Why the poor can't eat healthy and organic

[nosmokes]

basically because we don't want them to. truthfully our corporate masters don't want any of us eating healthy and organic - there's no profit motive in it for them. at best there's only money going to some family farmers and that doesn't help someone who hasn't had dirt under their fingernails since they were outta kneepants.
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http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/301574_grocerygap29.html">original

Poor are priced out of healthful eating

*Basics cost families more than food stamp benefits allow*

Monday, January 29, 2007

By PHUONG CAT LE

P-I REPORTER

In a food-conscious city such as Seattle, where consumers are willing to pay a premium for all things wild, organic and locally grown, chances are pretty good that you can find and buy healthful food wherever you live.

But can you afford to buy and eat healthfully if you're poor?

A researcher compared food prices in Seattle's Rainier Valley and Queen Anne neighborhoods and found that a family of four living on the maximum allowable amount of food stamps can barely afford the basics here.

Jamillah Jordan, a fellow with the Congressional Hunger Center in Washington, D.C., shopped for groceries -- apples, potatoes, bagels, corn flakes, macaroni, canned peaches, ground turkey and other items -- and discovered what those on limited incomes know well: Even the basics cost families a little more than food stamp benefits allow.

"Nutrition is important, but it's really a matter of economics," said Jordan, who has been working on the Grocery Gap Project with Solid Ground, a Seattle non-profit. "People were telling us, 'If I can't afford a nutritious diet, I'm not going to buy it' ... If people simply can't afford that, what does that do to their health?"
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complete article http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/301574_grocerygap29.html">here

[dysfunctional press]

1. fix your link...

nt

[Reterr]

2. Something is wrong with the link.NT

[angstlessk]

3. Fish was cheap till it was discovered it was good for ya..

que in fruits and vegitables and that leaves heavily prepared foods which USED to be for the rich..till, well you know!

[Matariki]

9. might have more to due with oceans being over-fished?

than just upping the price because it's healthy?

[ohio2007]

12. market sets the price of fish and organic produce

Organic produce yields less per acre so the cost is more.

[nosmokes]

15. organic does not yield less per acre. and organic withstands drought

much better than "conventional."

[kimmerspixelated]

4. Well, I for one

am greatly encouraged by the growth of the all natural aisles in the Martins. It has grown tremendously in the last few years. Yes, you have to be a thorough shopper to get the best deals. Look for "Nature's Promise" as they seem to be the better deals, but mainly the more you buy, the cheaper they will become, eventually. Also, everyone should grow their own tomotoes, at least! Growing your own goes a long way towards health bennies.

[nosmokes]

5. link repair complete - sorry bout that!

[eppur_se_muova]

6. Because fat, starch, and (tariff-subsidized) sugar are the cheapest foods? nt

[GumboYaYa]

7. Community Gardens are a must have in lower income neighborhoods.

The food is healthier and cheaper. It is better for the environment. It empowers people to provide for themselves. It is a great opportunity to educate children and introduce them to the wonders of science. It builds a much-needed sense of community.

Community Gardens are one of my major causes. Anyone can do it by just getting organized and putting in some labor.

[Matariki]

8. something about posts with the phrase "our corporate masters"

just makes my eyes glaze over. Even if you ARE making a good point.

There are many reasons why organic, non-processed food is more expensive than sugar laden processed food. I seriously doubt there are evil 'corporate masters' sitting around plotting how to wreck poor people's health. More like large factory farms getting subsidies for certain things. And the cost of growing organic is more expensive than using pesticides, etc.

Seattle has a good community garden program, as well as a couple 'to your door', weekly or bi-weekly organic & locally grown produce delivery services (which aren't very expensive since the produce is local and in season), and some fairly accessible farmers markets.

[nosmokes]

19. and why do you think the corporate factory farms are getting the

subsidies? instead of the family farmer the politicians always trot out in front of the camera when it comes time to pass that multi billion dollar piece of welfare known as the ag bill?seriously, you thinkADM and monsanto and the rest of the ag/chem/bio/industrial complex *earn* all that money they make?

