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Rambling Thoughts on Food and Wealth

May 7th, 2007 at 12:52 am

I have been reading numerous blogs regarding financial matters within the last few weeks. I came across several blogs that mentioned that one's financial status played a role in what they ate. The primise was that the wealthier a person was the better they ate and therefore they were healthier because they had the financial means to buy food that was healthier. If you were not as financially established as some of the wealthier individuals, the primise was that they made less healthier food decisions because they bought more processed food which is not as healthy as fresh foods.

I don't necessarily buy theses primeses. I do feel that those who are less fortunate do have to rely on cheaper foods but I don't necessarily buy the primise that all wealthy individuals were more healthy because they made better food choices. Even if people have a lot of money, that doesn't necessarily meant that they make better food choices. It just means they have choices in what they eat. They can choose to eat food that is not good for them or they can choose food that is good for them.

Using myself as an example, I feel that if I was a wealthy individual I would still make the same food choices that I am making now, which are not very good choices.

5 Responses to “Rambling Thoughts on Food and Wealth”

  1. disneysteve Says:
    1178502969

    Certainly, there are exceptions and you may be one of them, but in general I think the theory holds up. I work in a very poor area and I occasionally see and discuss what my patients are eating and it is almost always stuff I would classify as crap, nutrionally speaking. I don't know anybody among my peers, family and friends, who eat that way. Why? Partly because we know better and partly because we can afford better.

    One example: Not long ago, I saw a woman who had her infant son with her. The infant was drinking a bottle filled with bright blue liquid. It turned out to be some generic sugary artifically colored punch stuff (like Kool-aid but worse). Even though the baby wasn't my patient, I couldn't help but cousel mom on how inappropriate it was to be giving that to a baby. But a gallon of that stuff is probably 99 cents. A supply of formula is much more expensive. So finances definitely come into play.

    Do all wealthy folks eat healthy? Of course not. But I bet they eat a whole lot healthier overall than the poor people.

  2. JanH Says:
    1178507600

    The crazy thing is that I think it has switched over the years. We grew up without much money nor did our relatives have much, but we all had gardens and ate really healthy foods. And we couldn't afford much junk food nor eat out much. I wonder if it is a education thing nowadays. More access to good information. My father read and believed that sugar and fried foods were bad for us. He didn't allow us to eat much of those foods. That's why I wonder if knowledge plays a role.

  3. JanH Says:
    1178507716

    oops.....

  4. lieweheksie Says:
    1178510619

    I think cost has lot to do with it- it's cheaper to buy a large packet of cheap cookies than fruit and veggies- juice and milk costs double what Coke does-poor parents are often jsut trying to make sure the kids aren't hungry
    Perhaps the real question should be why is good food so expensive- ??

  5. monkeymama Says:
    1178545789

    Hmmm, it probably depends. I come from a very poor family and they always ate very well - home grown gardens and such vs. processed foods, of course I come from farming families.

    For us we ate a lot worse when we had more money - lots of fast food, eating out, junk food. We do a lot more home cooking now that budget is tighter.

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