PDT, Jul 25, 2008

I think the opposite is true. The processed junk actually costs more. When I do the food shopping for my family I find that the bill is higher when I buy the convienance foods/frozen foods.

rouge @ 12:46 PM PDT, Jul 25, 2008

Rent the documentary "Corn King" for more details on the horrific use of our US crop lands for the production of this heavily-subsidized, inedible, unheathly, diabetes-causing corn crop.

Gary Stephenson @ 11:59 AM PDT, Jul 25, 2008

@adrianne: sometimes when you're poor and have to work several jobs just to make ends meet, there's no time to cook your own healthy food. To all you people who are judging, try stepping out of your middle class privilege and seeing what poor people really experience before saying that they are too lazy/uneducated/out-of-control to eat healthy.

Neko @ 11:25 AM PDT, Jul 25, 2008

The argument presented in the article is simply not true, or rather it is only true if one eats out. IF lower income people have access to a fridge and a range, and 3 pans and a couple of knives, they can eat very cheaply and healthily. And you don't need a lot of skill either. (Egg salad!) In so many ways they have no ability to control their lives - but in terms of cooking and eating, they can. Send this message of empowerment!

Sue @ 10:13 AM PDT, Jul 25, 2008

What a poorly researched article. Let's pretend biofuels raise food prices -- the foods most impacted would be the processed foods they are blasting as causing obesity. It wouldn't impact healthy fruits and veggies. Farmers are not tearing up vegetable and fruit farms to plant crops for biofuels. Fruit/vegi crops are worth way more per acre than corn! What's impacting food prices is oil -- and high energy costs. More people aren't going to food banks because food costs have gone up. They are going to food banks because they have to spend so much on gas to get to work and school.

Mick @ 9:21 AM PDT, Jul 25, 2008

How true. Obesity is not just about quantity but about quality. But when every time you get paid you are nervous about making it until next payday, you tend to cut the grocery bill any way you can. It is also cheaper to sit around the house then go places and pay for things. I have found that eating and entertaining myself at home is the best way to save money, aside from ditching cable/satellite TV. Even a walk around the block brings temptations to stop at the 7-Eleven or the taco stand.

David T. @ 7:57 AM PDT, Jul 25, 2008

Perhaps the same cultural conditioning that keeps people fat also keeps them poor? But poor Asians aren't obese and they don't stay poor for long, either. Education, initiative and self-reliance play a big part in keeping people strong, but more government interference just keeps a population dependent, fat and poor. But then, if these people all wised up, what would government workers do?

Ray @ 7:43 AM PDT, Jul 25, 2008

Part of the obesity problem is the abandonment of the kitchen: families can eat a number of healthy and filling meals, provided they're willing to take the time to cook! Pasta with marinara sauce is cheap and easy (cheaper if you make your own sauce using canned tomatoes), so is rice and beans (dried beans are healthiest, but canned will do in a pinch). Frozen vegetables (without sauces) can also be economical. A family that takes time to prepare food at home can do quite well; however, those who live on fast or prepared foods are in trouble. So long as people are willing to sacrifice nutrition for convenience, no changes will be made.

adrianne @ 6:14 AM PDT, Jul 25, 2008