[Matariki]

20. obviously because they lobby politicians

that doesn't make them 'our corporate masters'. When you talk like that, very few people are going to take you seriously. It sounds sophomoric. And it's a shame, because otherwise you're making a valid point. Why does it cost more to eat simple, natural food without a lot of added crap and chemicals? Businesses take the path of least resistance to profit. Some, or perhaps many, are less ethical than others but I seriously doubt anyone sits around like a cabal of evil 'dark overlords' trying to deliberately ruin our health.

As people become more aware of the problem, communities can work toward solutions. Like the urban gardening program Seattle has. I've read about other cities addressing the problem by getting more farmers markets into urban areas. Part of the problem is that most of us are so out of touch with agriculture that we have no idea what a growing season is, much less when specific produce is seasonal. So we demand our organic bell peppers in mid January and can't understand why they cost 3 bucks a piece.

[Matariki]

21. also

I think a lot of subsidies that were put in place originally for smaller farmers, back in the 1930's, were 'inherited' by larger Agro-business. Even though the larger farms don't really need the subsidies, once in place, they are quite possibly hard to get rid of. I know my grandparents modest dairy farm survives on a certain amount of subsidies. I believe they get money to let some of their fields fallow on a cyclical basis, to keep the soil from being depleted of nutrients.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agricultural_subsidies:_beneficial_or_counter-productive

[nosmokes]

23. but i do believe we live in a corporatocracy and that shrubco has simply

exaggerated the effect for the last 6 years. Clinton was pretty palsy with the multinats as well. NAFTA is no friend of the working class anywhere, and that's a fact. true, Ag subsidies began in the '30s but the bill now wouldn't be recognizable to anyone from that era, nor would the farming practices. true corporate masters is over the top language and i used it to get a response. but believe me, when it comes to agriculture it's not far from the truth. trying to find something made w/o high fructose corn syrup is a challenge.That is a direct result of the corn industry, a multi billiondollar endeavor that has influenced everything from the way cattle are raised(much to the detriment of the cattle and ourselves) and chickens(ditto) and are now influencing our foray into renewable fuels by getting everyone on the ethanol bandwagon when bio-diesel is more cost effective and makes a helluva lot more sense. and corn is only one example, although i don'tthink anything else is as pervasive as HFCS. so, while *corporate masters* may be inflammatory language and your point is well taken, i don't know that it's necessarily inaccurate. i'll get offa my soap box now.:hi:

[qwlauren35]

10. Soon as you threw in "organic"

You lost me.

Dried beans and long grain rice, the staple of a healthy, vegetarian diet, are still DIRT CHEAP (unless you want Zatarain's!)

If you can't find dirt cheap pasta, you're not looking hard enough. Fresh fruit has to be bought in season. You can't get around that. But you can pretty much always find cheap apple sauce. And if you wait for sales, most frozen vegetables can be had at rock bottom prices as well.

Ground turkey is processed. They ground it for you. Duh. Besides, turkey has become "posh", so you pay more; you can get chicken leg quarters for 29 cents a pound if you shop around. At my house, we boil the meat off and then use it in casseroles and soups.

I certainly, and COMPLETELY agree that it takes effort to bargain shop. But the minute you add the word "organic", the price goes through the ceiling, and I'm not convinced that organic is "better".

IF you know how to cook and have the time, and that's a BIG *IF*, you can eat healthy food with food stamps.

[nosmokes]

14. that turkey hormone free? doubtful.

and why shouldn't the poor be able to eat organic ? no one should be forced to eat the pesticides and the GMO frankenfood and the hormone filled crap that passes for food in 'merka these days. sure, you can go to the store and fill a cart up w/ kraft dinners on sale and ypou won't go to bed hungry, but you sure ain't getting any nutrition either. as for conventional fruits and veg, studies have shown the vitamin and mineral content have been dropping in *conventionally grown(although WTH is conventional about dumping petroleum based poisons all over your food no one has been able to explain to me yet) while organically veg and fruit has nutritional content that still compares favorably with the base line of those first tested back in the '40s or'50s. in other words, you can't grow healthy food in unhealthy soil.

