Our Income Is Our Diet

By Edwina J.

 

Did you know that chronic diseases like diabetes and cancers are connected with the cost you’re spending on your diet? Chronic diseases are and have been getting more common day by day in America. These severe illnesses like obesity and diabetes are affecting all people from all age groups. Those severe illnesses are constantly linked with food choices Americans make. A big role is cost because America simply lacks healthy eating for those low-income individuals, making it more difficult for them to have a healthy life.

            To begin with, you may ask how healthy eating is hard for low-income
individuals. The USDA and HHS, Department of Health and Human Services, published the U.S. dietary guidelines on January 7, 2016, which glorifies how your diet should be filled with foods that maintain health and are low in fat content. A diet that meets the dietary guidelines costs $12,000 to $14,000 annually, according to Utah State University Researcher. They also researched how on average a low-income household spends $3,862 per year on groceries, which is roughly only one-quarter of the dietary guidelines expectations. This proves that the cost you’re paying for a fresh fruits and vegetable filled diet is much greater than the cost of an unhealthy, high packed calorie diet. It’s quite palpable that it’s an issue, so as a result 25 percent of produce cost has been reduced by 50 percent.

Furthermore, low-income individuals can take matters into their own hands by choosing the healthier but cheaper option. It’s no secret that it may be harder to find cheap healthy foods, considering on average those empty calorie packed processed foods cost roughly $1.50 less than healthy nutrient filled foods. Buying those foods you're getting what is called “More bang for your buck,” says researcher Dorotea Sotirovska. You have to realize that no amount of “bang” can prove that stocking up on foods that revolve around sugars and fat is healthy. Therefore, to reduce temptation, never stock up on those empty calorie foods. You should try to break your budgets into two separate categories, healthy and affordable, when making your diet plans. It’s a simple suggestion for those who are struggling with finding healthy, affordable options with their budgets. Rather than overdoing unnecessary calories that will trigger your health,  find what you can manage that will go farther to maintain your health.

In addition, children and teens have been even more at risk for chronic diseases because already that particular age group lacks in diets containing vegetables and fruits. Also, think about the parents who simply cannot afford to have their children's diets be filled with nutritious foods. It truly is a burden for some families today in society to put healthy meals that they can afford on their dinner table. Similarly, it's linked back to cost. The cost of a diet is limiting better eating habits for everyone. Junk food is being increased in diets day by day in America, and as a result chronic disease rates are following the pattern and being increased as well. To explain more in depth, the cheaper option, and unhealthy, is processed foods, losing vital nutrients with meals that include extensive amounts of carbs, sugars, salts, and fats.  Without a doubt there are going to be people out there choosing the unhealthy diet because of their desire, but put yourself in someone else's shoes. There are families out there who’s only option is the unhealthy option because it’s commonly cheaper.

In response, U.S. Organizations are in an attempt to make produce more affordable for low-income homes. Perhaps switching the cost roles could work, but we need to know how to make it happen. Those U.S. organizations may need to look at the bigger picture. You cannot just magically find a way to change the price of every grocery item. A solution that would work and is much stronger is the idea of harvesting and growing produce ourselves. That would help because one financial reason junk food is greater in cost is that it is cheaper to transport those unhealthy foods that contain chemicals.

The fight between junk food and healthy food may never end, but sometimes we have no choice of what side to stand on. Cost is the biggest role of the decision, and the cost of a diet is increasing the likelihood of an individual obtaining a chronic disease. Maybe that fast food place serving you that empty calorie filled meal is more convenient for you, but in society you should wish a healthy nutritious meal is just as convenient and maybe even more. In order to find multiple working solutions to solve that problem we need to find somewhere to start. That may be as little as growing your own fresh produce or as big as an added-sugar tax. Either way, we need a starting point now because the key to being healthier is to eat healthier, and that can only happen when a healthy life saving diet is as affordable as the processed and unhealthy diet that some people are constrained to eating.