[seabeyond]

11. $1.50 for a med. yellow bell pepper.... that is why they cant eat healthy

bought it today in the store. i dont look at price but cashier couldnt believe the price nad had it checked. hence now i know how much they are and i will never buy one again. or think twice anyway

[Matariki]

18. out of season and shipped 1000s of miles probably.

[musiclawyer]

13. Two things going on

1. Price issue is real. Buying bread with no HFCS, 100% juice, organic meat, organic vegetables and fruit all will cost more at week's end , even if you forego cheap soda and other processed foods. But you will be healthier and go to the doctor less in the long run.

2. Availablity is an even more important issue. Fresh fruit, veggies and good quality meat, organic aside, can be difficult to find in many poor areas.

Government should intercede. Nothing but upside. But it won't

[SoCalDem]

16. And, there's a whole generation who never learned to cook from scratch

I have a friend who always tells people (when I bring a cake) "SHE BAKES FROM SCRATCH!!" (like it's some miraculous feat)..

I was cooking when I was 8 yrs old, but "modern" kids have eaten out of a microwaveable plastic dish, or a bag or box from a take-out place, for YEARS. Many kids are not even home until dinner time (they are at daycare) and Mom's too busy to spend hours with them baking or cooking, so they never learn.

By the time kids are teens and are mobile, they eat junky stuff even more, and when they go oout on their own (if they ever do these days), they just continue the trend..

When each of my boys moved out, I gave them a little notebook with the "family recipes", and every now and then one of them will call for directions for one I forgot..

It's cheaper to cook, but it takes planning.. People don;t have a lot of extra time these days

[kestrel91316]

17. My BIL is the family chef, and I am so happy he has always taken

the time and trouble to cook healthy and from scratch. He has taught my niece and nephew enough in the kitchen that they can keep learning on their own now that they are ready to go out on their own. They can taste the difference between storebought junk and homemade, and they always prefer homemade from fresh ingredients.

He recently inspired me to try eating local (I have to consider anything in the southern half of CA as local because there is nothig grown within 30 miles of here, and then only limited produce). I bought some local sage honey a couple of weeks ago and it is so light and mild, it's HEAVENLY!

[Matariki]

22. Why does organic cost more?

From Organic Farming Research Foundation:

http://ofrf.org/resources/organicfaqs.html

Why does organic cost more?
The cost of organic food is higher than that of conventional food because the organic price tag more closely reflects the true cost of growing the food: substituting labor and intensive management for chemicals, the health and environmental costs of which are borne by society. These costs include cleanup of polluted water and remediation of pesticide contamination. Prices for organic foods include costs of growing, harvesting, transportation and storage. In the case of processed foods, processing and packaging costs are also included. Organically produced foods must meet stricter regulations governing all these steps than conventional foods. The intensive management and labor used in organic production are frequently (though not always) more expensive than the chemicals routinely used on conventional farms. There is mounting evidence that if all the indirect costs of conventional food production were factored into the price of food, organic foods would cost the same, or, more likely, be cheaper than conventional food. Cost, however, is very dependent upon market venue and consumer product choice. It is possible to consume a moderately priced diet of organic foods by purchasing directly from farmers at venues such as farmers markets, and by choosing unprocessed organically grown foods at the grocery store.

Are organic yields lower?
Based on 154 growing seasons' worth of data on various crops, organic crops yielded 95% of crops grown under conventional, high-input conditions (Liebhardt, B. "Get the facts straight: organic agriculture yields are good," OFRF Information Bulletin #10, Summer 2001.). This was by using organic farming methods developed and refined by years of grower experience, independent of the billions of dollars of support provided the agrichemical industries through USDA and the land grant system. If USDA would increase the small proportion of its research funds currently directed toward optimizing organic farming practices, organic has the potential to produce yields fully matching or surpassing those of conventional crops. Growers who go through the 3-year transition period from conventional to organic management usually experience an initial decrease in yields, until soil microbes are re-established and nutrient cycling is in place, at which point yields return to previous levels.